AMERICAblog Gay | A great people deserve their rights

SLDN disappointed with the Stanley confirmation hearing

2009-11-19T13:13:00.001-05:00

As noted below, today, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the confirmation of Clifford Stanley as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. If approved, Stanley will oversee the implementation of policies relating to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" when (and if) that law is repealed.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network wasn't entirely pleased with hearing for two reasons: 1) John McCain's inane support for the discriminatory policy, which wasn't unexpected, and 2) Stanley's relatively weak responses to questions from Senators about DADT.

Here's the statement from SLDN's Executive Director, Aubrey Sarvis:

Dr. Clifford Stanley punted on several questions regarding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this morning. When given the opportunity by Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to support his commander in chief’s position to overturn the ban, Dr. Stanley did not do so. However, as is the case with most nominees, Dr. Stanley did not delve into any of the policy issues in his portfolio. We look forward to Dr. Stanley becoming fully aligned with President Obama on repeal. The President has said the right words but some of his chief lieutenants may not have heard those words. The fact remains that a 2010 repeal has never been more promising.

Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) opening statement today on repeal was troubling. The Senator said he believes the law is “working successfully.” The facts and record show DADT is not working. More than 13,500 service members have been discharged under DADT and thousands more leave the services every year because of the ban. Nearly a quarter of service members, according to a recent report by the RAND Corp., know a member of their unit is gay. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to make the case to the Senator that the law is not working and that 58 percent of conservatives support allowing gays to serve openly.

We keep hearing that Don't Ask, Don't Tell will be addressed next year. The only acceptable solution is a full repeal of the law. Hopefully, that's what will be included in the Defense authorization bill. Anything less won't cut it.

Homophobia in Houston: Mayoral candidate Annise Parker hit with ugly anti-gay mailer

2009-11-19T11:57:00.001-05:00

Houston is having a runoff in its mayoral election on December 12th. The two candidates are Annise Parker, a long-time city councilor, and Gene Locke, a lawyer. This is a non-partisan election. Both candidates are Democrats, but Parker is also a lesbian. She wants to put "Houston First," however, others want to put homophobia in the forefront.

Via Towleroad:

The homophobic attacks against Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker have begun, and the first is a doozy. It's a postcard mailing to 35,000 people from local activist Dave Wilson featuring a picture of Parker and her longtime partner, which asks, "Is this the image Houston wants to portray?" and reads:
“I have nothing but compassion, respect and sensitivity towards those trapped in homosexual behavior. I have family members and friends who have been ensnared in this behavior, and I know something of the incredible pain and sorrow it has brought to them and their families. With God’s grace, I carefully balance this love and respect for these individuals with warnings about the promotion and demand for legal and political approval for homosexual behavior that will stifle religious freedom and trap millions of more people in its deadly grip. Therefore, I would ask you to vote against Annise Parker for Mayor.”

Andy also posted the images of the hateful post card. Sick stuff.

Annise needs help to fight the hate.

UPDATED: Two key Senate confirmation hearings are underway

2009-11-19T10:30:00.002-05:00

This morning, there are two hearings in Senate Committees that impact the LGBT community.

UPDATE from Armed Services: Kerry reports:

Hearing ends, no further #DADT questions. Only GOP DADT mention was McCain. 3 questions from Dems. Stanley noncommittal, as expected.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a confirmation hearing for Clifford Stanley, who will serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in the Department of Defense. In that role, Stanley will oversee whatever happens to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The Armed Services live broadcast of the committee is here. Even better, Kerry Eleveld is live-tweeting this hearing. The questions relating to DADT have already started.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is holding a hearing on the nomination of Chai Feldblum to be a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The right-wingers, using their GOP lackeys on the committee, are expecting to launch a homophobic assault on Feldblum, a highly accomplished attorney and legal scholar who is also openly gay. The hearing is being broadcast here.

A right-wing reason to love Palin: Her values include “putting homos back in the closet."

2009-11-19T09:26:00.005-05:00

Trying so hard to avoid the Palin-mania, but I couldn't avoid this tidbit from Ben Smith, which I found via Michelangelo Signorile:

The event also drew its share of more ideological conservatives. Bob Weinert, 56, a fencing salesman from Lansing, said he’d heard Rush Limbaugh say recently that Palin is “the most conservative candidate out there.” She represents, he said, “limited government and traditional values,” including “putting homos back in the closet.”

“And putting Christmas in the stores,” added his wife, Rexanna, who said she felt she could trust the “down-to-earth” Palin.

A few minutes later, a diffident young man wandered by with a handmade “Homos for Palin” t-shirt until he encountered a mall security guard.

“You’ve got to zip it up or leave,” said the security guard and the young man, who said he was a college student but wouldn’t give his name, complied.

Apparently, "Homos for Palin" are happy in the closet.

Bill giving benefits to domestic partners of federal employees passed House Committee tonight

2009-11-18T23:34:00.001-05:00

As noted below, Kerry Eleveld live-tweeted the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's mark-up of H.R. 2517, the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act. The Committee did pass the legislation earlier tonight. Here's Kerry's report:

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday voted 23-12 to pass the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act, which would extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal government workers.

The bill is now likely to move to a full House floor vote, which many anticipate could take place before the end of the year.

“Last I talked to the majority leader who sets the floor schedule, he was hopeful that it could get fairly prompt attention by the full House,” said out congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who is the lead sponsor of the bill in the House.

So a House vote this year. Even before ENDA.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I'm still curious how this comports with DOMA. And let's not forget - the gay legal groups, earlier this year, tried to meet with the Obama administration to discuss how to provide these kind of benefits to the partners of gay employees, how it could be done even within the confines of DOMA, and the administration refused to even meet with them. So while it's nice that Berry is now all behind the House effort, let's not forget, the administration wasn't willing to lift a finger on this very issue just several months ago.

Dan Savage on Catholic priests.

2009-11-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

We've been writing a lot lately about the Catholic Bishops. Today, Dan Savage has a post on Catholic priests, partly inspired by cartoons provided by his "good Irish Catholic mother." Dan dissects the latest report from the Bishops on the sex abuse scandal -- the one that absolves the gays:

Despite the fact that most of the victims of clergy sex abuse were boys, the study — commissioned by the nation's Roman Catholic bishops — found that sexual identity was not "a predictor of abuse." What was? According to the authors of the study the Church has to distinguish between sexual identity and behavior and be on guard against pedophile priests, not gay priests, "and to look at who the offender had access to when seeking victims." This study is going to throw a serious wrench in the Vatican's efforts to pin the whole clergy sex abuse scandals on teh gays.

The Bishops protected the pedophiles for decades. That's why Dioceses are going bankrupt. And, that's why the Bishops are trying to change the subject to gay marriage.

In its anti-gay zeal, Texas may have banned all marriages

2009-11-18T19:20:00.001-05:00

I always knew the anti-gay constitutional amendments would lead to unanticipated problems. I thought some right-winger would use one of the bans to claim divorces weren't allowed, since most said marriage was the "union of one man and one woman" -- and that meant only one man and one woman. After all, many of the theocrats do think divorce is the biggest threat to marriage.

But, Texas may have outdone itself. All marriages may have been banned by the state. Joe.My.God has the details:

Anti-gay legislators in Texas have an egg on their faces today as others realize that the 2005 ban on same-sex marriages actually bans ALL marriages, depending on who is reading the law's fine print.

Mary Cheney delivered another grandchild for Dick and Lynne

2009-11-18T17:17:00.002-05:00

Dick and Lynne Cheney are grandparents again:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney has delivered a baby girl.

It's the second child for Cheney and her partner of more than 17 years, Heather Poe.

Sarah Lynne Cheney was born Wednesday morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She is the seventh grandchild of the former vice president and his wife, Lynne.

I'm sure she'll be getting all kinds of nice wishes from all her old homophobic pals from the Bush campaign like Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, James Dobson and Bishop Harry Jackson.

UPDATED: House Committee is holding mark-up of Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act

2009-11-18T15:15:00.006-05:00

Updated @ 6:43 PM: Kerry reports things are getting intense at the hearing:

It's getting heated in here for sure. Probably some of the better theatre C-Span folks have seen in quite some time.

And updated again @ 6:49 PM:

GOP Rep. Bilbray's amendment making sure #DPBO won't provide benes to illegal immigrants has been voted down. But the debate was a total 10.

____________
Kerry Eleveld has been live-tweeting the House Oversight Committee's mark-up of H.R. 2517, the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act, sponsored by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Once the Committee finishes its work and takes a vote, this bill will head to the floor. Senator Lieberman sponsored the companion bill in the Senate.

Sure sounds like the GOPers are up to their usual gay-bashing.

Republican Senators plan homophobic attack on Chai Feldblum

2009-11-18T12:59:00.004-05:00

When the notoriously homophobic Family Research Council is planning the strategy for GOP Senators, there's no question that the attacks on Chai Feldblum will be based on homophobia. From Gaypolitics.com:

The anti-gay Family Research Council and its allies on Capitol Hill are readying a withering series of questions for Chai Feldblum, who could become the first openly LGBT member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

One source told GayPolitics.com that some Republican Senators are planning “Armageddon” at Feldblum’s confirmation hearing Thursday. They plan to paint her as an anti-religious extremist whose confirmation would threaten religious liberty.

They're using all the right-wing code words for gay-bashing. And, no doubt, GOP Senators will be happy to join in.

Feldblum is brilliant. She can hold her own, there's no doubt about that. It just wrong that the gay-bashers have so much control over the Senate.

Kevin Naff, formerly of the Wash. Blade, says expect a new publication on Friday

2009-11-18T10:56:00.003-05:00

So I blasted the Washington Post Style section in the post below. But, there's a great editorial in the Post today supporting the Washington Blade:

The Blade's importance to our area cannot be overstated.

And, the editorial makes news. Kevin Naff indicates a new publication will start on Friday:

"We're united and determined to make a go of it as an independent company," Mr. Naff told us Monday. So, the former Blade staffers met to plot the publication's future yesterday. Mr. Naff told us that there will be a new paper. The intention is to have it hit the streets this Friday. The name will be different from the one they labored for. Our hope is that its mission to inform and enlighten will be the same.

Wash. Post puff piece on one of the District's leading homophobes, Bishop Harry Jackson

2009-11-18T08:45:00.001-05:00

There's a surefire way to get a big spread in the Washington Post Style section: Be an outspoken, blatant homophobe.

In August, The Washington Post's Style section wrote a glowing article about one of the nation's leading homophobes, Brian Brown from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), earlier this summer. The title was, "Opposing Gay Unions With Sanity & a Smile." We just weren't clever enough to know it was snarky.

Today, the Washington Post's Style section has a puff piece on one of the District's leading homophobes, Bishop Harry Jackson. Apparently, the editors of the Style section have a thing about profiling gay-bashers. The article notes that Jackson critics have multiplied but offers only two sentences of that criticism:

D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson says he disagrees with the principles espoused by Jackson. "It's an unfortunate reality," Mendelson says, "that one can't preach discrimination without inciting homophobia."

So now we know all about Bishop Jackson's education, but the Post didn't get into the vile homophobia he spews on a regular basis.

PFAW's Right Wing Watch has been monitoring Jackson. A synopsis of Jackson's speech at the right-wing Values Voters Summit gives the sense of what this guy says about gay Americans. In his anti-gay rant, Jackson got the crowd to chant “let God arise and his enemies be scattered...” The videos of the speech are there, too. I guess adding that element to the Post's puff piece might have ruined the article. All that homophobic ranting can really ruin a story line. Jackson clearly sees gays at the "enemies." I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of the gay people in D.C. really don't want to be "scattered."

The right wingers love Jackson. As someone who has followed his career noted to me, "Opposing marriage equality in DC isn't a matter of conscience for him. Its a career move." And, the Post just gave his career a big boost and validated the hate.

International Transgender Day of Remembrance

2009-11-17T23:40:00.001-05:00

Don't forget November 20th is the 11th annual International Day of Remembrance for our transgender community. I know civil rights for our LGBT community started with those in the transgender community who didn't have the luxury of hiding in the closet. I urge Americablog Gay readers to show solidarity and attend an event in your location of the world.

Go the International Day of Remembrance site to look up the location of the nearest event, so we can be there to show our support and respect for members of our community who have lost their lives in our struggle for equality.

Chapel Hill has a gay Mayor -- and Pam interviewed him for the Advocate

2009-11-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

This is pretty cool on several levels. First, Chapel Hill is getting a new mayor, Mark Kleinschmidt.-- and he's gay. Second, the person who interviewed Kleinschmidt for The Advocate is his fellow North Carolinian, Pam Spaulding. Here's an excerpt:

One of things I find very interesting, as a North Carolina blogger, and I'm sure you receive this as a North Carolina politician, is that many people are confused about the political identity of our state. What do you say to people when they talk about how N.C. is racist, bigoted, the state of Jesse Helms ...

When people mention our racist past and present and Jesse Helms, I ask them where is it that they live that's so different? Where is this Eden that you live in that is absent of all racism or any blowhards that are stoking the fires of racial tension? We just had the misfortune of having a very loud, high-profile senator who just took it upon himself to be the person who threw coal onto the fire every day. To think we're the only place in the country that suffers from vestiges of Jim Crow and slavery is really shortsighted. All that does is give those people something to pat themselves on the back about.

I talk about how North Carolina is different than what a lot of people believe is true about the South. I don't defend Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama and South Carolina, but we aren't any of those places. We never have been. As the South moved into the '50s, '60s, and civil rights issues began to dominate the American culture, North Carolina was one of the leading states in helping move it forward. We had leaders that had already come of age with progressive values helping to move the state, like Frank Porter Graham, Terry Sanford. And none of them did everything that we would have liked them to have done, but we made enormous progress in ways the states outside of the South only wish they could have made. While they further segregated themselves, our state has taken up the difficult challenge of true integration. And I think we are constantly self-acknowledging that we have not always been successful; it's a continuous process — and this is a state that gives birth to that kind of politics, and we should be proud of it. People need to reevaluate what they think of North Carolina. It's not a surprise to me that North Carolina had the first openly gay elected official [in the South — Joe Herzenberg, elected to the Chapel Hill town council in 1987]. Other states don't share that with Chapel Hill. There are very few places like this.

Although I have received negative feedback from other parts of the state, it's been rare. And over time, it's kind of strange, I've actually become a part of the institution of politics in North Carolina. I have a role ... it's a role I was invited into at least by some parts of the institution, particularly the Democratic Party. So I try to give feedback to these people to have them think about where it is they are from that is so different and that how we are not what they think we are.

Anti-gay Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) wants Carrie Prejean to run for office

2009-11-17T20:09:00.001-05:00

Rep. Jason Chaffetz is making a name for himself as a leading homophobe in the U.S. House of Representatives. He's from Utah, btw. But, he's also making a name for himself over Carrie Prejean. Via Think Progress:

TMZ reports that Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) recently suggested that former beauty pageant contestant Carrie Prejean would be a serious contender for public office:
[Carrie] has the ability to draw crowds and if she has a strong message to go with that, who knows what she can do? She has star power which can open doors.

We’ve all made mistakes when we were 17. [The sex tape] is going to be an impediment, but people are excited about her convictions and her beliefs.

Tell us more, Rep. Chaffetz. On second thought, don't.

TMZ also provided this commentary:

Carrie Prejean has a serious congressional supporter who thinks she should pursue a career in politics ... and it's not just because she has her finger on the hot-button issues.

Legal issues delayed ENDA mark-up pushing back final vote possibly until February

2009-11-17T18:36:00.001-05:00

Last night, we learned that the mark-up of H.R. 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), by the House Education and Labor Committee, originally scheduled for tomorrow, had been postponed. "Mark-up" is a key step in the legislative process, which gets the bill out of Committee and headed to the House floor.

Today, of course, Kerry Eleveld has the scoop on why the delay happened and how it impacts the final vote on ENDA:

A House committee vote on the Employment Non-discrimination Act, originally scheduled for Wed., Nov. 18, was postponed so that lawyers could adjust the legal language regarding issues of disparate impact, double recovery, and attorney’s fees.

“Our understanding is that the committee lawyers wanted a few more days to look at several of the outstanding issues,” said Allison Herwitt, legislative director of the Human Rights Campaign.

ENDA would prohibit employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The legal fine-tuning stands to push back the date of the committee vote by about two-to-three weeks. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to see a markup after Thanksgiving and before the end of the year,” Herwitt said.

Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, lead sponsor of the bill, has suggested the full House vote might not take place until February of next year.

Delay isn't good. As John wrote last night:

The longer the Congress delays acting on ENDA, the more jam-packed the congressional schedule becomes, and the closer to next year's mid-term congressional elections we get. And nothing scares a Democratic member of Congress than having to show some spine during an election year. Stay tuned.

We'll keep an eye on this.

Equality California wants Obama's support in lawsuit against Prop. 8

2009-11-17T17:33:00.001-05:00

Last year, candidate Barack Obama opposed the referendum against marriage equality back in 2008. Now, as President, Obama has an opportunity to use the power of his office to weigh in against the discrimination wrought by Prop. 8.

Equality California has what should be a simple request -- and you can add your name to it:

President Obama, I urge you to immediately file a brief in the federal court challenge to Prop 8 and ask the court to rule that it is unconstitutional to allow a majority to take away the rights of a minority.

One would hope that standing for equality and against the oppression of the minority wouldn't be a heavy lift for the Obama administration.

Maybe the Department of Justice could pull one of its lawyers away from writing all the briefs against DOMA and actually side with us for a change.

The Obama crew never got what Prop. 8 meant to the LGBT community. Apparently, no one conveyed to them how devastating that loss was. There are no high ranking lgbt officials in the Obama inner circle -- or even the outer circles -- who explained the situation. Instead, just a few weeks after we lost, they kicked us all in the gut again by inviting leading homophobe/Prop. 8 supporter Rick Warren to speak at the inauguration.

Obama could rise to the occasion and join the Prop. 8 lawsuit. But, that won't happen. This administration runs from anything that comes close to partnership recognition. But, sign Equality California's petition. We need to keep up the pressure.

Then, sign Don't Ask, Don't Give if you haven't already.

D.C. won't allow referendum "that authorizes discrimination." So, no public vote on marriage equality

2009-11-17T16:01:00.002-05:00

In the District of Columbia, the voters won't decide the basic civil rights issue of who can get married. The city doesn't allow elections on issues that are discriminatory. From the D.C. Board of Elections:

The District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics today released a memorandum opinion on the “Marriage Initiative of 2009”, which would establish that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the District of Columbia.” A public hearing on the proposed initiative was held on October 26, 2009.

Under current law, the District recognizes as valid same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The Board concludes that that Marriage Initiative of 2009 would, if passed, strip same-sex couples who have entered into such marriages of rights afforded to them by that recognition. Accordingly, the Board orders in its memorandum that the Initiative be received but not accepted under D.C. Code section 1-1001.16(b)(2), which prohibits the Board from accepting an initiative that authorizes discrimination prohibited under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.

“We have considered all of the testimony presented to the Board and understand the desire to place this question on the ballot,” said Board Chairman Errol R. Arthur. “However, the laws of the District of Columbia preclude us from allowing this initiative to move forward.”

This is good news. And, it's really too bad that other states let people vote on civil rights issues. As we saw in California and Maine, the majority is willing to take away rights from a minority group.

The full D.C. City Council will take its first vote on the marriage equality legislation on December 1st. Then, we expect final passage in mid-December.

While we won't have a referendum on marriage, we'll have to fend off a challenge in Congress. Unfortunately, Democratic leaders have already let the Catholic Bishops dictate social policy on abortion. You know the Bishops can't wait to take on gay issues. They obsess over all things gay. Obsess. It's so bad in D.C. that Catholic Church is using human shields, comprised of the poor and the homeless, in its anti-gay legislative battles. Their new motto is: "My way or I starve the poor and let the uninsured die."

Can't wait to see how the Obama administration deals with this one.

Facebook group created for brutal murder in Puerto Rico

2009-11-17T15:07:00.000-05:00

Here. Background here. And online action center to email the Attorney General and urge a hate crimes investigation here.

GLAD moves for summary judgment in Gill v. OPM, wants Section 3 of DOMA declared unconstitutional

2009-11-17T13:44:00.001-05:00

Just got off a teleconference with GLAD's Mary Bonauto and Gary Buseck about the latest filing in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the lawsuit challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Background on the case is here. With all the excellent legal minds on this call and the level of discussion, it really brought me back to law school.

Today, GLAD filed its response to the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit -- and moved for summary judgment. That means GLAD wants the judge to issue a ruling in its favor, as a matter of law, without proceeding to a trial. GLAD wants the judge to rule in its favor by finding Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional as applied to the plaintiffs in the Gill case.

On September 18, 2009, the Obama administration's DOJ filed its brief, asking that the case be dismissed. If the case proceeded, DOJ wanted the lowest level of judicial scrutiny:

the DOJ thinks DOMA should be subject to the "rational basis review,' which is the lowest level of judicial scrutiny. All the government must do is prove a "rational basis" for the legislation meaning "a legislative policy must be upheld so long as there is any reason- ably conceivable set of facts that could provide a rational basis for it, including ones that Congress itself did not advance or consider. DOMA satisfies this standard."

GLAD wants the court to use a higher standard of judicial review. On the call, Bonauto explained why GLAD wants that heightened scrutiny and it was also laid out clearly in GLAD's press release:

GLAD argues that under Equal Protection guarantees, there is no justification for splitting married people into two classes: those who are “married” under federal law and those whose marriages do not exist for any federal purposes. “We believe that DOMA should receive ’heightened scrutiny’ from the District Court for many reasons, including because it deliberately targets gay men and lesbians,” said Bonauto.

More specifically, GLAD argues that
DOMA represents an unprecedented intrusion of the federal government into the states’ traditional roles in determining the marital status of its citizens.

By prohibiting married same-sex couples from accessing the safety net, the federal government provides for all other married couples, DOMA Section 3 unfairly burdens their ability to protect and care for their families.

By targeting gay men and lesbians, DOMA discriminates explicitly on the basis of sexual orientation. GLAD argues that any discrimination based upon a person’s sexual orientation should be viewed with suspicion by the court.

No federal court has applied the heightened scrutiny to issues involving sexual orientation. Bonauto also dissected the Obama administration's argument in support of DOMA, which were along the lines of maintaining the status quo and consistency. As one reporter asked, "It seems a little weak, no?" DOMA has actually altered the status quo by creating a class of citizens whose marriages are recognized by their state, but not the federal government. As noted by the GLAD lawyers (and by us many times), the Obama administration did choose to defend the law.
The Obama administration will respond to this motion by December 4th. After that, there will be a hearing in federal court.

Several reporters asked whether this case could ultimately end up in the Supreme Court. If it does, according to the GLAD lawyers, the ruling would impact only those states that allow same-sex marriage and would determine whether the federal government would have to respect those marriages. If the judge does find DOMA unconstitutional, it's expected that the Obama administration would appeal that ruling.

I met Bonauto during the campaign in Maine and watched her in action during debates over marriage. She's brilliant. Just brilliant. This lawsuit represents one of the best cases against DOMA.

More on 10-yr-old who wouldn't stand for Pledge of Allegiance

2009-11-17T12:15:00.000-05:00

I was fishing around for the CNN video of Will Phillips from John's previous post about "The 10-year-old who wouldn't stand for the Pledge," because I had heard the kid was incredible. I found it, and it is simply amazing, but I also found a video from a young lady named "Jackie" who is doing her own YouTube "Youth of the Nation" segments.

Watch both of these videos and then tell me our LGBT community doesn't have a bright future when we have brilliant kids, like these two, who are going to be tomorrow's leaders? America's younger generation understands what the phrase, "Yes we can," actually means. Thankfully, we've seen a major divide between generations when voting on civil rights issues with the younger generation increasingly siding with the expansion of liberty.

We know from numerous social surveys that higher education and younger age are often correlated with tolerance toward gays. These factors may help to explain some of the difference between Washington and Maine election results. For example, Lax and Phillips (2009) show that across the U.S.:
only 10-35% of people age 65+ support gay marriage

but 35-75% of people between age 18-29 support gay marriage.

Incredibly, this means that on the aggregate level, age matters more than location: i.e. young people in gay-hostile states are more likely to support gay marriage than older people in gay-friendly states! (see graph here)

Now for Jackie's analysis:

Investigator who allegedly made homophobic comments in PR murder case still on the job, regional commander says his words were "distorted"

2009-11-17T11:00:00.002-05:00

My Spanish is good, but I want to get this right. Can someone else help with this in the comments?

Mind you, the openly gay 19 year old boy in Puerto Rico was decapitated, dismembered, and then burned. My read is that the investigator who basically said the kid should have expected to be decapitated, after all he is gay and goes out in public, is still on the job. Denying what he said. And his bosses are making comments like "I didn't hear it, but we don't accept homophobic comments." Great, so what are you going to do about it? And the regional police commander says the agents words were "distorted." Right.

Sounds like the local officials in Puerto Rico couldn't give a damn about whether the investigator assigned to the case is a raging homophobe. This is why we have a federal hate crimes law. This is when you need federal intervention. Use our action center to send an email to the Attorney General, urging him to have the FBI conduct the investigation. The FBI says, in the story, that they're monitoring the situation. Not enough. They need to intervene. We have no idea whether the suspect they caught is a real suspect, or a convenient suspect. We need someone to catch the real criminal, and do a fair assessment of whether this is a hate crime. That's the FBI, not local authorities who have already shown that they don't take homophobia seriously.

“Apenas estamos entrevistando personas y recopilando evidencia”, dijo ayer el comandante sobre la pesquisa a cargo de un equipo de los “mejores investigadores”, que incluye al oficial Ángel Rodríguez, contra quien han caído múltiples críticas por haber hecho comentarios homofóbicos a un noticiario televisivo.

“Este tipo de personas cuando se meten a esto y salen a la calle saben que esto les puede pasar”, fueron las palabras que el agente investigador le hizo a Las Noticias Univisión.

Entre las personas que expusieron su malestar por los comentarios se destaca el licenciado Vance Thomas, director ejecutivo de la Comisión de Derechos Civiles, quien urgió al superintendente de la Policía, José Figueroa Sancha, a formular cargos administrativos contra el uniformado.

“Además de sacarlo de la investigación (a Rodríguez Colón), se le deben radicar cargos administrativos. No conozco ningún contexto en el que se pueda justificar el decir que una persona se buscó que lo mataran”, dijo Thomas. Agregó que le solicitará al secretario de Justicia, Antonio Sagardía, que reactive un comité que se creó en el 2008 para procesar crímenes de odio.

Por su parte, el superintendente de la Policía despachó el asunto diciendo que no oyó al agente pero que por ningún motivo ninguno de sus oficiales “puede hacer expresiones homofóbicas".

Mientras, el director de la región policiaca de Guayama, Héctor Agosto, dijo que las palabras de Rodríguez se habían tergiversado y que la intención de éste “no fue en ningún momento menospreciar a la clase homosexual y lésbica”.

“De hecho, está dando el 100% para esclarecer el caso”, aseguró.

Colbert on gay marriage -- and gay funerals

2009-11-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

Brilliant. Like many of us, Colbert was raised Catholic. He skewers the Church.

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Report of arrest in brutal Puerto Rico hate crime

2009-11-17T09:17:00.003-05:00

Take action here to send an email to Attorney General Holder asking him to make sure the FBI investigates this possible hate crime. We need to keep up the pressure. 1,000 emails have already been sent since last night, so thank you. And remember, regardless of whether they have a suspect, the local law enforcement made it clear that the victim deserved what he got. That is not a good sign for a possible hate crime investigation.

UPDATE: I just received a statement from a spokesman for NGLTF, who is on the way to Puerto Rico:

"Even when everyone is innocent until proven guilty, it is hopeful that they have arrested a suspect. We're grateful for the Police work that has acted promptly and we trust that the investigation digs into the hate crime angle and if it is proven that it was indeed bias-related, that the criminal is processed to the full extent of the law."

"We urge the media and the authorities not to judge the victim, but the criminal who committed this horrendous crime. Even if there are particular circumstances in which this crime was committed, we have to keep the attention where it deserves to be: a young gay man was brutally murdered by someone who did not have any compassion or respect for the dignity of a human life."

Louise at Pam's House Blend has the report of an arrest in the brutal murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado. She got the tip from Back2Stonewall. The Spanish language report is here.

ENDA committee mark-up in House postponed

2009-11-16T22:07:00.003-05:00

Can't say I'm surprised. The "mark-up" is basically the committee version of a floor vote (first you vote on a bill in committee, then you vote on a bill on the floor of the House and Senate). It's too soon to know why it's been delayed (remember, the "plan" was to pass ENDA before the end of the year). Joe and I are checking with some friends, on the Hill and otherwise, but no notion yet as to whether there's an actual problem. Of course, there is a general problem. The longer the Congress delays acting on ENDA, the more jam-packed the congressional schedule becomes, and the closer to next year's mid-term congressional elections we get. And nothing scares a Democratic member of Congress than having to show some spine during an election year. Stay tuned.