Decency Knows No Political Party

I admire anyone who stands up for equality. But I particularly salute those for whom taking a stand is risky and may cost them personally and professionally. It touches my heart that some of the most moving and eloquent advocates for LGBT equality, lately, have come from within the ranks of the GOP.

It's important that we support these courageous people. While nationally we've passed the magic 51% number as far as acceptance (presumably making it a good long-term bet for ANY politician to support us), Republicans still fight uphill within their own party. And coming out in support of LGBT equality can have negative consequences for them at the ballot box and in contributions NOW, in current election cycles.

Meet my hero of the day -- Maureen Walsh, Republican State Senator from Walla Walla. Listen to her beautiful words on the floor of the Washington Senate Tue during that legislative body's debate over same-sex marriage.

And let's remember Maureen, financially and otherwise, when she's up for re-election, whether we typically vote Democrat or Republican. Because decency and justice know no political party.

No Faggots in Jack City

"NO FAGGOTS IN JACK CITY!" the gleeful, blood-thirsty cameraman says over and over.

This video is in the process of going viral. A (presumably) gay man is badly beaten outside a grocery store in Atlanta. You'll see it all over the web in the next few days. It's hard to watch, but you need to watch it.

I suspect that no human who values the dignity of others can look at this without cringing. We've come a long way toward toleration and mutual acceptance in America, but we've clearly got a long way to go. There's much talk during the current election cycle about America being a "shining city on a hill." Those are pretty words ... but we're not there yet.

Thankfully, per reports, the Atlanta PD's Gang Unit is all over this incident, and an investigation is underway. But this is one case that got caught on camera (astonishingly, by the perpetrators themselves as a twisted boast or "proof of performance" for their friends or other gang members) ... there are an untold number of similar incidents every day in America that we don't see, that don't get reported or, if reported, are sneered at and dismissed by law enforcement.

There are those of us fighting every day, as individuals and through organizations, to keep awful scenes like the one above from EVERY happening again. I entreat you -- join us. Stand beside us. Do not be silent.  Obviously, if you see something occurring, DO NOT LOOK THE OTHER WAY. But more than that, raise your voice against any intolerance when it crops up around you.

Thank you.

On Veteran's Day, do you stand for what America stands for?

In the 50s and 60s, conscientious white Jews and Christians stood with African-Americans in their struggle. In the following decades, conscientious labor unions, the NAACP and others stood with gays in our struggle. Today, conscientious 1%-ers and unions stand with the 99% in their struggle.

These movements are very different. But they share one important commonality -- coalition. Sweeping social change can come only through coalition.

Muslim-Americans are increasingly facing withering criticism and discrimination. I believe their struggle is the next big American rights challenge. Today, Veteran's Day, in Tennessee, there is an ABSURD "Anti-Shariah Law" conference going on. A string of speakers have addressed a rabid crowd, including a former FBI officer who insists that people who choose to worship Allah "do not have a First Amendment right to do anything." 


The Tennesseean newspaper saw this coming and wrote about it in July.

On this Veteran's Day, when we memorialize American service members who laid down their lives defending the rights of free speech and religious expression, do YOU stand with the anti-Muslim fear-mongers or the freedom fighters? When it's time to build coalition and support our American Muslim brothers and sisters, where will you be?

CA Gov Brown Vetoes Westboro Funeral Protest Bill

On Wednesday, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB888, a bill that would make it a crime for protesters to disrupt a funeral and keep protesters 1,000 feet back from mourners. The bill was passed almost unanimously by the CA Legislature in response to protests by the Westboro Baptist Church. The Kansas-based congregation has a history of colorful, vocal demonstrations at events they feel condone or promote homosexuality, which in their view is in direct contrast with the will of God.

Brown's office told UPI that the Governor opposes offensive actions by protesters, but acknowledges a recent 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Westboro's protest of the funeral of a fallen U.S. soldier, and feels SB888 violates that decision.

Westboro targets servicemembers' funerals because, in the church's view, those soldiers were fighting to defend a nation and culture steeped in homosexuality, and therefore doomed.

Another reason for such protests is they almost guarantee Westboro a slot on the evening news and in the cable news channels' daily churn. For an otherwise inconsequential group like Westboro, this media attention is lifeblood. It keeps them in the headlines, and gives them fodder for lawsuits, several of which have proven lucrative for the organization. Clearly, Westboro has found its niche.

Brown's veto is not happy news for the CA Assembly, LGBT people and our rights organizations, the families of servicemembers, and those who beg for civil discourse. It's good news for Westboro and for civil libertarians who view First Amendment free-speech as sacred.

I have repeatedly found myself in the position of decrying Westboro's vitriol while defending their right to voice and promote the message. I've learned a lot in the process, and have had a fascinating dialogue with members of Westboro even as we have publicly sparred. There are many ironies here, and I intend to explore them in a web/magazine piece I've been gradually efforting for a few months with Westboro's cooperation.

One irony? For all the hatred, profanity and denigration Westboro heaps at the feet of gays, they're often out-zinged by the antipathy and hatred gays lob back. Westboro says "God Hates Fags" and warns of an eternity in hell. Meanwhile, a number of my gay brethren actually ideate or advocate physical harm against Westboro members. "I wish you were dead" is not an uncommon thing to see directed at Westboro in a Twitter feed or a Facebook page.

Is it our role to protect society from the potentially poisonous speech of the few? In some cases, no. So says the U.S. Supreme Court in regard to Westboro, and I agree with their decision. Our First Amendment exists to protect the speech of the few from being suppressed by society. It's easier for me to embrace this when it's rights of Gays or Muslim-Americans whose voice is being silenced. It's more difficult when it's people shouting at me that I'm worthless, calling my church pastor a whore (as Westboro did) or making other inflammatory statements.

Gay kids harm themselves because they repeatedly hear statements like those of Westboro coming from the mouths of their parents, authority figures and peers. I view this as a problem. But I don't see gagging Westboro as a solution.

More in the longer piece. But I wanted to get a few thoughts out now. You are welcome to comment. If you do, your words may be referenced in the longer article.

Thanks!

The Vatican is playing a dangerous, destructive game

I’ve had a few people following my Twitter and Facebook feeds ask why I’m so riled up about the Vatican’s pedophilia crisis. I want to explain, but can’t fit it into 140 characters.

Initially, I was troubled by the allegations of abuse. There was the string of outrageous cases we’ve heard about over the past few years -- predatory priests being moved around from parish to parish, even internationally, to quiet or make moot victims’ complaints. The result has been what one would expect: a multiplication of damage instead of a mitigation. As more and more cases became public, it grew clear Roman Catholic officials knew what was going on; it was they who facilitated the moves in each instance, suggesting (in a striking misplacement of compassion) it was for the good of the priest or, as in the letter revealed last week by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), for the “good of the Universal church.” Put in contemporary terms, it'd be bad PR if people knew what was really going on.

All this made me shake my head in disgust. But it's not been fodder for me to get on my soapbox. Things have changed.

Multiple statements have come out from Roman Catholic leadership in recent days suggesting blame be laid on targets as wide-ranging as Judaism and mass media. But the loudest and most troubling is the insistence that the church doesn’t have a pedophile problem, it has "a homosexual problem." This rickety proposition was first floated by William Donohoe, president of the Catholic League, in a full page ad in the New York Times and in interviews with the major news outlets. Then on Monday, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s de facto Secretary of State, said the following in Chile:

“Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relationship between celibacy and paedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia. That is true. That is the problem.”

Wait -- he’s been “told?”

Not only is Cardinal Bertone relying on hearsay, but that hearsay is completely wrong, as evidenced by every reputable study available. Perhaps the Vatican doesn’t have access to the Internet and search engines to verify the most basic of information?

I’m being sarcastic. In truth, what’s going on is a calculated, systemic indictment of a group of people, in this case gays. This is what happened in Germany in the 1920s when a rising political movement vilified Jews. We know where that led. It’s happened around the world and in America to various ethnic and religious groups, resulting in discrimination and violence. Each new wave of immigrants that reaches America's borders -- from the Irish in the 19th century after the potato famine, to Italians fleeing disease and starvation, to people of Latin heritage today -- must endure an period of outright persecution before being accepted into the mainstream. Political movements like the Tea Party capitalize on the public's fear, institutionalizing it through repetition and propaganda. Just ask a Tea Party follower about immigration and listen to their frighteningly sectarian talking points.

As a group, gays in particular have had a mixed go of things recently. In Mexico City, same-sex marriage is now legal. Meanwhile, in Uganga, a top government official has been attempting to make being gay a capitol offense punishable by death. For certain, anti-gay sentiment -- inflamed by rhetoric like that coming out of the Vatican this week -- leads to tragedy. This is not conjecture, like the Vatican’s noodling. This is broadly evidenced fact.

Systemic defamation is ALWAYS wrong, whether it comes from the Tea Party, the Ugandan Parliament, or the Roman Catholic Church and its Holy See.

The Vatican should be ashamed of their maneuvering. They should own up to the church leadership's tragic mistakes and work diligently to put things right rather than pick a vulnerable group upon whom to transfer blame. The Church exists to honor the teachings of Jesus Christ. Right now, I can only think Christ would be horrified at what Roman Catholic hierarchy has posited in his name. As a Christian and a gay man I, along with others, refuse to sit silent while this perversion continues.

That is why I’ve been so vocal about this issue. Count on my continuing to speak out.