Box Turtle Bulletin

James Hartline Is Seeing Visions Again

And he’s writing them down:

The wicked rulers of the satanic realm have searched the earth for generations seeking out the hidden locations of the 144,000 bondservants of the Lord. Twelve tribes of Israel. 12,000 members of each tribe. Prophetically predetermined by God, 144,000 bondservants who will give rise to an eternal promise made by The Father to His eternal Son. Satan knows that the fulfillment of God’s catastrophic judgment upon this temporal earthly existence is held back until the 144,000 bondservants are sealed. The Wicked One, once known as Lucifer, now known as the Devil, rampages upon the earth seeking out the location of the 144,000 that he and his minions might exterminate them before they arise.

The satanic plan has unfolded. The Devil has poured out a spirit of perversion, of homosexuality and of death upon humanity that he might corrupt and decimate the potential human pool from which the 144,000 will arise. For the Book of Revelation reveals the characteristics of these unique bondservants. They are spiritual eunuchs, virgin males, free of relationships with women, devoted in complete obedience to the solitary life of God Almighty. Satan knows NOT where these 144,000 bondservants are hidden. He simply hunts for them with the blind and unholy ambition of exterminating them before they can awaken to their holy destinies.

Human Rights Watch, Sexual Minorities Uganda Condemn Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Human Rights Watch join sixteen other local and international human rights organizations in condemning the Anti-Homosexuality Act which has been introduced in Uganda’s Parliament. According to the HRW statement:

“This draft bill is clearly an attempt to divide and weaken civil society by striking at one of its most marginalized groups” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “The government may be starting here, but who will be next?”

The bill would criminalize the legitimate work of national and international activists and organizations working for the defense and promotion of human rights in Uganda. It would also put major barriers in the path of effective HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, the groups said.

“Discrimination and punitive laws like this aimed at marginalized groups and at those often among the most affected by HIV drives people underground and does nothing to help slow down the AIDS epidemic,” said Daniel Molokele, Africa program officer at the World AIDS Campaign.

Under Uganda’s existing laws, the police arbitrarily arrest and detain men and women accused of engaging in consensual sex with someone of the same sex. Human rights organizations have documented cases of torture or other ill-treatment against lesbians and gay men in detention because of their sexual orientation.

Sexual Minorities Uganda has also circulated a statement condemning the bill. Their statement, which is not yet available on their web site, is reproduced in full below. It contains disturbing news of LGBT Ugandans who had died as a result of the latest anti-homosexuality campaigns sparked by a three-day anti-gay conference last March.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Click here to read the statement from Sexual Minorities Uganda.

Louisiana Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License

Good lord, what century is this?

A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

Neither Bardwell nor the couple immediately returned phone calls from The Associated Press. But Bardwell told the Daily Star of Hammond that he was not a racist. “I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house,” Bardwell said. “My main concern is for the children.”

…If he does an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

How’s that for a slippery slope?

Here It Is: The Text of Uganda’s Proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill

We just received early this morning the full text of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill that was introduced into Uganda’s Parliament yesterday. It is greatly expanded from the earlier draft dated April 20, 2009.

Like the earlier draft, the current bill reiterates a lifetime imprisonment on conviction of homosexuality, and defines a new category called “aggravated homosexuality” with provisions for the death penalty upon conviction. Among the factors which can lead to “aggravated homosexuality” is if one partner is HIV-positive. This bill would mandate HIV testing to determine eligibility for “aggravated homosexuality.”

Also like the earlier draft, the bill includes a complete ban on all LGBT activities — including blogging — which could be construed as “promoting homosexuality.” This infringement on free speech,  peaceful assembly, and redress of grievances marks the elimination of fundamental human rights for LGBT Ugandans. The bill also bans all organizations which advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens and holds their leadership criminally liable with fines and imprisonment for up to seven years.

The bill also retains provisions which require that if someone knows that someone is engaging in homosexuality, that person is to report them to the police within twenty-four hours or face fines and/or up to a three year prison sentence themselves. The bill also extends jurisdiction to acts committed outside Uganda by Ugandan citizens. In other words, if a Ugandan citizen is known to be in a gay relationship outside the country, he will risk lifetime imprisonment (or death, if he’s HIV-positive) upon his return. The bill also provides for the extradition of citizens from abroad.

The bill also voids all treaties and international obligations which violate ” the spirit and provisions enshrined in this Act.”

The new bill adds some additional provisions over the previous draft. This bill adds the category of “attempted homosexuality” and provides a penalty of seven years in prison. For “attempted aggravated homosexuality,” the penalty is lifetime imprisonment. It also provides for compensation for “victims” of homosexuality, a provision in law which is sure to result in consensual partners turning against their partner to not only avoid the draconian legal penalties, but to claim the status of victim and seek compensation.

Further, the bill now adds an explicit ban on same-sex marriage. Anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage, either in Uganda or abroad, will liable for a lifetime imprisonment. New charges of “aiding and abetting homosexuality” and “conspiracy to engage in homosexuality” would carry a prison sentence of seven years. There is also a new charge for operating a brothel, with a definition so broad as to include any hotel owner. That, too, carries a prison sentence of seven years.

The original PDF of the document is here (PDF: 847KB/16 pages), and the full text is provided below.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Click here to read the full text of Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality bill

John Boehner’s Immutable Characteristic

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) doesn’t think sexual orientation should be included in the hate Crimes law because, he says, homosexuality is not an immutable characteristic. CBS News decided to follow up on that:

CBSNews.com contacted Boehner’s office to find out if the minority leader opposes all hate crimes legislation. The law as it now stands offers protections based on race, color, religion and national origin.

In an email, Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said Boehner “supports existing federal protections (based on race, religion, gender, etc) based on immutable characteristics.”

Really? Religious identity is an immutable characteristic? Is Boehner saying that free will isn’t involved? What have all those missionaries been wasting their time for?

Olson/Boies Lawsuit Survives First Hurdle

There was a hearing today regarding whether the lawsuit to overturn Proposition 8 brought by Ted Olson and David Boies should be thrown out in summary judgment. (SF Chron)

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, in a ruling from the bench in San Francisco, said a trial was needed to resolve crucial issues, including whether gays and lesbians are persecuted minorities entitled to judicial protection from discriminatory laws. He has scheduled the trial for January.

And in a clue to Judge Walker’s thinking,

But Walker said the Supreme Court, in striking down laws against interracial marriage and by allowing prisoners to marry, had defined the right to wed as fundamental without limiting it to certain groups.

HIV Vaccine Results Called Into Question

Remember that HIV vaccine story we were so excited about? It turns out that it may not be so promising after all. A Wall Street Journal article over the weekend determined that unreleased analysis of the data suggested the trial might have been a statistical fluke:

The second analysis, which is considered a vital component of any vaccine study, shows the results weren’t statistically significant, these scientists said. In other words, it indicates that the results could have been due to chance and that the vaccine may not be effective.

The additional data were available to the researchers on Sept. 24 when they announced the trial results, but they chose not to disclose them, said Jerome Kim, a scientist with the U.S. Army who was involved in the study. News of the second analysis was first reported on the Web site of Science magazine, but the story didn’t provide specific data. Full details of the trial are to be aired at an AIDS meeting in Paris that starts Oct. 19.

A group of 22 scientists who were critical of the study when it began in 2004 wrote that they feared that “one price for repetitive failure could be crucial erosion by the public and politicians in our capability of developing an effective AIDS vaccine collectively.” The WSJ article suggests the Army, the Thai government and the U.S. National Institutes of Health rushed to put a positive spin on the study. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is calling for an independent review.

HRC Responds

HRC president Joe Solmonese responds to accusations that he gave President Barack Obama a pass until 2017:

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was the reaction some people had to my comment that on the last day of President Obama\’s term, we will be able to look back on many accomplishments in LGBT rights. I still find it hard to believe that anyone thought I was saying that we should be content to wait patiently for our equality. What I said—and what I believe in my heart—is just the opposite.

We all worked hard to elect a President who supports our rights and now that we\’re in a position to make change happen, the last thing we should do is wait.  Don\’t Ask, Don\’t Tell and DOMA are still on the books and an inclusive ENDA has yet to become law.  Real families are left without protections and people living with HIV and AIDS aren\’t getting the care they need.  Students are being bullied in school because they\’re different and bi-national couples are treated like they\’ve never met.  While we\’ve started to turn the tide, it\’s clear that our community has a lot of reasons to be angry and impatient, and I\’m thankful to the tens of thousands who joined us in Washington this weekend to demand a change.

So while I steadfastly believe that we will have accomplished an awful lot by the time President Obama leaves office, I know that wishing won\’t make it so.

…That is why our confidence in what we will accomplish under this President is not misplaced.  At the end of the day, it is confidence in ourselves.  I have confidence in the LGBT community and the people who support us.  We will claim the equality that is our birthright, day by day, vote by vote, law by law.

The entire statement is here. In effect, Solmonese hitches his success squarely on the Obama administration. Time will tell whether that’s a wise choice.

Jamaican Prime Minister: “No Acceptance of Same-Sex Unions”

Jamaica’s parliament is considering a major proposed amendment to the constitution relating to rights and Bruce Golding, the Prime Minister, wants everyone to know that they aren’t even considering rights for gay citizens. (AP)

“I make no apology in saying decisively and emphatically that the government of Jamaica remains irrevocably opposed to the recognition, legitimization or acceptance of same-sex marriages or same-sex unions,” Golding said on Tuesday.
…
“There is the possibility that sometime in the future parliament could pass a law that says same-sex unions are legal but it won’t be done in this parliament. Not as long as I sit here.”

Although his words were limited to the legality of same-sex unions, Golding has made it abundantly clear that he sees no need to rein in the culture of anti-gay violence, hatred and murder that permeates all aspects of Jamaican life.

Let this serve as a reminder that whether or not you are gay, you should not consider Jamaica as a safe place to vacation. Those who celebrate the murder of gay men and women will not hesitate to find some reason to celebrate the mistreatment of you too.

Uganda Parliament Takes Up Anti-Gay Bill Adding Death Sentence and Bans on Free Speech

Uganda’s Parliament took up the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 today, giving the bill its first reading. Bills undergo three readings before becoming law. BTB previewed the bill last month when we received a surreptitious copy dated April 20. According to the pro-government New Vision newspaper, the bill appears unchanged from the earlier draft:

Aggravated homosexuality will be punished by death, according to a new bill tabled in Parliament yesterday. …A person commits aggravated homosexuality when the victim is a person with disability or below the age of 18, or when the offender is HIV-positive. The bill thus equates aggravated homosexuality to aggravated defilement among people of different sexes, which also carries the death sentence.

The Bill, entitled the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, also states that anyone who commits the offence of homosexuality will be liable to life imprisonment. This was already the case under the current Penal Code Act. However, it gives a broader definition of the offence of homosexuality. A person charged with the offence will have to undergo a mandatory medical examination to ascertain his or her HIV status. The bill further states that anybody who “attempts to commit the offence” is liable to imprisonment for seven years. The same applies to anybody who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage in acts of homosexuality” or anybody who keeps a house or room for the purpose of homosexuality.

The bill also proposes stiff sentences for people promoting homosexuality. They risk a fine of sh100m or prison sentences of five to seven years. This applies to people who produce, publish or distribute pornographic material for purposes of promoting homosexuality, fund or sponsor homosexuality.

The bill’s language prohibiting “promoting homosexuality” does not restrict itself to “pornographic material.” That is an invetion of the New Vision reporter, who equates anything advocating on behalf of LGBT people as pornographic. Instead, the bill addresses anyone invloved in the “production, trafficking, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating, publishing homosexual materials,” or “who acts as an accomplice or attempts to legitimize or in any way abets homosexuality and related practices.”

The bill also adds an unusual extraterritorial jurisdiction for those who are Ugandan citizens but who engage in same-sex relationships or LGBT advocacy overseas.

Opposition to the bill appears minimal according to The New Vision. It is highly unlikely that many lawmakers will vote against the bill, given the current environment where accusations of homosexuality have become a potent political tool.

This drafting of this bill appears to have coincided with intense lobbying efforts by anti-gay activists following a conference held in Kampala which featured American Holocaust revisionist Scott Lively and Exodus International board member Don Schmierer. Exodus International released a statement “applauding” Don Schierer\’s participation in the conference which ended with calls to strengthen Uganda\’s homosexuality laws. Exodus International president Alan Chambers denies that Exodus supports criminalizing homosexuality. Scott Lively, however, defended criminal laws against gay people.

That anti-gay conference quickly spawned other anti-gay meetings and rallies, including a march on Parliament on April 24, about the time this draft was written. By then, rumors were already circulating that anti-gay politicians sought to eliminate free speech by criminalizing LGBT advocacy, a rumor which was confirmed in Julyby Uganda\’s Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity James Nsaba Buturo. Meanwhile, a full-fledged public vigilante campaign was released on Uganda\’s gay community, leading to several reports of arrests and investigations.

The full text of the draft is available here.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

NY Assemblyman Calls for DADT State Moratorium

Who is NY State Assemblyman Greg Ball?

Assemblyman Greg Ball (R, C, I – Patterson) is serving his second term in the New York State Assembly, where he serves as ranking member of the influential committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions.
…
A former Vice President of Exceed International Development Corporation, Ball holds a Bachelor\’s Degree in Political Science from the United States Air Force Academy, is currently completing his Masters Thesis of Liberal Studies in International Affairs at Georgetown University and received an honorable discharge in 2005 at the rank of Captain after service as an active duty officer in the United States Air Force.

In case you missed it, Ball is a vet and he’s a Republican. And it is from that perspective that Ball has “called upon the New York State Army National Guard to put a moratorium on the current “Don\’t Ask, Don\’t Tell” (DADT) policy affecting the military.”

I don’t know if the State of New York can unilaterally determine policy for the State National Guard – though one would certainly think that the founding fathers would have thought so. But, nevertheless, I like what he has to say:

“As an Academy grad and former Air Force Captain, I was honored to serve with the best and brightest of America. What folks need to realize is that some of the brightest and best in uniform are also homosexual. These folks serve honorably everyday, but are asked, forced really, to live a lie, and that reality in and of itself is a self inflicted security risk created by DADT. To kick brave men and women out of the military, patriotic folks willing to fight and die for our country, because of their sexual orientation, in an era when we need every serviceman and woman we can get, is foolish. The military is strong and resilient and can handle this change,” said Ball.

(hat tip Good As You)

Latest Poll: 51.8% Against Maine’s Question 1

A new poll from Portland-based Pan Atlantic SMS Group shows that Mainers plan to vote “no” on Question 1 and preserve Marriage Equality in the state. According to a survey of 401 Mainers who identified themselves as “likely” voters in the Nov. 3 election, 51.8% say they will vote “no” on Question 1, and 42.9 plan to vote “yes.”

The margin of error is +/- 4.9%, which means that statistically it’s close to a tie. And given the fact that other polls often show more people saying they will vote for marriage equality than actually do at the polls, this is no time for complacency. Please donate today to preserve marriage equality in Maine.

What Happened to That Mormon Ad for Washington’s Ref 71?

A reader writes:

Jim – do you know what happened to the ad that you linked to this post? Was it a hoax? Or was it the real thing and got laughed off the air? I can never tell when I’m dealing with Mormons -which is too often since half my family is LDS. Did anyone get a copy of the ad before it was pulled?

Sure enough, that ad — complete with an LDS copyrighted image — was pulled from YouTube. Poof! Gone. Like it was never even there.

NOM and Catholic Diocese Provide Almost 2/3rds of “Yes on Q1” Budget

As we reported earlier, the October financial statements are in for the Maine campaigns for Question 1, and the “No” side to preserve marriage equality is doing quite well in fundraising. They’ve raised about $2.7 million as of the first of October. Meanwhile, the “yes” side who is trying to overturn Maine’s same-sex law had raised only $1.1 million. But because opinion polls show that Maine voters are evenly split on Question 1, Stand for Marriage Maine brags that “Mainers won’t be bought.”

But who’s trying to do the buying? The Associated Press buried that answer in the last two paragraphs of this article:

Most of the NO on 1 contributions ranged from $25 to $500. The group reported nearly $42,000 in in-kind contributions from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.

Stand for Marriage’s report listed numerous contributions in the $100 to $500 range. Among its biggest contributors were the National Organization for Marriage of Princeton, N.J., which accounted for about $425,000, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which gave more than $270,000.

That makes $695,000 of Stand for Marriage Maine’s $1.1 million — almost two-thirds — coming from just two powerful groups: The National Organization for Marriage and the Diocese of Portland. You can bet that now that everyone knows that Stand for Marriage Maine is behind in the fundraising sweepstakes, more groups like Focus On the Family and others will throw their weight into the battle. That’s why your donations are more important now than ever. Please, donate today.

Queens Man Brutally Beaten in Anti-Gay Attack

Video was released yesterday showing a gay Queens man being brutally beaten by two men last week. Jack Price, 49, was harassed and assaulted early Friday morning as he was leaving a deli. The attack was was captured on video, as Price was subjected to anti-gay epithets and beaten to the ground. He was left with a broken jaw, fractured ribs and a lacerated spleen. He is in a medically-induced coma on a respirator.

The two attackers have been arrested. They are Daniel Aleman, 26, and Daniel Rodriguez, 21. Aleman, who was arrested over the weekend, has been charged with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime. Rodriguez, who was arrested today in Norfolk, VA, has charges pending his extradition to New York.