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 lobbySeptember 20th, 2011
TODAY’S AGENDA (OURS):
RIP DADT: Everywhere. Finally. The day has finally arrived in which gay and lesbian servicemembers can concentrate on performing their assignments for the defense of the country rather than constantly look over their shoulder to see who might turn them in. LGBT organizations that have fought so hard to see this day come have an impressive lineup of celebrations and commemorations on tap for today. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has celebrations organized in all fifty states today. You can check out their web site for the celebration nearest you. Servicemembers United. And today’s edition of OutServe Magazine features 101 actively-serving military members identified by name, rank and duty station. Among those profiled is OutServe’s co-founder, Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, whose name until now appeared on the masthead as “J.D. Smith” because he, too, is an active servicemember.
OUT On the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit: Washington, D.C. The National Black Justice Coalition convenes its second annual OUT On the HIll summit today. The focus this year is to make an expanded effort in recruiting emerging Black LGBT leaders to “engage in an intergenerational dialogue that will help grow the leadership pipeline necessary to sustain a vibrant, forceful movement for equal rights.” Toward that end, they will conduct briefings with the Obama Administration, Congressional leaders and federal agency officials, with many delegates being fully registered to participate in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative conference. The summit continues through Sunday.
Advocating for Sexual Minorities In Uganda: New York, NY. Julius Kaggwa, Executive Director of Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sexual Development (SIPD Uganda) will speak this evening about the underlying causes of extreme homophobia in Africa and the most effective ways in which non-Africans can help. The talk will take place at the LGBT Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, Room 412 in New York, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Rally and March for Fairness: Berea, KY. Bereans for Fairness launched an ad campaign last night highlighting pro-equality statements made by six of eight members of the Berea city council. The group contends that this shows that there is support for gay rights in the central Kentucky town. The Berea city council is considering establishing a local human rights commission to deal with anti-discrimination measures in employment, housing, and public accommodations. If enacted, this would propel Berea (pop. 14,400) into the same leagues with its much larger brethren of Louisville, Lexington and Covington. Berea is home to the highly-ranked Berea College, which was founded in 1855 as the only racially integrated and coeducational college in the South, and this heritage has instilled a strong progressive tradition in the small town just 35 miles south of Lexington. The group plans to rally at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon at Union Church and march to City Hall to pressure lawmakers to pass the Fairness ordinance.
Free Screening of “This Is What Love In Action Looks Like”: Brooklyn, NY. In June 2005, sixteen-year-old Zach Stark announced on his MySpace blog that his parents were sending him away to an ex-gay youth program. He also posted the program’s rules that he would be forced to live under while participating in the program. Thanks to Zach’s blog posts, Memphis-based Love In Action, an Exodus-affiliated program, became the focus of worldwide controversy and daily protests. “Love In Action” was investigated by the state of Tennessee for child abuse and for operating a separate unlicensed drug and alcohol treatment program. Love In Action eventually settled with the state and shut down their youth program. Morgan Fox’s documentary, This Is What Love in Action Looks Like, chronicles those events and features interviews with Zach, then-LIA director John Smid, other former ex-gay leaders and former LIA clients, and receives a free screening tonight at the reRun Gastropub Theater beginning at 7:00 p.m. Morgan Fox will be there for a Q&A after the show.
TODAY’S AGENDA (THEIRS):
The Way Out Ex-Gay Conference: Louisville, KY. Modeled roughly after Exodus Internationals “Love Won Out” conferences, this two-day conference begins this afternoon at 1:00 at the gets under way today at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Featured speakers include National Strategist for Gender Issues of the Southern Baptist Convention Bob Stith, former Exodus International vice president and current board member Mike Goeke, and ex-gay speaker Christopher Yuan.
Triangulator In Chief
TODAY IN HISTORY:
President Clinton Announces Signing of DOMA Into Law: 1996. President Clinton announced his signing of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which outlaws federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and allows states to ignore the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S Constitution when they want to refuse to recognized valid marriages from other states. Clinton said that he signed DOMA to head off a federal constitutional amendment, but LGBT advocates grumbled that the act was less a defense of marriage and more a defense of his 1996 reelection campaign. Those suspicions were confirmed when the Clinton campaign released a radio ad bragging about his signing of DOMA and ran it on Christian radio stations across the country. In response to loud protests from LGBT advocates, the Clinton campaign pulled that ad two days later.
Rocking the Paradise
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
Chuck Panozzo: 1948. Do you remember the band Styx? I’m not sure how much play they get on classic rock radio these days, but they were huge from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. They were my favorite band in high school; I thought 1977’s The Grand Illusion was, you know, so deep. Anyway, basist Chuck Panozzo co-founded the band with his fraternal twin brother, John Panozzo. In 2001, Chuck came out as gay and as a person living with HIV, and since then he has been involved with AIDS awareness campaign. His autobiography, The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life with Styx
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. PLEASE, don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).
And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?
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:
Timothy (TRiG)
September 20th, 2011
Thanks for the work you do with these daily posts, Jim. It looks like hard work.
Typo: add > ad.
TRiG.
cowboy
September 20th, 2011
Of course, the big news is the repeal of DADT. I see the faces and have much more admiration for those who served our Country in our military. Thank you. You can hold your head high and I salute (tip of the hat) all veterans.
And then, to see photos of Maggie Gallagher at the performance of “8” in NYC.
Is she so full of herself that she had to see who spoke her parts in the play? I hope she didn’t get ‘comp’ tickets.
Leave A Comment