Box Turtle Bulletin

U.S. Catholic Groups To Hold Vigils At Cathedrals

Three Catholic groups which support LGBT equality have announced plans to hold vigils in five U.S. cities today to call attention to the Vatican’s opposition to a U.N. resolution calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality. DignityUSA, New Ways Ministry, and Call To Action will hold vigils in the following locations:

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But Isn’t It Basically the Same Thing?

Miss Texas 2008

Because it’s Friday, and because sometimes ya gotta step back a moment from the battle for equality, I bring you very important news from Texas.

It seems that there was a little controversy about the venue and co-host of a local beauty competition – one that leads up to Miss Texas and the Miss America pageant. (Dallas News)

“I didn’t know a drag queen was going to have that prominent of a role,” said Jean Magness, executive director of the Miss Texas Organization, who watched over the Miss Oak Cliff/Miss Oak Lawn Area pageant at the Oak Lawn lounge The Rose Room [a gay bar]. “The question was Cassie’s involvement. Was it appropriate? For me and other board members present, that was a major concern.”

I certainly share their concern; imagine all the possiblities for confusion and tragedy. It can be terribly difficult distinguishing the drag queens and the beauty contestants – especially those from Texas.

Today In History: Lawrence vs. Texas Begins Its Journey Through The Courts

Ten years ago today, on November 20, 1998, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyrone Garner pleaded no contest to charges of violating the Texas “Homosexual Conduct” law which banned “deviant sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex.” They were convicted of the Class C misdemeanor by a Justice of the Peace in Houston, and were fined $250 with an additional $141.25 in court costs.

That conviction led to a series of appeals: the Texas Criminal Court (which rejected the defense’s request to dismiss the charges), a three-judge panel of the Texas 14th Court of Appeals (which ruled the law unconstitutional), and the full nine-judge panel of the 14th Court of Appeals (which reversed the three-judge panel).

The appeals then reached the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which serves as Texas’s Supreme Court for criminal cases. That court refused to hear the case, which left the lower court’s decision standing.

Lawrence vs. Texas was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, struck down the Texas anti-sodomy law, along with similar laws in twelve other states.

At last report, John Lawrence still works as a medical technologist in Houston. Tyrone Garner died in 2006 of meningitis.

Readers Send In Their Protest Pictures

Send us your photos, and we’ll post them right here.

From René van Soeren in Amsterdam:

Dear Jim,

In solidarity with our sisters & brothers in California (and Florida, Arizona etc) we send you this webarticle about the Love Exiles Protest 15 November on the Homomonument in Amsterdam, the first city in the world where same sex couples got married on 1 April 2001.

From Leah and Brenda (married in CA on Oct. 25) in Albany:

The protest in Albany, NY today was awesome! We drew a crowd of between 400-500 people. A great turn out for a small city on a rainy day!

From Katherine in Baltimore:

Only about 500 people showed up, and it got shut down early due to some harsh rain… most Marylanders attended the D.C. protest instead of going local.

From Kimberly in Boulder, CO:

No photos–sorry!

Boulder had about 500 to 600 people turn out to the capital. The crowd was peaceful but engaged and a great mix of GLBT’s and allies. For about an hour and a half various people spoke including representatives from PFLAG, Boulder Pride, the mayors office and the city council. The local Methodist pastor spoke and told the crowd of another kind of Christian that believes in equality for all of Gods people. A black, lesbian, Universalist minister, Rev. Alicia Forde, spoke of her journey and of ours as a collective whole. A local psychiatrist spoke and said some pretty profound words, “Gay marriage is here. It just hasn’t happened yet.”

Overall it was a great turnout and great crowd.

From Sara in Santa Cruz ,CA:

From Ampersand in Portland, OR:

I posted a few photos of one of the two Portland demonstrations today here.

From Rachel in Raleigh, NC:

Today’s protest in Raleigh drew approximately 1,000 out of their homes despite the rain. Jimmy Creech spoke before we marched to the governor’s mansion and hung a rainbow flag on an empty pole outside the gate. Our peaceful gathering included many, many gay allies who stood with us in reminding the country that the time to end discrimination is now, this day, this hour.

From Charles in New York:

I’ve been reading Box Turtle Bulletin for a few weeks now. I was at the protest today in New York. Here are some of my pictures.

From Tracie in Louisville, KY:

Brutally cold and wet but a couple of hundred showed up through out the day!

From Dan in Boise, ID:

Was only able to stay for about 45 minutes but here are the pictures I took.

From Michael in Chicago:

I went to the rally in Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago today, and I took a bunch of pictures there. Here is the link to them on Flickr. … One item of particular interest you will no doubt want to check out is the final picture in the set above. Other places may have had larger numbers than Chicago or more exciting speakers, but only Chicago had BOTH Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber (with only two other people) providing the protest anti-protest!

From Sachi in San Diego:

Here is a link to the pics I took at the San Diego march.

From Marilyn in Seattle:

From KipEsquire in New York City:

From Arbitrary.Marks in Austin, TX:

From our own Daniel Gonzales in Ventura, CA:

From Adrienne Critcher in Shreveport, LA:

“We had a great rally downtown in Shreveport, LA in front of the Caddo Parish Courthouse (seen in the movie “W”). Shreveport is located in very conservative Northwest Louisiana, close to both Texas and Arkansas. There were over 150 people present with great signs. The event was sponsored by the Louisiana State University in Shreveport Gay-Straight Alliance and P.A.C.E. (Political Action Council for Equality – www.loveandletlove.org ). Lots of young people and the media there too! A great success!!”

From Bill and Robert in Pasadena, CA:

About 400 or so people came to the rally in Pasadena, CA. We heard from a minister from All Saints Church, an African-American who was once firehosed during a civil rights protest in the South, a Mormon opposed to Prop 8, gay husbands, and lesbian moms. We marched from City Hall down Colorado Blvd. to Old Pasadena and back. Lots of people honked their horns in support, and I didn’t hear one homophobic word from anyone driving by.

Protests Spread Outside California

The passage of Proposition 8 has sparked gay outrage in a way I’ve not seen in many years.

Of the 384 contributions to either side of Proposition 8 coming from Seattle, WA, only three were to support the amendment, a total of $350. So it is fair to say that the Mormon Church in Seattle was not to any great extent responsible for the dissolution of marriage rights of California same-sex couples.

But the battle lines have been drawn. The church has shown itself willing to throw tens of millions of dollars into campaigns to deny gay couples their rights and that any one particular congregation may have been less involved is not the issue. And while gay couples in Washington are not much impacted by Tuesday’s election results, they are taking it personally.

So today dozens of supporters of marriage equality picketed a Mormon church in Seattle.

As church members and their families walked to the church for worship services, protesters chanted “shame on the church,” “equal rights” and other slogans at them.

The leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints may have thought that they had bought themselves a constitutional amendment. But along with that amendment they also purchased a change in public perception. Gay men and women throughout the nation – along with their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family – now see the church as an enemy of civil equality.

But while the Mormon Church may not be much enjoying their new image, others are envious of the attention.

In Texas, a Baptist church announced that their next sermon would be titled “Gay is Not OK”. This might have normally resulted in a roll of eyes, but the gay community is angry and ready to be heard. So church-goers were met with protesters. Having gotten the attention they wanted, they announced that next week will be “What to say to a gay person”. The protesters will be back.

I cannot help but think that the shock and anger resulting from the passing of Proposition 8 may well light a fire in the belly of the community in a way that hasn’t been seen since Matthew Shepard.

Galveston Gay Bar “More Than A Life Saver”

While Galveston city officials have struggled to wrangle with the devastation left by hurricane Ike, one Galveston gay bar is pitching in:

The first of two bars to reopen after Ike’s onslaught on Saturday, Robert’s Lafitte is a haven in the storm — for gays, straights, anyone who needs a place to drink and find comfort.

“You can see there’s not too much worry and stress on people’s faces,” said Dixie Monroe, a transgender barmaid who wore a tiger-print cowboy hat and a low-cut top.

Amid the devastation and rescue operations, Lafitte has become an important focus of rescue and charity efforts:

The bar is setting out food donated by locals for people in need. Some 20,000 people are thought to be still on the island and food and water are scarce.

“It’s more than a life saver. This is like the Coast Guard,” said Brian DeLeon, a straight restaurant worker who had not visited the bar before.

“These are the people who take you up out of the water and make life livable. Once I get back to work, I’m coming back here.”

Homophobic Math

Remember Justin Nichols, the Plano, Texas Teen Court officer who was almost fired by the Collin County Commissioners when they learned that he’s gay? Well, they apparently decided that they didn’t want to look like a bunch of backwoods hicks and decided not to fire him publicly. But they did negotiate an undisclosed settlement to try to get him to leave quietly. Part of the terms of the settlement was that Nichols couldn’t discuss the settlement.

But the incompetents running Collin County forgot to include something very important in their settlement. They omitted a standard statement which would have prevented Nichols’ lawyer or anyone else connected with the case from disclosing the terms of the agreement. And they got the amount of the settlement wrong. Instead of paying Nichols $26,500 to get his gay butt out of the courthouse like they had all agreed to, the settlement calls for $26,500,000. That’s $26.5 million!

I’m guessing there must be a study somewhere correlating homophobia with lower IQs.

Dallas Prosecutor Claims Spittle is Deadly Weapon

Willie Campbell is not a model citizen. He’s a homeless vagrant who has been in and out of prison and he regularly resists police efforts to enforce ordinances. But now Willie will not be bothering anyone but prison guards and inmates for a very long time. Willie was just given a 35 year sentence (Dallas Morning News).

For spitting.

You see, Willie has HIV and he spit at a police officer with some of his spittal landing in the officer’s mouth and eye.

Prosecutors convinced a Dallas County jury this week that HIV-positive saliva should be considered a deadly weapon.

Now you, I, and the Centers for Disease Control all know that there have been no known cases of HIV transmittal by means of spittle. And surely the Dallas County prosecutor knew that as well.

She just didn’t care.

But Dallas County prosecutor Jenni Morse, who handled Mr. Campbell’s case, said any risk level is sufficient for the deadly weapon finding used during the trial.

“No matter how minuscule, there is some risk,” said Ms. Morse. “That means there is the possibility of causing serious bodily injury or death,” the legal definition of a deadly weapon.

No matter how minuscule? By that standard, there is nothing that would not be a deadly weapon. What about cigarette smoke? Or sneezing?

But how fairly did the jury treat this “deadly weapon” of spittal? Interestingly, we have a comparison.

Mr. Campbell’s sentence was nearly double that given the same day to a man being tried in a courtroom next door. That man, De Leon Vanegas Jr., was sentenced to 18 years in prison for giving “cheese” heroin to a 15-year-old boy who died after using the drug. The jury in that case declared heroin a deadly weapon.

I believe that Jenni Morse is unethical. In her zeal to “put away a bad guy” she was willing to deceive a jury and play on fears and stereotypes. She doesn’t seem concerned in the slightest that she has heightened false fears and made the lives of all HIV positive citizens more difficult.

Who cares? She got her guy. He’s off the streets.

Now I agree that Campbell is a nuisance. And he most certainly should be charged with any crimes he committed. But criminalizing HIV status is, to me, a greater threat to the citizens than is sleeping on a sidewalk and spitting on an officer.

Jay Bakker and Soulforce Meet With Joel Osteen

For Jay Bakker, growing up as the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker was more than a little chaotic. Until the collapse of their Christian media empire in 1987, his parents were superstars. But at age 13, his father went to prison, the family’s closest friends denounced them, and Jay’s world changed completely.

Perhaps it is this unique experience of having been at the crest of the conservative Christian world only to feel betrayed that has allowed Jay to question the purpose and meaning of his Christian faith. And Jay’s openness has left him with conclusions and direction that are unlike many others in that world.

One area of disagreement is with whom God accepts and welcomes. A careful study of scripture led Jay to conclude that many of those who are not welcome in the pews of most churches are those whom God most seeks to know. And in revisiting scripture and the nature of God, Jay came to believe that homosexuality is not sin.

Jay now is joining Soulforce to take that message on the road in an effort called The American Family Outing. And because of his history and his connections, Jay has access to religious leaders that most gay people cannot dream of.

The first stop was in Houston, TX at the megachurch of Joel Osteen. There Bakker was able to arrange for a meeting with Osteen. From the Houston Chronicle

Bakker said Osteen was most gracious, had chairs reserved for the LGBT community Sunday morning and made time to meet after the 11 a.m. service.

During their chat, the two men agreed to disagree.

“I don’t think homosexuality is a sin, and they do,” Bakker said, “but it was very nice of Joel to introduce me to his family. I met Joel’s wife and mother, and they were just great. … I’m really grateful.”

Don Iloff, Lakewood’s chief of communications, agreed the visits and meetings went well.

“Dodie Osteen, Joel’s mother, wanted to meet Jay,” Iloff said.

“She knew him as a little boy. And everybody liked Tammy Faye and Jim, Jay’s dad. He has his flaws but … ”

Iloff said it was a pleasure to host members of the LGBT community at Lakewood. “They’re very, very sweet people. They’re the nicest people. I didn’t expect anything else, really.”

The communications chief also said members of the LGBT community are welcome at Lakewood, but he and the Osteens don’t have much more to say on the subject of sexuality.

While it would have been phenomenal had Osteen take the opportunity to requestion his theology, his response is nonetheless encouraging and to be welcomed. As more people in the conservative evangelical Christian movement come to know gay people and their allies, the stereotypes can drop away and the animosity diminish. And while we can differ on the interpretation and application of Paul’s conflation of Greek words in an epistle to a church in Rome 2,000 years ago, I hope we can do so without engaging in Culture War.

I am very appreciative of the work that Soulforce does. And I am very appreciative that a straight preacher is willing to see that his mission to spread the Gospel includes using his family name to gain access to some religious leaders who would drive gay men and women away from their faith.

I wish them much continued success in their campaign.

Heterosexual Agenda: Sex-Crazed Principal Targets Christian School Moms

I wish I had the imagination to make stuff like this up, but I don’t. Thankfully, real life is good enough, and Houston’s ABC13 has the scoop in all of its trashy, hidden-camera glory:

The founder of a Christian school is confronted after 13 Undercover catches him soliciting sex from a parent, who’s trying to get her daughter a high school diploma.

That’s right. LaVern Jordon, founder of Parkway Christian School offered to allow a mother’s daughter to enter the private school. The mother had contacted the school after her daughter failed the state mandated TAKS test. But by paying a fee school and doing some some course work, students can graduate from Parkway Christian School without passing the required state test — which leaves one to wonder what Parkway’s accreditation status is.

But the most unique feature of Parkway Christian has to be its rather unique scholarship program:

Mother: “Yeah, what, I mean what, what, you gonna wipe out all the fees?”

Jordan: “All the enrollment fees.”

Mother: “All the enrollment fees?”

Jordan: “Three hundred dollars.”

Mother: “So you gonna wipe everything if me and you get together?”

Jordan: “The enrollment fee, yeah.”

Mother: “Ok.”

Jordan: “If you and I get together.”

Mother: “What you mean? I mean, what?

Jordan: “Excuse me and I don’t mean to be so blunt but I am talking about f—— you.”

Mother: “You talking about what?”

Jordan: “F—— you.”

But for $300, it’s not just a one time thing:

Jordan: “For the $300 I would expect maybe we could get together several times, you think?”

Mother: “Several times, whatcha mean several times?”

Jordan: “Well I don’t know, you might like whatcha getting.”

That’s one classy sweet-talking heterosexual. CitizenLink, Porno Pete, Concerned Women everywhere, are you watching?

Broadway’s Pastor Calls It Quits

Rev. Brett Younger, the gay-tolerant pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth has decided to give up his efforts to bring about unity and peace in his church.

After surviving months of bitter infighting over the philosophical direction of his church, the Rev. Brett Younger, senior pastor at Broadway Baptist Church, is stepping down to work on the faculty of a divinity school in Atlanta.

Younger, 47, is going to work at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta. Members of the church leadership were told about his resignation earlier this week. His last day at Broadway Baptist will be June 8.

I’m saddened by his decision and hope that it does not encourage those at Broadway who were intolerant and unkind to feel justified in their behavior.

See also:
Broadway’s Pastor Calls It Quits
Broadway’s Anti-Gays Vote
Broadway Baptist Finds a Happy Compromise
Broadway Baptist Punts on Gay Members’ Photos
More Baptist Controversy

Judy Shepard’s Speach in Houston: We Need to Change Hearts and Minds

It’s been ten years since her son, Matthew Shepard, was brutally murdered. And the violence still continues. She lost a son and we gained one fierce, protective mom.

Ditch the Coasts

Looking for a gay-friendly city? According to the Advocate’s April 8 issue, you should consider abandoning the coasts in favor of cities like Ft .Worth, Ft. Wayne, Anchorage, Jacksonville or Tulsa. Tulsa you say?

Tulsa, Oklahoma: diversity, lots of museums and theaters, tasty foodie scene, and a low cost of living with “big-city benefits,” says one resident.

Over to you, Sally Kern.

Texas County Official’s Job In Jeopardy Due To Sexual Orientation

According to the Dallas Morning News, Justin Nichols is to face an April 15 public hearing before the Collin County Commissioners Court, to discuss his status as coordinator of the county’s teen court program.

Justin is currently running as an openly gay city council candidate for the city of Plano, a Dallas suburb. The Dallas Voice covered the historic race of Plano’s first ever gay candidate. That soon led to anonymous attack emails being sent to Collin County commissioners and other political activists accusing him of being a child molester. That led an unnamed commissioner to call a hearing to determine Nichol’s fate.

Many anti-gay extremists claim that gays are far more likely to sexually abuse children on average. This despite evidence to the contrary. In Nichols’ case, there has not been any allegations brought forward whatsoever — no accusers, no arraignment, charges, no arrest, no trial. And yet Nichols will have to stand before the Commissioners Court and defend his job.

Update: Justin’s hearing before the Commission was canceled. But it doesn’t mean he’s off the hook:

While Mr. Nichols has requested that any discussions related to his job take place in public, the panel has the option of meeting in private about pending litigation, county officials said. The case of Mr. Nichols, who said he has retained legal counsel, could fit that description.

Also, the county had scheduled a job evaluation with Justin on Tuesday, but they canceled the appointment that morning.

Broadway’s Anti-Gays Vote

We have followed the story on Broadway Baptist in Fort Worth and their debate over whether to include gay people in their church directory. They decided to do away with the term “family” and allow individuals to have their pictures in “groups” instead. Sadly, this wasn’t enough of a rejection of gay families for some members.

But members were sharply divided last fall over whether gay couples should be pictured in the church’s 125th anniversary photo directory.

That fight led to a bigger one, over Dr. Younger. A group called Friends for the Future of Broadway accused him of ineffective leadership and of leading the church in too liberal a direction.

So they tried to oust the pastor. But the vote has been taken and the anti-gays just didn’t have enough votes.

The vote was 499 for retaining Brett Younger and 237 against, giving the pastor a two-thirds majority.

Let’s hope that their drama is over. We wish Pastor Younger continued support and we wish much healing for Broadway Baptist.

See also:
Broadway’s Pastor Calls It Quits
Broadway’s Anti-Gays Vote
Broadway Baptist Finds a Happy Compromise
Broadway Baptist Punts on Gay Members’ Photos
More Baptist Controversy