POLL: 1/3 Of Americans Deny Gays' Equal Relationship Rights

Interesting poll results from PPP for DailyKos.com on legal recognition of same-sex relationships:

Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos. 1/14-16. Registered voters. MoE 3.1% (No trend lines)

Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship.

         Marry  Civil unions  Neither
All         34       31         33

Dem         53       24         20
Rep         11       35         52
Ind         37       34         27

Lib         78       10         12
Mod         40       38         20
Con          8       32         57

Tea Party   17       30         52
Non-TP      42       30         27

White       33       30         35
Black       32       30         30
Latino      47       32         22

18-29       52       13         33
30-45       37       31         29
46-65       31       36         31
65+         23       34         42

Notice that nearly two-thirds of respondents either support full marriage equality or civil unions for same-sex couples. A majority of Democrats support marriage equality while a functionally equal majority of Republicans support no legal recognition for a gay couple's relationship. This is limited government?

Markos says that PPP will be polling on marriage equality every four weeks in 2011, which should provide some interesting longitudinal data on attitudes of Americans on the question of how same-sex couples should be recognized under the law.

Anti-Homophobia Imagery Raise Hackles In Upstate NY

The above are examples of images challenging homophobia which are appearing on billboards in the Tri-Cities Capital district area (Schenectady-Troy-Albany) sponsored by the advocacy group In Our Own Voices.

The Times Union covers the resulting controversy:

City Councilman Joseph Allen said Friday that he came in for both scorn and support after publicly expressing his displeasure this week that the billboards send the wrong message to impressionable youngsters, particularly those being raised by single mothers who may not have positive male role models.


"This kind of billboard is putting the stamp of approval on a gay lifestyle," said Allen, who is black and insists he is not homophobic.


He said he has talked with the city lawyer about taking down the billboards in Schenectady but was told the advertisements are protected under First Amendment rights.


Tandra R. LaGrone, executive director of Albany-based In our Own Voices, said the group is sponsoring the awareness campaign because it is consistent with the mission of promoting the health and welfare of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people of color.


"I thought it would be useful and pertinent to have the campaign in the Capital Region because of the numbers for HIV and AIDS among gay black males have has risen significantly," she said. "You have to start from a place of respect in order to address the stigma and homophobia of being a black gay man."


There are a total of 18 billboards in Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer and Montgomery counties along with ads on buses and bus shelters, said Peter Constantakes, spokesman with the state Department of Health which gave $50,300 to the campaign.


[...].


LeGrone called Allen's remarks especially "frightening" considering he is an elected official and black. "He is looking at his constituency as strictly being heterosexual individuals," she said, adding that the message is that gay black men make up every segment of society and are here to stay.

He's a City Councilman and doesn't know that the first amendment applies to speech he doesn't agree with? Homophobic idiot. I find it fascinating he denies he is homophobic and then is quoted in the newspaper using the words "gay lifestyle" which is a clear indication of homophobia and ignorance. Too bad the reporter didn't ask Councilman Allen what the "gay lifestyle" is and whether he think there is a "jewish lifestyle" or "Black lifestyle."

Congrats to IOV for the successful campaign. This is very important work.

112th Congress More Anti-LGBT Than 111th

Joe.My.God reports that HRC is assessing the new Congress as significantly less disposed to passing LGBT-supportive legislation than the previous Congress.

I suppose these facts may challenge the views of people who were complaining about the Democrats in control of the previous Congress and making non-sensical claims that "there's no difference" between the parties.

Kenya PM Declares Gays "Should Be Arrested"

Kenya PM Raila Odinga

The Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga has attacked the LGBT community in his African country, declaring that they "should [all] be arrested."

The Times of South Africa reports:

"Any man found engaging in sexual activities with another man should be arrested," Odinga said at a rally on Sunday, in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. 

"Even women found engaging in sexual activities will be arrested."

Speaking to his home constituency, Odinga, also a member of parliament, argued that since August census results showed the national population was perfectly split between men and women, there was "no need" for homosexuality.

"This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in this country. Men or women found engaging in those acts deserve to be arrested and will be arrested," Odinga said to cheers and laughter in the crowd.

Odinga is just joining a chorus of African politicians who are continually displaying their ignorance of homosexuality (There's no "need" for homosexuality--really? And "even" lesbians will be arrested) and blatant misogyny.

Unfortunately, the words of politicians can have real impacts on the lives of their citizens, especially if their underlings take these words to signal policy changes. Rod 2.0 reports that Kenyan gays and lesbians are terrified.

Celebrity Friday: British PM David Cameron Says "It Gets Better"

Nine Utah Cities and Counties Now Ban Anti-LGBT Bias

There is progress to report on ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the state of Utah. Recently, the city councils of Moab, UT and Murray, UT unanimously have enacted local ordinances prohibiting discrimination in housing or employment against LGBT people.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

There are now nine cities and counties in Utah with such ordinances. Equality Utah hopes the number will reach 10 before the start of the next session of the Utah Legislature, where the group has pushed for a statewide anti-discrimination law.

In addition to Moab and Murray, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Park City, Summit County, Logan, West Valley City and Taylorsville ban housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

This means that Equality Utah is just one city away from having reached its goal of having 10 local jurisdictions enact "gay rights laws" before the Utah legislature convenes again and considers a similar statewide measure.

Of course these piecemeal efforts would not be necessary if the 111th United States Congress has passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act--although even then that legislation would just ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression and not address discriminations in housing, public accommodations, credit, education and government services. All of these are areas which are protected under California state law, for example.

There is almost no chance that under Republican control the 112th Congress will pass ENDA, or frankly any LGBT-supportive legislation.

Hat/tip to Trans Griot.

Psycho Anti-Gay Cyber-Stalker Official Fired By Michigan AG

Homophobic whackadoodle Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has finally been fired by Michigan Attorney General for his bizarre cyber-bullying of openly gay University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong.

The AnnArbor.com reports:

Cox's investigation into Shirvell showed he:

• Showed up at Armstrong's home three separate times, including once at 1:30 a.m. "That incident is especially telling because it clearly was about harassing Mr. Armstrong, not engaging in free speech," the statement said.

• "Engaged in behavior that, while not perhaps sufficient to charge criminal stalking, was harassing, uninvited and showed a pattern that was in the everyday sense, stalking."

• Harassed Armstrong's friends as they were socializing in Ann Arbor. 

• Called Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, Armstrong's employer, in an attempt to "slander Armstrong and ultimately attempting to cause Pelosi to fire Armstrong.

• Attempted to "out" Armstrong's friends as homosexual — several of whom aren't gay.

The investigation found Shirvell engaged in his campaign on company time, Cox said. Shirvell called Pelosi's office while at work, during working hours, and sometimes posted online attacks about Armstrong while at work, the statement said.

In addition, Cox's statement said, Shirvell lied to investigating assistant attorneys general on several occasions during his disciplinary hearing.

"The cumulative effects of his use of state resources, harassing conduct that is not protected by the First Amendment, and his lies during the disciplinary conference all demonstrate adequate evidence of conduct unbecoming a state employee," the statement said. "Ultimately, Mr. Shirvell's conduct has brought his termination from state service."

Homophobia Lost? In UK, Straight Guys Kiss Each Other

Sociologist Eric Anderson is reporting that in Britain straight males are starting to engage in same-sex kisses with their peers.

Based on in-depth interviews of 145 British university and high-school students, Anderson and his colleagues discovered that 89 percent had kissed a male heterosexual friend on the lips at some point. A total of 37 percent had engaged in "sustained" kissing with another man, Anderson said. The men all identified as straight, and they didn't see the kisses as sexual.

"These men have lost their homophobia," Anderson said. "They're no longer afraid to be thought gay by their behaviors, and they enjoy intimacy with their friends, just the same as women."

[...]

The United Kingdom is less homophobic as a whole than the United States, Anderson said, but Americans should expect acceptance of men kissing on our shores soon enough. Research on American college soccer players suggests that 20 percent of those men have kissed another man, which is a harbinger of the trend, Anderson said.

It's not yet known how the trend of men kissing extends to non-University segments of the British population. Anderson plans to extend the research to minority men and low-income men who aren't in college.

Growing acceptance of same-sex kissing doesn't mean that homophobia is gone, just that masculine ideals are changing, Anderson said. His theory, put forth in his book, "Inclusive Masculinity: The Changing Nature of Masculinities" (Routledge, 2009), is that in times of homophobia, men police their behavior to avoid being seen as gay. When homophobia fades, men can relax and explore behaviors that don't jive with the traditional masculine ideal.

"Decrease in homophobia has positive effects for heterosexual men as well," Anderson said.

Thoughts? Does anyone think that such "enlightened" views about how heterosexual masculinity can be constructed will ever cross the pond and reach the United States?

Cross-posted from #CSP19: LGBT Rights in the Era of Obama and Google

POLL: Majority Of Americans Think Religions Contribute To LGBT Suicide

A new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute confirms the a vast majority of Americans believe what LGBT people know instinctively, that religious messages contribute to suicide rates among gay and lesbian youth.

A plurality (43%) of Americans say the messages coming from places of worship are negative, and 4-in-10 Americans believe that these messages contribute “a lot” to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people. One-third (33%) of the public also believe that messages from religious bodies are contributing “a lot” to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth, and another third (32%) say these message contribute “a little;” only 21% say they do not contribute at all.

[...].

The survey also found significant generational and partisan gaps on perceptions of the impact of messages about homosexuality from America’s places of worship. Nearly half (47%) of young adults (age 18 to 34) say that messages from places of worship are contributing “a lot” to negative views of gay and lesbian people. Among Americans age 65 and older, less than one-third (30%) say religious bodies are contributing a lot to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people. Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans (42% to 17%) to say places of worship are contributing to higher rates of suicide among gay youth.

Black Gay Visibility Campaign In NYC: "I Love My Boo"

These are examples of posters going up around New York City as part of Gay Men's Health Crisis' ongoing I Love My Boo campaign, which it announced on Monday it was greatly expanding.

According to The Advocate, the posters will appear in over 1000 subway cars and 150 subway stations for the month of October.

GMHC has started a Facebook page for the campaign.

Hat/tip to LOL Darian

Senator DeMint (R-SC) Calls For Employment Discrimination Based On Sex

United States Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, has started taking a more prominent role as the standard bearer for ultra-conservatism in America. Recently, DeMint has called for openly gay or lesbian people and sexually active unmarried women to be barred from working as public teachers.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says that even though "no one" came to his defense in 2004 after he said that gay people and unwed mothers should be banned from teaching, "everyone" quietly told him that he shouldn't back down from his position.

He also implied that not banning gay people and women who have sex before marriage from teaching would be an attack on Christians, and defended his position on banning gay teachers because he holds the same position on women who have sex outside of marriage.

"[When I said those things,] no one came to my defense," he said, the Spartanberg Herald-Journal reported. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."

So, basically Senator DeMint is calling for public employment discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientatiom.

Needless to say, he has been roundly criticized for these bigoted beliefs.

"Sexist bigots like Sen. Jim DeMint don't belong in the United States Congress," said National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill. "He thinks gay women and men and sexually active single women should be banned from teaching, but he said nothing about sexually active, single straight men."

"It is salt in the wound in our community," said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It's irresponsible for Sen. DeMint to reassert this position in this day and age. I would ask him to apologize."

"What matters in the workplace is your ability to do your job, yet you can be fired for your sexual orientation in 29 states and for your gender identity in 38. I can't imagine what people think is 'moral' about job discrimination," said the Human Rights Campaign in a statement.

Beliefs like DeMint (and his people who support him) are exactly why the Employment Non-Discrimination Act needs to become federal law.

Blaming The Victim For Gay Teen Suicide

Rob Tsinai over at Box Turtle Bulletin has created the above graphic to explain how heterosexual supremacists respond to reports of gay teen suicide.

WATCH: Mormon Leader Attempts To Increase Gay Teen Suicides

So much for that public relations makeover for the Mormon Church embrassed by the widespread reaction to their religious-based homophobic actions in the Proposition 8 fight to strip marriage rights from same-sex couples in California!

The leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Boyd. K. Packer, issued a sermon on Sunday which will likely lead to more early deaths of LGBT teenagers at their own hands as he reiterated heterosexual supremacist and virulently homophobic church dogma:

Same-sex attraction can be overcome and any type of union other than marriage between a man and a woman is morally wrong [emphasis added], an LDS apostle told millions of Mormons on Sunday.

“There are those today who not only tolerate but advocate voting to change laws that would legalize immorality, as if a vote would somehow alter the designs of God’s laws and nature,” Boyd K. Packer, president of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, said in a strongly worded sermon about the dangers of pornography and same-sex marriage. “A law against nature would be impossible to enforce. Do you think a vote to repeal the law of gravity would do any good?”

Packer, speaking from his seat because of his frail health, addressed more than 20,000 members gathered in the LDS Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City and millions more watching the faith’s 180th Semiannual General Conference via satellite.

The senior apostle drew on the church’s 1995 declaration, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” to support his view that the power to create offspring “is not an incidental part of the plan of happiness. It is the key — the very key.”

Some argue that “they were pre-set and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural,” he said. “Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone? Remember he is our father.”

Alluding to the Utah-based church’s support of laws such as California’s Proposition 8 that would define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, Packer said, “Regardless of the opposition, we are determined to stay on course.”

“We cannot change; we will not change,” the senior apostle declared. “We quickly lose our way when we disobey the laws of God. If we do not protect and foster the family, civilization and our liberties must needs perish.”

It should be noted that there is a direct (positive) correlation between the percentage of people who feel that homosexuality is a choice (as declared by Packer) and the percentage who disapprove of same-sex marriage.
Additionally, the notion that homosexuality is a choice and that young people who can not "overcome" their same-sex attraction is a key factor in may teen suicides. It should also be noted that in America, of course, marriage is a civil, legal institution which is open to people of all faiths (and no faith). What one religion believes about marriage should be irrelevant to how the state decides who can get married to whom.

I can honestly say that the widely broadcast words of the Mormon head will lead to more deaths (by suicide) of LGBT kids in America. The blood of those children are on Boyd Packer's hands.

Education Sec'y Arne Duncan Releases Statement on Bullying

U.S. Department of Education
Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office 400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

FOR RELEASE
Oct. 1, 2010
Contact: Press Office
(202) 401-1576 or press@ed.gov


STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN On the Recent Deaths of Two Young Men

        U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released the following statement:

        "This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay. These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear.

        "This is a moment where every one of us - parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience - needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms. Whether it's students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop."


###

WATCH: Psycho Heterosexual Supremacist Harassing Gay College Student

This is one of the most bizarre stories you will ever see. A public official, a Michigan Assistant Attorney General Tom Shirvell, has been electronically harassing the 21-year-old student body president Chris Armstrong. CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Shirvell. Watch what happens.

WATCH: Jamal Harris, One Of Eddie Long Accusers Speak

Hat/tip to Son of Baldwin

Eddie Long Says He Will Fight Charges

Eddie Long, the Atlanta-area Black minister who is the target of four lawsuits claiming "coercive sexual activities" between Long and four teenaged Black men, has announced that he will fight the charges. The story is on the front page of today's New York Times.

Writer and Black gay AIDS activist Craig Washington has penned a brilliant "A Sermon for Bishop Eddie Long" which ends with this crescendo:

Whether or not Long actually committed the acts of which he was recently accused, this much is true: He is assuredly guilty of engendering fear and hatred of LGBT people among thousands. He has convinced countless numbers of gays that they are sinners whose salvation rests on becoming "reconditioned" into heterosexuality. Such toxic teachings reinforce the stigma that compromises HIV-prevention efforts as well as our mental and physical health.

One who cannot face aspects of himself that he despises will train that animus on another whom he regards as his opposite. Did he sell out countless individuals in order to throw congregants off the scent of his own hunt, the exploitation of young men? Was there a point when, at first, a few and then many knew what was happening and said nothing? How long will we enable the abuse perpetrated in word and deed by our pastors? When will we dare to speak the ugly, inconvenient truth even when we are afraid?

This story of this sullied bishop serves overdue notice to Christians across the nation who have bought and sold snake oil presented as holy water. It is a foreclosure warning to every black male pastor who deems the church his castle, and the women, gays and young who build it as no more than chattel to serve his appetites. It is a subpoena, a calling to account for all black men who endorse patriarchy as the most legitimate form of power in our communities. It is a stained diary page brought to light. It is truth. Amen. 

Pow!

UPDATED 10:55AM PDT 09/26/2010:
Via Rod 2.0 comes this brief statement from Eddie Long to the press:

"On the advice of counsel, I am not going to address the allegations and attacks against me, again as I stated earlier, I want this to be dealt with in a court of justice and not in the court of public opinion."

Celebrity Friday: Bishop Eddie Long

The stories about Bishop Eddie Long have become too prominent to not comment on at this blog. He is the well-known African-American pastor and head of an Atlanta-area mega-church who was accused this week  by three young men of forcing them to have sex with him after going on long vacation trips with them.

The video above is from a press conference announcing the filing of lawsuits by two of the accusers.

According to CBS News:

In lawsuits filed this week, three men who were members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church claimed Long coerced them into sexual relations with gifts including cars, cash and travel when they were 17 or 18 years old. The sprawling church in Lithonia, Ga., about 18 miles outside of Atlanta, counts politicians, celebrities and the county sheriff among its members and hosted four U.S. presidents during the 2006 funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King.

One of the claims in the lawsuits is that Long had sexual contact with the young men, who were enrolled in New Birth's ministry for teen boys, during trips he took them on in the U.S. and abroad. Gillen said the travel was part of a mentoring program that other young men also participated in.

Recently, pictures of Eddie Long taken by his phone which he sent to the men have surfaced, showing him wearing athletic wear or spandex. See below:

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Be prepared to become even more of a celebrity than you were before, "Bishop" Eddie Long!

Hat/tip to Wonder Man.

NBJC's Out on the Hill Conference

Next week the National Black Justice Coalition will be holding it's Out on the Hill conference to be held simultaneously with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual legislative Conference September 15-18 in Washington, D.C.

The event will bring thought leaders, faith leaders, legislative officials, philanthropists and activists from the Black LGBT community from around the country to DC for a number of seminars, trainings, receptions and workshops, including two which will be occurring at The White House itself. Sadly, since I have a day job teaching Math and Cultural Studies at Occidental College, I can not attend but here are some people who will be there:

Confirmed elected officials include Georgia State Representative Simone Bell and Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh. Both are outstanding examples of Black LGBT leadership and activism. Also in attendance will be veteran activists like Mandy Carter, founder of NBJC and Southerners on New Ground (SONG); Donna Payne, Diversity Program Associate Director for HRC; Courtney Snowden, Senior Associate for the Raben Group; and Aisha Moodie-Mills, President of Campaign for All DC Families.

Early registration for the conference ends tomorrow, and if you want to attend the events at the White House they need specific information from you at the NBJC office by 5pm EDT Friday. For more information, call 202-319-155.

MadProfessah.com will try to have coverage of what happens at the conference next week.

State Senate Passes Bill Excising Anti-Gay Language From CA Code

Equality California sends out a press release touting the State Senate's passage of Bonnie Lowenhal's AB 2199 by a rare unanimous vote of 36-0. The bill had previously passed the State Assembly in April.

AB 2199 removes language from the Califgornia Welfare and Institutions Code which instructed the California Department of Mental Health to conduct research into the "causes and cures of homosexuality."
The language is a relic from the 1950s when homosexuality was linked with sexual deviancy such as pedophilia and homosexuals were considered threats to children. Of course, nowadays we know that the vast majority (90+%) of child molesters are heterosexual men.

From EQCA:

“It is outrageous that California law requires the state to expend scare resources in a futile attempt to ‘cure’ homosexuality,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California. “Every reputable study has demonstrated conclusively that it is an immutable characteristic that cannot and should not be changed. This offensive code must be stricken from the books immediately.”

The code, which was originally authored in the 1950s, implies that lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals can and should be cured, in direct contradiction with an enormous body of research that demonstrates otherwise.

“Support for this bill has been fantastic,” said Assemblymember Lowenthal. “That speaks volumes about how far we've come since 1950.”

This bill, Repeal of Discriminatory Code, heads back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote and will then go to the governor’s desk.

Another win for the good guys.