Poll: Conservatives, churchgoers do about face on DADT
Solid majorities of self-identified conservatives and weekly churchgoers now favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military, a striking turnaround in just the last four years, according to a new Gallup poll. Overall, 69% of U.S. adults surveyed support a change in the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, an increase of six percentage points since late 2004.
According to Gallup:
The finding that majorities of weekly churchgoers (60%), conservatives (58%), and Republicans (58%) now favor what essentially equates to repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented under President Clinton in 1993 is noteworthy for several reasons. First, the data show that these traditionally conservative groups are shifting on this issue, supporting it to a far greater extent than they support legalized gay marriage. Second, it suggests the political playing field may be softer on this issue, and President Barack Obama will be well-positioned to forge ahead with his campaign promise to end the military ban on openly gay service members with some support from more conservative segments of the population. To date, it is estimated that more than 12,500 servicemen and servicewomen have been discharged under the policy, including more than 200 since Obama took office.
See Poll: Conservatives, churchgoers do about face on DADT
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/poll-conserva…
WATCH: “Daily Show” Takes On Army, White House Over Gay Translator’s Firing
A storm is brewing over President Obama’s refusal to intercede on the behalf of Dan Choi, an Arabic translator and lieutenant in the U.S. Army who was just dismissed for being gay. Choi went on the “Rachel Maddow Show” last week and said he intends “to fight it tooth and nail,” and that this kind of behavior “weakens the military.” 54 Arabic translators (and hundreds more servicemen) have been dismissed from the Army due to their sexuality.
Jon Stewart excoriated President Bush for his policies and President Obama for flip-flopping on the issue, saying:
“So it was okay to waterboard a guy 80 times but God forbid the guy who could understand what that prick was saying has a boyfriend? Waterboarding may make a prisoner talk, but it ain’t gonna make him talk English.”
He then introduced the following segment on the issue, in which John Oliver supported the Army’s choice with the “he’s gay” defense. He eventually screamed at Stewart saying, “I will not let you Cramer me.” See WATCH: “Daily Show” Takes On Army, White House Over Gay Translator’s Firing
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/watch-daily-s…
Report: Closeted gay men fueling HIV in China
(Beijing) Chinese society’s taboo on gay sex and the pressure to enter into opposite-sex marriages is fueling HIV and spreading the virus into a wider segment of society, a medical researcher says.
“The stigma and discrimination against homosexuals in Chinese society …
Utah lawmaker who made anti-gay comments removed as committees’ chairman
A defiant Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said Friday he won’t let his ouster from two key legislative committee chairmanships stop him from defending marriage against “an increasingly vocal and radical segment of the homosexual community.”
Earlier Friday, Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, took the unusual step of publicly announcing he was removing Buttars as both chairman and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
The decision also strips Buttars of his chairmanship of the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee. Buttars, re-elected last year to a third term, remains chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and vice-chairman of the powerful Rules Committee.
Waddoups said his action should not be seen as a punishment for anti-gay statements Buttars made to a documentary filmmaker, which include comparing gay-rights activists to Muslim terrorists and calling them “the greatest threat to America going down.”
The Senate leader said Buttars is considered by his colleagues to be a “stalwart” who “represents the views of many of his constituents and many of ours.” Waddoups acknowledged he did not agree with everything Buttars said, but he repeatedly declined to be specific.
See Utah lawmaker who made anti-gay comments removed as committees’ chairman
The Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/utah-lawmaker…
San Francisco tries to address HIV crisis among black gay men
A working group formed by the city of San Francisco to address the disproportionate level of HIV infections among black gay men has recommended the development of a center that would offer health services and provide a social space for this often-isolated segment of the community. The group, whose recommendations are based on interviews with black gay men and local and national HIV experts, also wants the city to offer HIV testing and prevention programs in three neighborhoods where most black men make their homes: the Tenderloin, Bayview and Western Addition. Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/san-francisco…
Sorry, right-wingers, but King David was gay
by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner
It was years ago that I heard a particularly poignant segment of the Hebrew Scripture chanted in the synagogue—the story, in the Book of Samuel—of the powerful boyhood friendship between Jonathan and David. Jonathan was the emotional son of King Saul; David, the future king, was his companion and fast friend. Their bond, described without restraint in the Bible, was robust: Jonathan declares to David: “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.”
It’s hard to let pass the unfolding passionate relationship between these two young scriptural heroes. The romantic tension they shared was reinforced by the fierce and jealous hostility felt by King Saul against David; the paranoid monarch once even threw a spear at the lad. Jonathan so adored David that he eschewed his role as prince and gave his heart freely to his friend. His father’s disapproval did not repress his loyalty and devotion to his amour.
Granted, there are edicts in the earlier Book of Leviticus forbidding homosexual love; this is what makes the Jonathan-David affair so remarkable. Here is an intense saga of love, rivalry, and Oedipal complexes all being driven by the force of homosexual tenderness. There are deep implications of Jonathan feeling “empty” when David’s chair was vacant.
The Bible does not exactly mince words about the whole thing. In First Samuel, Chapter 20, it describes an outdoor rendezvous between the two boys: “David arose out of the place…and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.”
Until David “exceeded?” This is interpreted by some biblical critics as an explanation of David’s expressive weeping—that is, he ran out of tears. However, the literal translation of the Hebrew is, unequivocally, “until David enlarged.” One can have no illusions what the Bible is describing in this particular instance. See Sorry, right-wingers, but King David was gay
Examiner.com -
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Pasadena Pastor back on Oprah today to explain why “Gay is a gift from God”
The Reverend J. Edwin Bacon, Jr., rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena will make an encore appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show today, Monday, January 12, to respond to the controversy around his statement in a January 8th segment on the Oprah Show that “being gay is a gift from God.”
It was no surprise at All Saints Church that the show’s producers asked for some follow-up time with Reverend Bacon. “The volume of email we’re getting here in Pasadena tells us that Ed Bacon’s message — the good news that God loves absolutely everybody — is one people are hungry to hear,” said the Reverend Susan Russell, All Saints Senior Associate for Communication. “We are deeply grateful for the national platform Ed Bacon’s appearance on Oprah has given this message of love, inclusion and tolerance that we hear preached here in Pasadena 24/7. We look forward to welcoming those coming toward us who are hearing for the first time that the abundant, inclusive love of God includes them!”
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/01/pasadena-past…
Kathy Griffin’s Gay Dig Hits CNN’s Anderson Cooper – Too Close to Home? (See Video)
It looks like there might be a job opening soon over at CNN. The bonehead who hired comedian Kathy Griffin could be facing the ax after her embarrassing performance as a co-host for CNN’s New Year’s Eve telecast with Anderson Cooper.
Griffin, who is known for her salty comedy act and spontaneous outbursts of off-color humor, was true to form. At the close of one segment, she made a particularly obscene remark, supposedly to an off-camera heckler that went out over the airwaves. But, wait, was she really channeling Cooper?
Griffin and Cooper were co-hosting the CNN special telecast of New Year’s Eve on Times Square. The “My Life on the D-List” star got into hot water after the ball drop, but while the telecast was still on the air. It’s unclear from the clip exactly who Griffin was talking to. But the event unfolded kind of like this. See Kathy Griffin’s Gay Dig Hits CNN Close to Home (See Video)
TheImproper.com, NY
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WATCH: Stewart And Huckabee Clash Over Homosexuality
Jon Stewart has had Frost/Nixon on his mind a lot lately, so it’s not at all surprising to see the Daily Show host channeling those old interviews in his sit-down with Mike Huckabee. The two men devoted an entire segment of a two-part interview to a debate over gay marriage. Commendations all around, to both parties, for having a civil and even-tempered talk about the issue, though I’ll personally confess: I have no idea what needs to be done to… WATCH: Stewart And Huckabee Clash Over Homosexuality
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/watch-stewart…
