Box Turtle Bulletin

LaBarbera Says Gays and Ex-Gays Should Be Disqualified For Public Office

Peter LaBarbera asks a question straight out of the  McCarthy era while writing in the third person:

Peter LaBarbera, founder of Republicans For Family Values (www.rffv.org), urged potential Supreme Court pick Elena Kagan , Republican Reps. David Dreier and Patrick McHenry, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist — each the subject of wide speculation that they practice(d) homosexuality — to answer the question: ‘Are (or were) you a practicing homosexual?‘ [All emphases in the origianl]

Interesting question. It’s interesting not so much for the McCarthyesque turn of phrase at the end, but for what it reveals about LaBarbara’s attitude towards ex-gays as well as gay people. By lumping the past tense with the present tense as he does, LaBarbera makes it clear that as far as he’s concerned there’s no difference when it comes to discerning a candidate’s political and judicial qualifications. You’re equally damned if you do and damned if you stop.

Not surprising, really. While anti-gay extremists like LaBarbera finds ex-gays a convenient tool for their arsenal, deep down they don’t trust ex-gays any more than do people in the gay community. All that talk about “redemption”? It’s just talk, and there’s no better evidence for that than this.

The Blade Is Back, Part 2

And it looks fabulous!

Stories From the Frontlines: Capt. Rebecca H. Elliot

Former Army Capt. Rebecca Elliott with her sister

Today’s letter to President Barack Obama is from former Army Captain Rebecca H. Elliot, for whom military service is a long and proud family tradition:

On my last day of active duty, some of my old squad leaders revealed to me that one of my former team leaders was gay. They figured it was safe to tell me, as I was leaving the Army. My first feelings on the matter were, frankly, a little surprised, followed by complete indifference.

I was surprised because I had never suspected the soldier of being gay. But then, I never really had any thoughts about her sexual orientation whatsoever.

When I reflected on it, it didn’t make one bit of difference in how she performed her job or how she related to the other soldiers in the platoon. She had the respect of her squad leaders (fairly conservative men, mind you), who kept her secret and continued working with her side-by-side for years.

As an officer, I would have been bound by my position to report such “credible information” that would have led to the discharge of a great NCO. I am glad that I was never placed in the position of having to choose between one of my soldiers and enforcing this terrible law, which I feel is unfair and wrong.

You can read the full letter here. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network explains why they are publishing this series of letters from active and former servicemembers:

“Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.

Immigration Reform Proposal Includes LGBT Families

The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld notes that the brief outline for immigration reform released by Senate Democrats includes a provision that would allow U.S. citizens and legal residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for residency. The provision is found on page 22 of the 26-page outline (PDF: 608KB/26 pages):

It (the proposal) will eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status.

The document is only an outline of what the Dem’s proposals would do. It is not a proposed legislative document. That still needs to be written. While the Obama administration would rather the Senate focus on finance reform, Senate leaders insist that there will at least be a vote in 2010.

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Anti-Bullying Measure

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover

Both houses of the Massachusetts legislature approved an anti-bullying law spurred on by the deaths of two youths who committed suicide following episodes of bullying by their classmates. The unanimous votes in both houses was on a reconciling bill which ironed out difference in two earlier bills from each house. The legislation will require school employees to report all instances of bullying and require principals to investigate them. A spokesman for the governor’s office said that Gov. Deval Patrick (D) will review the bill, but that he saw its passage as a “top priority.”

The impetus for the bill came from the suicides of Phoebe Prince and 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, who killed himself just over a year ago over taunts about his perceived sexuality.

Hawaii House Approves Civil Unions

A bill providing for civil unions for same-sex couples has passed the Hawaii House of Representatives this even on a 31-20 vote. The Hawaii Senate passed the bill in January with a veto-proof majority, but the House at that time chickened out on taking a vote. But now that the House has finally grown a pair, the bill now goes to the governor’s desk. Gov. Linda Lingle (R) has not indicated whether she will sign it or not. The House’s vote is shy of a veto-proof majority.

Porno Pete Calls Focus On The Family A Bunch Of Sissies

Jim Daly, Focus On the Family’s new CEO who replaced James Dobson, has been trying to move the organization into a more kinder, gentler sort of an anti-gay organizations. Of course, none of their policies or tactics have actually changed and it would seem that the contributors to the Drive-By… err, Drive Thru blog don’t seem to have gotten the memo on the niceness thing. But there are reports that Daly wants to make Focus’s mean policies magically appear somehow, I dunno, softer in their meanness, all to attract more “millennials” who hold a distinctly dim view of Focus’ anti-gay politics.

The mere hint that Focus might put on a veneer of civility has Peter “Porno Pete” LaBarbera in a tizzy. His latest headline: Is Jim Daly Emasculating Focus on the Family?

Fact Check: FAIR’s 2,555,000 Dimes For “Ethno-Separatist”

Rachel Maddow interviewed Dan Stein of the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the group that claims credit for writing Arzona’s anti-immigration law which critics charge is a open invitation to racial profiling. In particular, Maddow drills Stein over FAIR’s extensive associations with White Supremacists.

Brutal. So who’s the more credible party: Maddow or Stein?

Well, we don’t have the wherewithal to fact check everything in this interview, but I knew I could easily fact-check Stein’s denial that FAIR donated any money or had any connections with an “ethno-separatist” during a 2004 Arizona ballot initiative. Protect Arizona Now (PAN), with “ethno-separatist” Virginia Abernathy chairing its national advisory board, was the prime force behind Arizona’s Prop 200 in 2004. At 19:33 in the interview, Stein said:

First of all, we never gave that organization a dime. And secondly, even if we were going to give them the dime, we wouldn’t have given the dime with Virginia Abernathy associated with it.

Unfortunately for Stein, donations for ballot initiatives are reportable to the Secretary of State and posted online. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Web Site:

• On April 1, 2004, FAIR gave Virginia Abernathy’s PAN $50,000, and the FAIR Congressional Task Force gave them another $50,000 more.
• On May 11, 2004, FAIR gave PAN $25,500, and the  FAIR Congressional Task Force gave PAN another $25,000.
• On June 11, 2004, FAIR gave PAN $50,000, and the FAIR Congressional Task Force gave PAN another $55,000.

After Abernathy exploded publicly with her ethno-separatist views, FAIR did denounce Abernathy’s views. and on September 24, FAIR shifted its support to a new group that arose from those ashes, Yes on Proposition 200, with a $60,865 donation. But yes, despite Stein’s claim, FAIR provided Abernathy’s PAN with $255,500 out of $370,000 of reportable donations altogether.

In case you’re counting, that’s 2,555,000 dimes.

Rhode Island GOP welcomes gay Republicans

From the Providence Journal:

The state GOP welcomed a new caucus Wednesday night: The Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay and lesbian conservatives committed to “changing the GOP from the inside, while advancing Republican ideals of personal liberty and fiscal responsibility.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille was among the speakers at an event hosted at the Providence restaurant, Twist on Angel, organized by new caucus chairman, Raymond Beltran, a 26-year-old Community College of Rhode Island student.

“The perception of the GOP being bigoted and narrow-minded — at least in Rhode Island — is hopefully coming to a close,” Beltran said. “We’re a very different breed in Rhode Island in many ways. We have one of the most forward-thinking Republican parties in the country.”

Stories From the Frontlines: An Active-Duty Chaplain

Today’s letter to President Barack Obama is from an active-duty chaplain who has just returned from a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq.

Over the years some of us have buried our closest friends — officers and enlisted, African American, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, Whites, rich, poor, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews. They had the courage to make the supreme sacrifice in order for us to reap the bounties of freedom. We owe them a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid.

…As they sleep under the crosses, the stars of David and the crescents there is no bigotry. There is no prejudice. There is no hatred. And within the sacred confines of their resting place there is no law of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” There is only purest democracy.

When the final cross has been placed in the last cemetery, will it only be then that we as a nation acknowledge our gay brothers and sisters who took the risks of life and truth to answer their nation’s highest calling? How many of these brave men and women lie in military graves and still hide in death?

They are among the unknown soldiers.

There are only a few who know the truth of those who lie in these graves. There are only a few who know the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn them in silence and fear. The nation remains silent and owes no allegiance to who they truly were nor does it honor their loved ones. What does that say of our sacred values?

If one gay person was killed in defense of America, issues such as the destruction of unit morale or the fear of people not wanting to join the military devalue their sacrifice. This is not about appeasing the uncomfortable feelings of a minority; this is a universal and transcendent matter of justice. America was built on the common Jewish and Christian heritage of justice when the Bible commands: “Justice, justice you shall pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20).

Because the writer is currently serving, he is unable to identify himself publicly. You can read the full letter here.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network explains why they are publishing this series of letters from active and former servicemembers:

“Stories from the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.

We Are All Mexicans, Part 2

Some more data points to consider in reference to Arizona’s law which is an open invitation for racial profiling and harrassment of its legal citizens in the name of clamping down on undocumented immigrants. From the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Arizona’s controversial anti-immigrant law was written by a lawyer at the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as an anti-immigrant hate group since 2007. The law, a recipe for racial profiling, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

Want more? How about this:

The principal sponsor of the Arizona law, state Sen. Russell Pearce, has his own history of hate. In 2006, Pearce forwarded an email to his supporters from the neo-Nazi National Alliance titled “Who Rules America?” The article criticized the media for promoting multiculturalism and racial equality, and for presenting the Holocaust as fact. More recently, Pearce has been photographed hugging J.T. Ready, a Phoenix-area resident who is a member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement.

Still think race has nothing to do with this? Pima County (Tucson) Sheriff  Clarrence Dupnik calls the law “racist,” “digusting,” and “unnecessary”. He announced that while he will not release any illegal immigrants who happens to come into his custody (standard practice is to turn them over to Border Patrol), he won’t enforce the new law.

The sheriff acknowledged that this course of action could get him hauled into court. SB 1070 allows citizens to sue any law enforcement official who doesn’t comply with the law. But Dupnik told Nunez that SB 1070 would force his deputies to adopt racial profiling as an enforcement tactic, which Dupnik says could also get him sued. “So we’re kind of in a damned if we do, damned if we don’t situation. It’s just a stupid law.”

Dupnik had harsh words for anyone who thinks SB 1070 will not lead to racial profiling. “If I tell my people to go out and look for A, B, and C, they’re going to do it. They’ll find some flimsy excuse like a tail light that’s not working as a basis for a stop, which is a bunch of baloney.”

Like I said, Oh how I wish Pima County were its own state. (By the way, Pima County was also the only one among Arizona’s 15 counties to vote down Prop 102 in 2008. Viva Tucson!)

Court hearing doesn’t go well for Washington anti-gay petition signatories

Last year anti-gay activists in Washington State collected signatures to get a referendum on the ballot challenging the legislature’s domestic partnership laws. The people subsequently voted to keep the laws recognizing gay couples.

But one of the issues that arose from that action was the question as to whether signatures on petitions – specifically anti-gay petitions – were public information or or protected anonymous political speech. Supporters of the petition argued that they were skurrrred of the evil gays who might take their business to a more supportive company or might frown at them in the supermarket.

And so a judge blocked the releasing of the info. The Secretary of State appealed the decision arguing that the State had an interest in open air laws. The decision was overturned, appealed again, and now is being argued in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. Anti-gay activists want all public disclosure laws declared to be unconstitutional and to conduct their animus behind the veil of anonymity.

But today did not go well for them. Justices, including at least one who is inclined to be sympathetic to conservative causes, were not much impressed by their arguments. (AP)

Several justices questioned whether people who voluntarily signed a petition asking for a public referendum could then expect privacy. They were concerned that keeping the names of petitioners private might invalidate other vital open records like voter registration rolls or lists of donors to political candidates.

“Running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage,” said Justice Antonin Scalia, who also called the arguments to keep the names private “touchy-feely.”

On the other hand, Justice Alito was there to go to bat for the anti-gays.

But Justice Samuel Alito questioned Washington’s attorney general, Robert McKenna, on whether his office was willing to give out the home address of its lawyers so people could show up and have “uncomfortable conversations” with them after-hours.

McKenna said office addresses and telephone numbers of his lawyers were public.

But Alito appeared to be in the minority (Wall Street Journal)

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg questioned the relevance of that precedent. She and Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested that making public the names of petition signers could allow people to verify whether the signatures were real.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested the court was unlikely to strike down the law on its face, but might find that in some circumstances names should be withheld if the signers could show they faced a threat.

I would hope that this would be a real threat, not an irrational fear based on imagined concerns.

Date set for closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger

Prop8trialtracker.com is reporting

So now we finally have a date for Closing Arguments for the Prop 8 trial — Wednesday, June 16th, or 156 days after the start of the Trial. By now, we’ve heard the evidence, we know what’s been said, and there’s been a lot of analysis on this site about what it means for the outcome, our movement, and our lives.

Argentina’s legislature to debate marriage equality next week

Buenos Aires Herald is reporting that the nation’s Lower House will take up marriage equality next week:

As for the same sex marriage debate, Rossi called for a special session to be held next Wednesday in order to discuss the controversial bill which allows it.

“We are calling for a new session to be held next week, on Wednesday at 10:00am with the only purpose of debating the same sex marriage,” Rossi assured.

As regards this bill, the resolution which the Family and General Legislation committees have issued modifies the Civil Code and replaces the terms “man and woman” for general words implying no sex.

Laura Bush Cautioned Against Anti-Gay Campaign

The Politico’s Mike Allen has gotten a look at Larua Bush’s new memoirs:

LAURA BUSH’s memoir, “Spoken from the Heart” (Scribner, 456 pages), is officially out Tuesday. $16.20 on Amazon http://amzn.to/bP6eKd The New York Times has published an account based on a copy obtained at a bookstore, freeing POLITICO to report the contents of an embargoed hardback provided by the publisher.

…”In 2004 the social question that animated the campaign was gay marriage. Before the election season had unfolded, I had talked to George about not making gay marriage a significant issue. We have, I reminded him, a number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay. But at that moment I could never have imagined what path this issue would take and where it would lead.” (p. 303)

John Avarosis beat me to the punch:

George sure didn’t listen to Laura on this one — or even Dick Cheney. Nope. He listened to Karl Rove, who had a gay stepfather, and Ken Mehlman. More on those two here.