Rep. Sally Kern says ‘debauched’ gay marriage caused bad economy
Posted on July 4, 2009
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Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma, who has called being gay a “deadly lifestyle”, has released what she calls a “Proclamation for Morality”, which reads more like a manifesto against homosexuality. Kern, who apparently is unfamiliar with the fact that the United States was founded on the principle of separation of church and State, consistently uses religion as a basis for her arguments.
The New Civil Rights Movement published Kern’s “proclamation”, in which she says gay marriage is a form of “debauchery” like “abortion, pornography, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, and child abuse.” She blames the bad state of the economy on this so-called “debauchery”:
“WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national
moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion,
pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and
many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking
the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused
to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of
Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States
disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to
an immoral behavior”
Tulsa World called the reading and signing of Kern’s proclamation “circus-like”. About 200 supporters stood with her inside the State Capitol gathering signatures, while Kern was repeatedly interrupted by protesters.
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Most gay pupils bullied in school - youth service
Posted on July 4, 2009
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See
EDUCATION COMMITTEE: MOST LESBIAN, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) second-level students have suffered homophobic bullying, the Belong To youth service has told an Oireachtas Education Committee.
More than 20,000 post-primary students are lesbian, gay or bisexual, representing an average of two students in every classroom. A smaller number of students identify as transgender, according to Belong To.
Research involving over 1,100 LGBT participants, funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE), found that half were subject to verbal abuse in school because of their orientation, 40 per cent were verbally threatened by their peers, 34 per cent heard homophobic comments by staff and one-quarter were physically threatened by their peers. Sandra Gowran, director of education policy with the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen), said homophobic bullying was pervasive in schools, regardless of whether they had a particular religious ethos or whether they were co-educational or single sex.
“The bottom line is that these young people are not safe in our schools because of the extent of homophobic bullying,” she said.
Most young people became aware of their LGBT identity at around 12, but did not disclose it to another person until around 17.
“LGBT young people are part of every school . . . in Ireland yet they are largely invisible in any meaningful or positive way,” she said.
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COPS: NYC GAY BASHINGS COULD BE LINKED
Posted on July 4, 2009
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The NYC Anti-Violence Project has issued a community alert now that the New York City Police Department’s Hate Crimes Bureau thinks several recent anti-gay attacks on the Upper East Side might have come at the hands of the same assailants.
In addition to Joseph Holladay, brutally beaten and robbed, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly now states, “There was an incident in Carl Shurz Park that we believe he [sic] may be associated with two other events—one that happened Saturday morning, the other happened Sunday morning. All of these events happened on the Upper East Side, the 19th precinct.
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Gays Step Up Efforts to Reverse Gay-as-Godless Stereotype
Posted on July 4, 2009
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A groundbreaking survey about the faith lives of gay Americans that the Barna Group put out last week got surprisingly little attention. In my latest God & Country column for U.S. News Weekly, I tied the Barna survey’s fascinating portrait of gay religious life to the gay rights movement’s recent efforts to ratchet up outreach and messaging. Much of the work is aimed at reversing the gay-as-Godless stereotype.
Here’s the top:
Though he was raised in the United Methodist Church, Harry Knox knew he couldn’t become a minister in his denomination because it doesn’t ordain openly gay members. He enrolled in a seminary of the more liberal United Church of Christ but was eventually denied ordination anyway. “My whole career as an activist is an accidental ministry,” says Knox, 48, who now works at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group. “I would rather be a local pastor.”
Instead, since 2005, Knox has built HRC’s “religion and faith program,” which works to combat the stereotype of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community as antireligious. “For far too long, LGBT organizations did not put religious allies at the forefront of our efforts,” Knox says. “That’s a mistake we’re making less often now.”
Those religious allies may be more plentiful than most Americans think. A Barna Group survey out last week shows that most gay Americans lead pretty robust faith lives. While 72 percent of straight American adults describe their faith as “very important” in their lives, so do 60 percent of gays and lesbians. Almost as many, 58 percent, say they’ve made a personal and ongoing commitment to Jesus Christ.
And though they are much less likely than straights to share the beliefs of born-again Christians—which comes as no surprise, since most churches in the born-again tradition condemn homosexuality—the Barna survey found that 27 percent of gays do hold those beliefs. “Many in the Christian community assume there’s this significant gap between heterosexuals and homosexuals in terms of faith beliefs and activities,” says George Barna, the country’s top pollster on religious issues, who supervised the survey. “While there are statistically significant differences, it’s the narrow size of the gap that’s most surprising.”
The poll unleashed a torrent of hate mail, mostly from believers furious with Barna’s conclusion: that many gays are Bible-believing Christians. But more and more gay rights organizations are joining HRC in stepping up efforts to highlight the faith beliefs of many gay Americans, largely through religious outreach programs. And some religious traditions and denominations are taking steps to welcome gay and lesbian members.
Gay rights activists say that the 2004 election, when voters in 11 states passed gay marriage bans that were heavily promoted through churches, was a wake-up call. To help counter the image of the gay marriage battle as a fight between gays and religious Americans, HRC, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and other national gay rights groups quickly hired religious outreach staff.
Read the full story here.
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U.S. News & World Report
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Will gay lt. colonel be saved by policy review? AirForceTimes.com
Posted on July 4, 2009
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A gay Air Force officer is hoping his 18-year career will be saved by a review of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an F-15E Strike Eagle weapons systems officer, is facing separation after a civilian acquaintance outed him to the Air Force more than a year ago.
After a months-long investigation, Fehrenbach is facing an honorable discharge for violating the ban on homosexual behavior and damaging the good order and discipline of the Air Force.
The review, conducted by the department’s General Counsel’s office, will determine whether there is “flexibility” in how the law is applied, Gates told reporters June 30.
Specifically, Gates cited service members outed by someone else.
“Do we need to be driven when the information to take action on somebody, if we get that information from somebody who may have vengeance in mind or blackmail or somebody who has been jilted,” Gates said.
Today’s regulations require commanders to investigate allegations brought by anyone. Once a commander determines that a service member is gay, there is little legal leeway in stopping the discharge process.
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AirForceTimes.com
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India’s PM to take view on decriminalising gay sex
Posted on July 4, 2009
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NEW DELHI: After the Delhi High Court’s landmark verdict decriminalising gay sex, the matter is now in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s court - on whether to amend the archaic law dealing with the issue.
Home minister P Chidambaram along with his cabinet colleagues law minister Veerappa Moily and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday held meeting to analyse Delhi High Court’s judgement decriminalising same gender sex.
Emerging out of the half-an-hour long meeting held at North Block, Moily said the trio will submit their report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“We met today and analysed the judgment and will submit our report to the Prime Minister,” he said.
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Times of India
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Judge Declines to Stay Law on Gay Marriage
Posted on July 4, 2009
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A Superior Court judge decided yesterday not to delay enactment of a law stipulating that the D.C. government will recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions.
Judge Judith E. Retchin ruled that she would not a grant a stay preventing the law from taking effect Monday, as requested by opponents. However, the effective date is likely to be delayed by the need for congressional approval. Attorneys for the group said they needed more time to research and argue their position before the law takes effect.
Opponents, led by Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, and seven other D.C. voters want a referendum on the issue, but the D.C. elections board said that would be illegal under the District’s Human Rights Act.
Although Retchin decided against delaying the law’s enactment, she said opponents could seek to amend the law after the marriage provision takes effect.
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Minister in Tory homophobia claim BBC News
Posted on July 4, 2009
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Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has said “a deep strain of homophobia still exists on the Conservative benches”.
Mr Bradshaw, one of three gay men currently in the cabinet, made the comments as a new poll suggested more gay people were turning to the Tories.
Chris Bryant, another gay minister, said: “If gays vote Tory they will rue the day very soon.”
But Tory frontbencher Alan Duncan said the two men’s comments showed Labour was “actually the nasty party”.
Being seen to be more “gay friendly” has been a key part of David Cameron’s mission to decontaminate the Conservative Party brand and make it more acceptable to young, socially liberal voters.
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Gay soldier may be discharged
Posted on July 3, 2009
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Syracuse - A military administrative board recommended on Tuesday that a National Guard officer who publicly announced he was gay should be discharged for violating the military’s policy against homosexual conduct.
Lieutenant Dan Choi would be the first New York National Guard member discharged for violating the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fanning, a spokesperson for the New York Army National Guard, said.
Choi, 28, appeared here before a Federal Recognition Board, a panel of four military officers, which deliberated for four hours before deciding to recommend the army no longer recognise him as an officer.
Choi, a combat veteran who on Sunday was a celebrity grand marshal in San Francisco’s Gay Pride Parade, said it amounted to firing him “for nothing more than telling the truth about who I am”. See Gay soldier may be discharged
Independent Online
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Gay Loggers reach goal, to protest as planned
Posted on July 3, 2009
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The Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus will march on Main Street as planned July Fourth, the organizer of the group said Thursday evening.
Organizer Brian Leland had set a 5 p.m. deadline Thursday to reach his fundraising goal of $1,100, the amount of money the city of Bozeman estimates it will cost it to shut down the downtown thoroughfare for the morning protest.
Leland said Thursday evening that he had raised about $1,500. The $400 difference will be given to the local food bank, he said.
The Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus was formed to protest how the city went about granting the Bozeman Tea Party’s request for a permit march down Main Street on July Fourth.
City staff initially denied the Bozeman Tea Party’s request to cordon off the street for two hours while they protested government spending, the growing national debt and taxes. But following pleas from members of the Tea Party, the Bozeman City Commission recommended 4-1 that staffers reverse their decision, which they did.
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