Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyOctober 6th, 2009
As expected, David Catania introduced a bill to the city council of the District of Columbia to legalize same-sex marriage. (NYT)
City Council members introduced legislation Tuesday to allow same-sex marriage here. If it passes, as expected, Washington would be the first city below the Mason-Dixon line to allow such unions. The city\’s bill is expected to become law by December.
General consensus is that there will be no concerted attempt in Congress to block the home rule decision by the District and that, after some denouncements which will be mostly ignored but good for politicking back home, the law will go into effect.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, said he did not believe his fellow opponents of same-sex marriage would be able to block the city\’s measure legalizing it.
“Given the other issues Congress is focused on, such as health care, it hasn\’t got much attention,” said Representative Chaffetz, the ranking member of the House subcommittee that oversees the District. “You couple that with the Democrats\’ stranglehold on House rules, and the minority is left out of the legislative process.”
Some are warning that future changes in Congressional make up could result in Republican efforts to ban marriage equality in the District. And that could be true. However, I believe that if the policy were firmly in place for a number of years, such efforts would appear distasteful, especially to those Republicans who still believe that “smaller local government” is an ideology instead of a campaign slogan.
Incidentally, Bishop Harry Jackson is trumpeting a theme that we discussed earlier this week.
Bishop Jackson, who helped file the petition for a referendum, said: “The faith community has been concerned for months, that it\’s been cast as bigots, racists, and worse. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
I think that perhaps anti-gay activists may be starting to hear the voices of their own conscience.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Matt
October 6th, 2009
That quote from Jackson is worth much more than anything Obama will say at his HRC fundraiser.
David C.
October 6th, 2009
If “Bishop” Jackson wants anybody to believe him, I’d suggest that he and the “faith community” stop acting like bigots.
Perhaps Jackson does not want to be labelled a bigot because he is instead a liar and a fraud, having claimed a DC residence when he did not in fact live there, or maybe “Bishop” Jackson would prefer a more fitting label for himself: crook.
John
October 6th, 2009
The only way it could be repealed is by an act of legislation which, if this is law for a couple of years, probably wouldn’t survive a filibuster in the Senate. I assume that Obama wouldn’t sign such a repeal anyways, though one never knows with him…
tavdy79
October 6th, 2009
If the Jackson’s sheeple have been cast as bigots, it’s because he did the casting. All we’ve needed to do is highlight it.
Lindoro Almaviva
October 6th, 2009
“You couple that with the Democrats’ stranglehold on House rules, and the minority is left out of the legislative process.â€
Do I detect a hint of bitterness in that comment?
I mean, because the former republican congress would never hold it kidnapped so they could pass all the bull crap legislation they wanted and then cry when the Democrats wanted to use a filibuster to block some of that stuff.
I mean, sometimes the phrase you reap what you sow does come in handy.
Dan
October 6th, 2009
Unfortunately, BTB and most of the blogosphere has failed to identify the only real remaining threat to marriage equality in DC. It is not Congress. It is a lawsuit by Jackson or other anti-gays to compel the DC government to accept petitions for a ballot referendum. Their prior effort in this regard ended in failure at the Superior Court level. They did not appeal that decision.
That means the DC Court of Appeals still has not been heard on the issue of whether the marriage bill is subject to referendum. The DC Court of Appeals is not bound by the prior decision of the Superior Court, so the whole issue is essentially a clean slate for them. There is a very bad prior Court of Appeals ruling on the books from 1995 which the court could treat as precedent, or which the court could rule is not valid precedent.
I think we will win on this and there will be no referendum, but it surely remains a real threat that warrants attention.
Leave A Comment