Box Turtle Bulletin

One of the Most Anti-Gay Republicans In Congress CAN Say Our Name. Just Don’t Get Too Excited Over It.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who had been one of the country’s staunchest opponents of marriage equality and is a regular speaker at the Family “Research” Council’s annual Values Voter Summit, broke ranks with the majority of his caucus today on CNN’s New Day, when he told Chris Cuomo that it was “clear that gays were targeted in Orlando”:

I think it’s clear that gays were targeted in Orlando. It does matter. And it’s tragic that they were targeted because of their sexual orientation. I talk with hundreds of conservatives over on this side of the aisle. No one brings up the fact in any derogatory way or even mentions it to that extent. I mean, it’s tragic. And we’re sorry about that and they are in our prayers as if they were the Christians that were slaughtered in Charleston, South Carolina some time back, equal standing with God, Chris.

So yeah, there’s probably no reason to get too excited by this. I mean, those gays in Orlando aren’t Christians, but they do get equal standing. Which is, I guess, is some kind of a small improvement. Two years ago, King said of gay people: “I’ll just say that what was a sin 2,000 years ago is a sin today, and people that were condemned to hell 2,000 years ago, I don’t expect to meet them should I make it to heaven.” Whatever.

CBS Poll: Americans Strongly Disapprove of Trump’s Response to Orlando Massacre

A CBS News Poll out today shows that a majority of Americans strongly disapprove of Donald Trump’s responses to the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse gay night club. Americans are fairly evenly split when it comes to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s response.

The report adds: “Most Democrats (62%) approve of Clinton’s response, while just half of Republicans (50%) approve of Trump’s. More independents are critical of Trump’s response than Clinton’s.”

Americans have also soundly rejected Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.:

Americans across the board largely hold that the attack was both an act of terrorism as well as a hate crime (57%). That response was similar for Republicans (65%), Democrats (53%) and Independents (56%). A larger minority of Republicans say it was “mostly” terrorism” (22%) than Americans as a whole (14%), while a somewhat larger majority of Democrats say it was “mostly a hate crime” (37%) than Americans as a whole (25%).

The margin of error for the entire group is ±4%. The margin of error for the Republican, Democratic, and Independent subgroups will be greater according to their respective samples sizes.

UPDATED: SBC Can’t Say Our Name, But This Pastor Can

The video is not embeddable, but this rather interesting TV media monitoring service has it along with a transcript. Yesterday evening, during a vigil held at Orlando’s First Baptist Church, Pastor Joel C. Hunter of the unaffiliated evangelical Northland Church in suburban Longwood, invited The Task Force’s National Campaigns Director  Victoria Kirby York to teach the Baptist gathering about how to pray for the particular needs of LGBT people in Orlando:

Pastor Hunter: When they asked me to pray for the LGBTQ community, at first I was honored and thrilled, and then I was convicted. I‘m not sure how to do that. I‘ve never been a part of a vulnerable community. I‘ve been a part of powerful communities all my life and never been a part of a persecuted community. Short doesn’t count. 

When we lose someone, we have two feelings immediately. One is we wish we’d is have built a better relationship. And the other is — and I’ve been searching my heart — is there anything I did that was complicit in that loss? I‘m going to continue searching. But i will not presume to know what this community is going through, the LGBTQ community. And so i asked Equality Florida to send someone. And my new friend, Victoria Kirby York, who is the national director of campaigns for the National LGBTQ Task Force — I‘m going to keep saying those initials often enough that they roll off my tongue. I asked her to come and just share maybe with many of us who would not know what to pray for in that community right now. What to consider that we might not you understand. Victoria, could you help us? 

Victoria Kirby York: Good evening, beloved community. Thank you so much for being here, for standing in the gap for so many of our community members. Some of you who are here, so many who aren’t here, those who are watching and those who wish they could be here. I grew up about 50 minutes away from here in a town called Brandon, Florida, and lived here until recently and have a lot of friends across central Florida. Many who frequent Pulse nightclub. Many who lost friends Sunday. And as I heard about the news, like many of you, I was heartbroken. I wanted to search out ways in which i could come back home to Florida and get engaged, see what I could do to provide any kind of healing that I could do. And I can tell you that standing up here right now looking at all of you is such a beautiful sight. I‘m going to talk to you a little bit about why it matters so much to the LGBTQ community that each and every one of you are here in a church. 

..As the national campaign director of a national LGBTQ organization, I look into the faces of so many people who have been kicked out and rejected by their churches. 13-year-olds who are forced to live on the street because they’ve been kicked out of their homes. 35% of homeless youth in this country are LGBTQ youth, even though we represent less than 5% of the population. and many of those young people have been kicked out because they have family members, parents specifically, who have not accepted who they are and who they love. We also look at the suicide rates amongst LGBTQ people, particularly youth. Again, over a third of suicides, one of the leading causes of death, sadly, for far too many young people come from the LGBTQ community. Again, less than 5% of the population. So death has been a reality that we experience for those who have attempted to take their lives, for the dozens of transgender women particularly of color who have lost heir lives due to hate crimes over the last couple of years and before. 

And so when we look at that question how we can make good come out of this moment, my charge to you all for this prayer is for grace, for graceful conversations with each other and for each other. To come into those conversations on both sides from a place of wanting to understand, wanting to heal, wanting to emphasize. Because our community for far too many years have never witnessed a sight like this, a church where they can come, be prayed over and not be forced to change who they are, or who they love.  For some people this image that I‘m staring at right now exists only in their dreams.

Update: Christianity Today has more about Joel Hunter:

The senior pastor of Northland Church, a 20,000 member, nondenominational church, admitted that “institutional forms of white Christianity” have been complicit in the denigration of LGBT communities, but expressed hope for “the next generation” of Christians.

Speaking in the aftermath of the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Hunter told RNS that he had “to go back and examine my own heart, starting tonight in services.

“I’ve got to confess to my congregation that if there’s anything I’ve said that could have ever led to anything — the dismissal or denigration of any other population — God, I am so sorry for that.”

He admitted that “many of us, especially those in the conservative evangelical branch of the faith, don’t normally think of the vulnerability of many of the communities around us…but this has put it on the agenda.

Hunter says he’s not quite ready to change some of his theological positions as a “matter of hermeneutical integrity”, he admitted “there’s much of scripture that can come up to a greater visibility when it comes to treating people who don’t interpret scripture like you do or who may not believe in scripture at all.” Which is pretty much how all movement among religious people start.

Utah Republican Lt. Gov. Apologizes to LGBT Community

Utah’s Republican Lt. Governor Spencer Cox gave a surprising speech during a vigil in Salt Lake City for the victims of the Pulse gay night club massacre. During the speech, he apologized for how he had treated gay people:

I grew up in a small town. I went to a small rural high school. There were some kids in my class that were different than me. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize. Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you. It has changed because I have gotten to know many of you. You have been very patient with me as I went through this change.

He also posed a very pertinent set of questions that he aimed to “the straight community”:

But now we are here. We are here because 49 beautiful, amazing people are gone. These are not just statistics. These were individuals. These were human beings. They each have a story. They each had dreams, goals, talents, friends, family. They are you and they are me. And one night they went out to relax, to laugh, to connect, to forget, to remember. And in a few minutes of chaos and terror, they were gone.

I believe that we can all agree we have come a long way as a society when it comes to our acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community. … However, there has been something about this tragedy that has very much troubled me. I believe that there is a question, two questions actually, that each of us needs to ask ourselves in our heart of hearts. And I am speaking now to the straight community.

How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That’s the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong.

…And so may we leave today, with a resolve to be a little kinder. May we try to listen more and talk less. May we forgive someone that has wronged us. And perhaps, most importantly, try to love someone that is different from us. For my straight friends, might I suggest starting with someone who is gay.

Click here to read a transcript of Lt. Gov. Cox’s speech

Mark Cuban Donates $1 Million To Enhance LGBT Security

Dallas’s Oak Lawn/Cedar Springs neighborhood has been the target of anti-gay violence for decades, as long as the neighborhood has been the city’s principal gayborhood. In the aftermath of the Orlando Pulse gay night club massacre, The Dallas Voice reports that Dallas entrepreneur and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has donated $1 million to the Dallas Police Department to fund added security for the LGBT community:

The money will be earmarked for an estimated 16,000 hours of Dallas police overtime to be utilized at Chief David Brown’s discretion for enhanced counterterrorism efforts, including additional police presence in the Oak Lawn area, the news release said.

An announcement will be made at Dallas City Hall later today. Cuban is a longtime LGBT ally. He is a member of the advisory board of Athlete Ally, which is dedicated to eliminating homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Senate Dems Launch Talking Filibuster Over Gun Control

I'm speaking on the Senate floor to honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence. #Enough

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016

I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can. I've had #Enough

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 15, 2016

Senate Democrats are finally showing some backbone.

The Senate is debating a Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill, and Democrats are pushing to add a gun control amendment. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is leading the filibuster, with Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) participating by asking Murphy questions. Other Democratic Senators are reportedly signing up for speaking slots. According to Politico:

“I’m going to remain on this floor until we get some signal, some sign that we can come together on these two measures, that we can get a path forward on addressing this epidemic in a meaningful, bipartisan way,” Murphy continued on the Senate floor on Wednesday, after he first started his filibuster at about 11:20 a.m.

Most of the Democratic caucus was unaware of Murphy’s plans until he took the floor, two senior aides said, though there had been some talk Tuesday about lining up speeches throughout the night Wednesday.

While that filibuster is taking place, Senate Democrats and Republicans are negotiating over two very different proposals to close the No Fly List loophole, which Republicans in both houses voted down last December. Democrats are also insisting that the gun show and internet sales loopholes also be closed.

“Senator Murphy and Senate Democrats are holding the floor because they will not accept inaction or half measures in the face of continued slaughter. Congress cannot sit on the sidelines while killers freely buy weapons to brutally murder the people Congress is supposed to be protecting,” Murphy spokesman Chris Harris said in a statement.

“Until private sales at gun shows and over the internet also require stringent background checks and unless suspected terrorists on the no fly list are prohibited from legally purchasing guns, our lax gun laws will continue to allow terrorists and criminals to amass a weapons stockpile,” Harris continued. “Senator Murphy will remain on the floor demanding the Senate adopt these measures.”

Update: Other senators taking turns in the filibuster so far include Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Charles Schemer (D-NY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), and Republican Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE).

Southern Baptist Convention Cannot Say Our Name

The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution on “The Orlando Tragedy” yesterday on the opening day of its annual meeting in St. Louis. The resolution, though, leaves me confused. Who were the more than one hundred people who were shot? Where were they? Were they morning commuters at a crowded bus station?

RESOLUTION 1: ON THE ORLANDO TRAGEDY

WHEREAS, Our entire nation is grieving as a result of the mass shooting of over one hundred people, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least fifty in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016; and

WHEREAS, The Bible teaches that God has created all men and women in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), and as the Author of life, regards acts of murder as evil (Matthew 16:18), and calls His people to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:39); now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, June 14–15, 2016, pray for the surviving victims, all affected families of those murdered, injured, and otherwise harmed, and first responders; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we extend our love and compassion to those devastated by this tragedy and pledge to come to their aid by donating blood and other supportive means; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors, and therefore condemn this act of terrorism and others like it and pray for the day when these senseless acts of violence cease.

GOP Rep Says Pulse Wasn’t a Gay Night Club: “It Was Mostly Latinos”

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) joined the growing Republican consensus to refuse to acknowledge that Sunday morning’s attack in Orlando was against a gay night club. Sessions chairs the House Rules Committee which yesterday blocked an amendment proposed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) to restore President Barack Obama’s Executive Order prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors. When National Journal reporter Daniel Newhuser asked Sessions whether the shooting might change his mind on the anti-discrimination measure, he got this response:

Asked Rules Chair Sessions if Orlando shooting changes calculation on LGBT Maloney amdmt. He argued Pulse was not a gay club.

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

“It was a young person’s nightclub, I’m told. And there were some [LGBT ppl] there, but it was mostly Latinos” https://t.co/c5qvdSk0kF

— Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser) June 14, 2016

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Sessions’s office tried to explain it away in the classic “taken-out-of-context” sort of way:

Sessions’ communications director, Caroline Boothe, told TPM that Newhauser’s quotes were correct but “taken out of context without the background information.”

“What my boss meant to say was that there weren’t only gay individuals at the club but people from all walks of life were present,” Boothe said.

She added that “at the end of the day we’re all Americans” and said Sessions’ heart grieved for everyone.

Before the attack, Pulse’s web site described the club as “Orlando’s Premiere Gay Night Club” and “Orlando’s hottest gay bar located in the heart of downtown.” Today, the site has been taken down and replaced with a simple statement in response to the shooting: “From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community.”

Two Days After Orlando, House GOP Leaders Block LGBT Nondiscrimination Amendment

Late yesterday, the House Roles committee, dominated by members handpicked by House Speaker He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name (R-WI) blocked an amendment filed by Rep, Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) to restore President Barack Obama’s Executive Order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT employees among federal contractors. That Executive Order is threatened by a clause inserted by Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK) into a VA spending bill passed by the House last month that would overturn it. As The Hill reports:

Maloney argued that allowing a vote to prohibit discrimination in the workplace after the targeted attack on the gay nightclub would send a message of solidarity with the LGBT community.

“It’s hard to imagine that any act that is so horrific could lead to anything positive. But if we were going to do anything, it would be a very positive step to say that discrimination has no place in our law and to reaffirm the president’s actions in this area,” Maloney told The Hill. “Seems to me a pretty basic thing to do.”

…Two centrist Republicans, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) and Richard Hanna (N.Y.), signed onto Maloney’s amendment as co-sponsors.

…In an appearance before the House Rules Committee to make the case for his amendment, Maloney compared his proposal to last year’s racially motivated shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., that led to restrictions on displaying the Confederate flag.

“They also responded by acting and by recognizing that symbols and language matter,” Maloney said. “Because hate has no place in our flags, in our workplace, or in our country. And it should have no place in federal law.”

On the ascendancy of He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name to the Speakership, he promised to usher in a new era of following the House Rules and Regular Order. But after Russell’s  amendment was attached to the VA spending bill, Maloney proposed an amendment to that same spending bill to countermand Russell’s amendment. It passed, 217-206 during the two-minute voting period in accordance with House Rules, but GOP leaders held voting open for another five and a half minutes while  Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) worked the Republican caucus to flip the seven votes needed to kill Patrick’s amendment.

The following week, the House approved Maloney’s amendment, this time to an appropriations bill for the Energy Department, Army Corps of Engineers and several other agencies. But after approving other poison pill amendments unacceptable to Democrats — and after Rep. Rick W. Allen (R-GA) led the GOP caucus in an opening prayer quoting Bible passages saying homosexuals were “worthy of death” — lawmakers on both sides of the aisle lined up to defeat that bill 112-305. Soon after, He-Who-Cannot-Say-Our-Name instituted a new rule requiring all amendments to spending bills be cleared first through his hand-chosen Rules Committee.

Anderson Cooper Confronts Florida Attorney General Over Anti-Gay Past

Anderson has really been tearing it up today on CNN.

Update: Politico reporter Marc Caputo can’t find Bondi’s “Rainbow Hands” graphic. Can you?

Pam Bondi says her website has 'rainbow-hands people' in re: Orlando shooting. But it doesnt https://t.co/vztc0SARW5 pic.twitter.com/VtPICco03I

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) June 14, 2016

I also can’t find it on her Facebook page either. Or on this Facebook page. Or on this Facebook page. If she did post it on Facebook, then its privacy settings are such that only friends can see it.

Pat Robertson: Best Thing To Do Is Let Gays and Islamists Kill Each Other

Via Right Wing Watch:

Earlier in the broadcast, Robertson said that the Orlando shootings highlighted what he called “the dilemma of the liberals… because they have two favored groups. One, the Muslims; number two, the homosexuals.” Highlighting that homosexuality is legally outlawd through much of the Muslim world (Robertson thinks that it should be illegal here, though he doesn’t mention that today), and is even punishable by death in some countries. “The left is having a dilemma of major proportions. I think for those of us who dis”But the fact that this Islamic gentleman opens fire in a gay nightclub and kills almost 50 homosexuals, that says something and it tells the fact that Islam is against homosexuality. So the liberals are going to be scrambling to find some rationale, I think they’re going to have a hard time doing it.”

Which leads up to what he says in this clip:

One more time I want to mention the fact that this is a religious believe, it is deeply ingrained in the people. And for when our President refused to acknowledge it when the Secretary of State, now the Democratic nominee for President refuses to acknowledge it, says this is a quote “slur against a great religion.” This is nonsense. This is what this great religion teaches. And it’s right in the warp and woof of Islam. So whether you lie it or not, that’s the way it is.

The left is having a dilemma of major proportions and I think for those of us who disagree with some of their policies, the best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves.

“This Is Not A War With Islam”

On that small statement, at least, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan agree. And so should we. And here’s why:

Photographer Eman Ali took this photo of three of her male friends in drag before they headed out to a party in London Saturday night, just a few hours before the Orlando attack.

“We thought that it was important to share this photo in solidarity with the victims of the attacks,” (Saleem Haddad) says of their decision to post it on Facebook. “We also wanted to complicate the narrative. As Arabs and Muslims, we are also part of the LGBT community and we feel the pain and the tragedy have an effect on our lives.”

Haddad is the one on the right. He recently published a novel about a gay man living in the Arab world.

Anderson Cooper Gets Emotional While Paying Tribute To Orlando Victims

"They are more than a list of names. They are people who loved and who were loved." – @andersoncooper #Orlando https://t.co/DkxxPC1XtW

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 14, 2016

Steven Colbert: “Love Is a Verb, and To Love Means To Do Something”

Like you, I am sickened by the news that a terrorist killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in Orlando. in the most deadly shooting in American history. Naturally, we each ask ourselves, what can you possibly say in the face of horror? But then sadly you realize you know what to say because it’s been said too many times before.

You have a pretty good idea what most people are going to say. You know a president, whoever it is, will be saying. You know what both sides of the political aisle will say. You know what gun manufacturers will say. Even me, with a silly show like this, you have some idea of what I will say. Because even I have talked about this when it’s happened before.

It’s as if there is a national script that we have learned. And I think by accepting the script we tacitly accept that the script will end the same way every time, with nothing changing. Except for the loved ones of the families and the victims for whom nothing will ever be the same.

It’s easy, it’s almost tempting to be paralyzed by such a monstrously hateful act, to despair and say, well, that’s the way the world is now.

Well I don’t know what to do, but I do know that despair is a victory for hate. Hate wants us to be too weak to change anything.

Now these people in Orlando were apparently targeted because of who they love. And there have been outpourings of love throughout the country and around the world. Love in response to hate.

Love does not despair. Love makes us strong. Love gives us the courage to act. Love gives us hope that change is possible. Love allows us to change the script.

So love your country, love your family, love the families of the victims and the people of Orlando, but let’s remember that love is a verb, and to love means to do something.

Mateen’s Wife Tried To Talk Him Out Of Attacking Pulse

NBC has just broken this story:

Omar Mateen’s current wife, Noor, told the FBI she was with him when he bought ammunition and a holster, several officials familiar with the case said. She told the FBI that she once drove him to the gay nightclub, Pulse, because he wanted to scope it out.

Noor is cooperating with investigators. She may face charges for failing to notify authorities about what she knew before the attack.