Box Turtle Bulletin

Field Poll: Californians Support Same-Sex Marriage

Contrary to last week’s Los Angeles Times/KTLA poll, a new Field Poll released yesterday (PDF: 49KB/8 pages) shows a historic shift in California voters’ support for same-sex marriage. For the first time in history, a majority of California voters now say they support same-sex marriage and oppose a proposed anti-marriage state constitutional amendment.

The poll, taken after the California Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage, asked two groups of voters differently worded questions about same sex marriage. When they were asked about “barring marriage between gay and lesbian couples,” they opposed the ban by 54 to 40 percent. When voters were asked whether they favored or opposed “having the state constitution prohibit same-sex marriage,” they opposed the ban, 51 to 43 percent. The margin of error for these two questions was +/- 5.0%. The maximum margin of error overall was 3.2%.

There were some interesting generational differences:

And there were some religious differences as well. Born-again Christians opposed same-sex marriage by 68% to 24%. Protestants in general were opposed, 57% to 34% , and Catholics were were narrowly opposed, 48% to 45%. Voters from other religious groups favored same-sex marriage by 61% to 33%, while people with no religious affiliation supported same-sex marriage by 81% to 12%.

Nordic Myths

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa) recently published an op-ed denouncing the recent California Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. There’s much to criticize in Sen. Santorum’s op-ed, but this statistical nugget stood out in particular:

Look at Norway. It began allowing same-sex marriage in the 1990s. In just the last decade, its heterosexual-marriage rates have nose-dived and its out-of-wedlock birthrate skyrocketed to 80 percent for firstborn children.

Anti-gay activists are returning once again to Scandinavian marriage and birthrate statistics as real-world examples of what happens when you allow same-sex marriage. The argument goes something like this: If you allow same-sex marriage like Scandinavia did, then you will soon see rising out-of-wedlock birthrates and a general breakdown in marriage.

But right off the bat, Sen. Santorum gets it wrong about same-sex marriage in Norway because there is no same-sex marriage there. Instead, Norway as adopted a limited form of civil unions. Norway’s 1993 civil unions laws, for example, do not permit adoptions by same-sex couples (although Norwegian law was later changed to allow a parent to adopt his partner’s children). Norway also prohibits artificial insemination for same-sex couples as well.

And what about that statistic: Eighty percent of all firstborn children in Norway are born out of wedlock? Where did he get that figure?

Well one thing I know for certain is that Santorum didn’t get it from the StatBank Norway website. StatBank Norway is the official repository for all statistical information about Norway. They have tons of statistics on population growth and characteristics, births, deaths, marriage, divorce, and economic data. But I’ve been unable to find anything on their web site breaking down the family status of firstborn children.

And so I started looking around for where this 80 percent statistic might have come from. It appears to have originated with Stanly Kurtz’s National Review article from May 25, 2004, where he claims:

Add the children of single parents and step families, and we are surely at over 50 percent of children living with unmarried parents in Norway’s liberal north. If that sounds high, consider that in 2002, 83 percent of first-born children in the northern Norwegian county of Nord-Troendelag were born outside of marriage, as were 58 percent of subsequent children.

If what Kurtz says is true, then it’s not all of Norway that is experiencing this explosion of firstborn babies born outside of marriage. It is just one county of Nord-Troendelag. But Kurtz doesn’t provide any citation for that statistic, so we still don’t know where it comes from. He later provides a link to a summary from StatBank Norway, but it doesn’t mention the firstborn statistic at all. (I’ve updated the link to a cached version of the page as it appeared on StatBank Norway as of April 6, 2004.) So we’re still left in the dark as to where this statistic came from, and we have no way to verify whether it’s true or not.

But we can verify that Norway’s overall birth rate outside of marriage is pretty high, and it has been for quite some time. We can see this by combining data from Norway’s Statistical Yearbooks for 2007 and 1996 and plotting that data on a single graph. When we do that, we can see that the rate of births outside of marriage had skyrocketed throughout the seventies and eighties, only to level off somewhat in the 1990’s and 2000’s.

But more specifically with respect to civil unions, look at what the data tells us:

1. Before 1993, the percentage of births outside of marriage grew steadily by an average of about 9% per year.
2. After civil unions were enacted in 1993, the growth of that birth rate slowed dramatically. The the growth rate fell from 9% per year to an average of less than 1.5% per year between 1993 and 2006.

Which means that if there were a cause and effect between Norway’s birth rate outside of marriage and providing civil unions for same-sex couples, the data suggests that civil unions actually had a dramatic affect in slowing the rate of births outside of marriage.

Now I don’t believe that a case can be made linking civil unions with the rate of births outside of marriage. But if Santorum, Kurtz or anyone else insists on there being a connection, then so be it. The data is on our side.

Jeremy Hooper’s Commentary on Linda Harvey

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You got wind of our little tussle with Mission America’s Linda Harvey, who demanded that we remove her photo from Timothy Kincaid’s post exposing her dishonesty about the Day of Silence.

Now I would have probably written a long dissertation about the “fair use” doctrine in copyright law, which gives us permission to copy small works without attribution or permission for purposes of parody, criticism, commentary, news reporting, educational use, etc. I also would have written at length about how posting non-reproducible thumbnails are acceptable under copyright laws, a rule that is mainly intended to protect works of art from theft — and not to protect dishonest people from embarrassment.

Let’s just say that Jeremy’s approach to the question was a little different.

Barbados Is No Jamaica

There is no question that the Caribbean islands are not as friendly to gay people as, say, Chelsea or West Hollywood. But Robert Best in Barbados’ Nationnews.com makes the argument that Barbados will not follow Jamaica’s increasing hostility and violence towards gays.

Barbados, like some other Caribbean nations, prefers to limit it’s response to mockery and laughter.

For example, even before there was talk about “gay rights”, for generations “she she” men have had to endure ridicule but for the most part they were never run out of town. Nor has it been common practice for people who are “straight” to refuse them the right to live among them.

What has been more likely is for “she she” men to find people mimicking their antics while regarding them with amusement rather than see them as objects of hatred.

Best then argues that the physician that provides care is welcome whatever their sexual orientation and cautions that some people have made compromises that allow them to reconcile their difficulties around the issue. While I would wish that Best’s illustrations of difference were examples of respect and support, I believe his sincerity.

Barbados is no gay paradise. In fact, if has some of the most punitive sodomy laws. But if all Barbadans are like Best, I would feel welcomed on their islands.

I was speaking with a heterosexual woman this weekend who was shocked to hear about the homophobia that runs unchecked on Jamaica. Her last vacation was on the island, but because she loves her gay brother and her gay friends, she vowed not to return.

It’s nice to know that there are other places of equal beauty that can benefit from the tourism from gay men and women, their friends, families, coworkers, neighbors, and just plain ol’ people of good will and conscience. And it’s nice to know that some on Barbados are trying to make it such a place.

Former Rep. Bob Barr: DOMA “Clubs Down Rights of Law-Abiding Americans”

Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga) authored the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which Pres. Bill Clinton signed into law in 1996. Today, Barr is now the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee. Speaking at the convention, Barr apologized for his role in further institutionalizing discrimination into American law:

Click here to read the transcript

Linda Harvey Thinks We’re AWFUL

I just found the following message from Linda Harvey, the… umm… rather determined anti-gay activist. Although she sent it Friday, for some reason the yahoo filters put it in my junk e-mail box rather than my inbox.

It seems Linda didn’t like that we put her picture on our commentary about her blatant dishonesty. So, out of respect for Linda’s politely worded request, I’ve now replaced her photo with a generic graphic of no one in particular.

Please note that this is not a representation of Linda. Please also note that I did not include horns on this picture.

I’m glad you found us, Linda. I hope that you keep reading.

UPDATE: Digging further in my junk mail box shows that Linda was really QUITE insistent that we not post her picture. Earlier that day she had sent the following message:

REMOVE MY PHOTO FROM YOUR SITE IMMEDIATELY!! I did not obviously give you permission to post this.

IF YOU DO NOT DO SO I will contact my attorney.

WITH GREAT SINCERITY,

Linda Harvey
Mission America
www.missionamerica.com
www.truthatschool.org

PS–If you were true journalists you would have asked permission and also asked me to comment on your distortions.

Ah, Linda. By all means, check with your attorney. And if you have any comments to make on my “distortions”, I’ll be glad to hear them.

Alan Chambers: Death or Change

Yesterday we reported on two Exodus-affiliated leaders who claimed that there were only two choices facing struggling gay kids and adults: Change or die. Now we learn that Exodus President Alan Chambers has reinforced this false choice in an interview with radio talk show host Chris Farby on May 16th. Towards the end of the program, Alan Chambers was asked about teen suicide:

Chris Fabry: We had another email that talked about, especially teenagers, and how many teenagers are caught in this emotional trauma, and how many take their own lives because of the homosexual issue. You were a teenager caught in that too weren’t you

Alan Chambers: I was a teenager, you know the bulk of my struggle was during my teenage years, from about 11 to 21 or so, and I understand feeling like the only way out is you kill yourself. In fact one of the things that made me want to die — was when I heard, there is no way out of this, this is your only option, there is no other choice, in fact there is no choice – you are who you are and that won’t ever change. And I thought, that can’t be the truth, and if it is, I can’t live this way.

Instead of confronting the false choice between death or change, Alan Chambers reinforces it. With Exodus, it’s change or die.

But the real danger here is that too many people, believing that there really are only two choices, choose the latter. When I attended last year’s Ex-Gay Survivor’s Conference in California, I talked with one person whose former partner was told that his only choice was to “change or go away.” He chose to “go away” by taking his own life.

Indeed, blood has stained the ex-gay movement from its beginning. Love In Action co-founder John Evans describes the suicide of his best friend, Jack McIntyre, while at the Marin General Hospital Psychiatric Ward. Evans recalled, “In Jack’s suicide note, he wrote that he believed that God would forgive him for killing himself, but not for having even one more ‘impure’ thought.”

That was more than thirty years ago. Meanwhile, the “change or die” mantra continues.

[Hat tip: Pam Spaulding’s House Blend.]

See also:
Exodus’ False Choice: Death or Change

Memorial for Gays Persecuted By Nazis Opens

Today marks the opening of a new memorial in Berlin dedicated to the memory of gays who were persecuted by the Nazis. The memorial in Berlin’s Tiergarten parks sits just across from the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, and it echos the larger memorial’s field of concrete blocks of varying sizes. The gay memorial, designed by Danish and Norwegian artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, consists of a single grey rectangular block with a small opening through which visitors will see a short film of two men kissing. “A simple kiss could land you in trouble,” says the text which accompanies the memorial.

Until recently, there was little public acknowledgement of Nazi atrocities towards homosexuals. It’s been estimated that about 54,000 were arrested by the Nazis, with 7,000 being killed in concentration camps. While the end of the war meant liberation for the much larger interned populations of Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russians, and other undesirables, allied forces often returned gay men to post-war prisons to continue to serve out their terms. Homosexuality wasn’t formally decriminalized in Germany until 1994.

Poll on California Marriage Not Encouraging

The LA Times took a poll on public response to the California Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the ban on same-sex marriage. The response was:

29% – Strongly approve
12% – Somewhat approve
10% – Somewhat disapprove
42% – Strongly disapprove
7% – Don’t know

And as to whether they would support an amendment to reverse the decision (registered voters)

54% – For
35% – Against
10% – Don’t know
1% – Would not vote

The Times found this to be inconclusive

the poll suggests the outcome of the proposed amendment is far from certain. Overall, it was leading 54% to 35% among registered voters. But because ballot measures on controversial topics often lose support during the course of a campaign, strategists typically want to start out well above the 50% support level.

However, if we compare the polling to the vote on Proposition 22 – an anti-gay marriage legislative initiative on the Spring 2000 ballot – it is hard to maintain a rosy view of the future. Seven months before the election, polling showed support at 57%, opposition at 39% and uncertainty at 4%. The month before the election, 5% had moved from support to uncertain. But on election day, 61% of those who went to the polls voted to restrict the rights of their gay neighbors.

If the same pattern holds, in November this new anti-gay amendment will also pass by significant numbers.

But there is one card we hold that we did not have eight years ago. Unless the court issues a stay, Californians will not be asked to prohibit possible future marriages, they will be asked whether lives that have been joined should be put asunder. It ceases to be abstract and becomes personal.

So I ask this of you fellow gay Californians who are considering taking this step: Invite your friends and relatives. It may break your budget to double your guest list but do it anyway. Even if you have to limit yourself to cake and punch in the church’s rec hall. Even if you really don’t want to see Aunt Edna and hear her snide remarks on your special day, invite her anyway. Invite everyone and anyone that might be even slightly happy for you.

And be certain that your minister tells those present that “forever hold your peace” means that they have to support this union, in person and at the ballot box, and they are obligated to do what they can to keep it together, happy, and legal. Marriage is not just a commitment between two people. It is also a commitment between the couple and the community.

Aunt Edna may not like gay marriage. But make sure she is invested in your gay marriage. Make your marriage matter to your friends, your family, and your neighbors. Give them a reason to vote against this discriminatory amendment.

Romanian Pride Goes Forward

Protected by 1,200 riot police, about 200 Gay Pride participants paraded through Bucharest on Saturday after courts refused to ban the event. Religious and far-right groups had tried to get the court to rule against Romania’s fifth annual gay festival. No incidents were reported this year.

Reuters reports, “Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, but gay people often face hostility in this largely conservative country of 22 million where the powerful Orthodox church views homosexuality as a sin and a disease.”

Tennessee Gay Man’s House Vandalized Again

It’s like a bad recurring nightmare for Neal Anthony. Last Friday, his Warren County, Tennessee, home was badly damaged in an act of anti-gay vandalism yet again — for the ninth time:

“I’ve spent a whole lot of money on this house,” said Anthony, Warren County homeowner and vandalism victim.

He spent $80,000 to fix up the home and $10,000 more dollars on surveillance cameras to make him feel secure. The cameras are a modern-day amenity that stand out against his 150-year-old structure.

“I’m scared to leave my windows open. I’m scared to leave my door open. I’m afraid to go out in the yard by myself,” said Anthony.

…

The suspected vandals also spray painted “Dorothy’s in Hell” referring to Neal’s mother, who passed away in December.

While virtually every square inch of his property is within range of security cameras, this latest act of vandalism went undetected. Vandals cut the lines to the cameras, security lights, landscape lights and even severed power to the main house and his phone line. Anthony fears the attacks may escalate from vandalism to personal assault.

So far, Warren County sheriffs have only made one set of arrests in association with these nine crimes. Last year, three teens confessed to vandalizing his home with paint balls. They were given probation.

The ACLU of Tennessee has called upon the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) and the FBI to investigate. The FBI declined, according to ACLU’s Christine Sun:

“The FBI has informed me that it would otherwise investigate the crimes but for the unfortunate fact that sexual orientation is not a protected characteristic under the federal hate crimes statute. The TBI has informed me that it will consider providing additional resources to investigate the hate crimes against Mr. Anthony but only if requested to do so by the Warren County District Attorney’s office.”

Sun also sent a letter to the Warren County sheriff’s office asking them to request additional help from the TBI and to report the crimes as a hate crime to the FBI. As we’ve noted earlier, many jurisdictions have refused to report far worse hate crimes to the FBI.

So far, the sheriff’s office appears unresponsive. They have not responded to the ACLU’s request, nor have they responded to an offer from Neal Anthony to post a reward for information leading to the arrests. The also refused to return phone calls to a local television station for comment.

Exodus’ False Choice: Death or Change

This month’s edition of the Presbyterian newspaper The Layman features two more shining examples of ex-gays who claim to have changed. The commentaries by Maria Cardenas and Brad Grammer are actually word-for-word reprints from their testimonies found on the OneByOne web site — an organization for which they both just happen to serve on the board of directors. Grammer is also the Executive Director of Exodus-affiliated Hope & New Life Ministries. Funny, but have you noticed that virtually all the ex-gays who speak publicly have some professional connection with ex-gay ministries?

But what’s not so funny is Grammer’s and Cardenas’ promotion of one of the worst messages ever to come out of the ex-gay movement: Death or change. Grammer begins his statement by saying,

Seventeen years ago, my life came to a crossroad. In my mind, I could either commit suicide or give God one more chance to change my life and bring it meaning.”

Cardenas wrote:

It was at this point I made a deal with God. I asked Him either to end my life or change it.

Death or change. According to Cardenas and Grammer, those were the only two choices before them. Given what they claimed were the only two options — as the ex-gay movement is all too often inclined to do — they chose “change.” They also chose to use their experience as fodder for denying civil rights to those who don’t buy into their false crossroads between death and change. Grammer uses his testimony to claim:

For the Church to make a decision to bless same-sex unions or ordain practicing homosexuals is to communicate to me, and individuals like me, that the transformation in my life did not happen and that I am obviously in an unhealthy state of denial.

What Grammer fails to recognize is that if a church makes a decision to bless same-sex unions or ordain gays and lesbians, it is not an act of judgment on his life. He is free to make whatever choice he wishes to make. But what it does do is expose the false argument that there are only two choices which can be made: death or change.

But exposing this false argument is what Grammer really fears, and he’s not alone. Exodus President Alan Chambers told NPR’s Terry Gross in 2006 that he opposed same-sex marriage because he feared that if it had been an option when he was younger, he might have chosen to marry another man.

A few days ago, I facetiously posted a “Heterosexual strategy” based on what the Alliance Defense Fund claimed was a “Homosexual strategy” to win acceptance for gay people. In my parody, the Heterosexual strategy ended with recriminalization of homosexuality.

The problem with my parody however is that it’s not the least bit funny. One wonders what the ultimate goal of the ex-gay movement really looks like. If they really got their way, what would my world — and yours — look like? Is it really their goal to make our lives so miserable that the false choice between change or death actually looks plausible?

It appears so. We’ve often heard them frame the problem with homosexuality in precisely this false choice between death and change. This has been their recurring theme for quite some time. And we also know that they believe that accommodating the civil rights or the spiritual needs of gay people necessarily comes at the expense of those who would have you believe that there are only those two choices before us.

And so if they feel threatened whenever there are gains in the LGBT movement, then maybe they ought to feel threatened — at least insofar as upholding this false message is concerned. Because tragically, too many LGBT kids and adults have bought into that false choice, and some have chosen to take their own lives when they discover the “change” that they were promised was not forthcoming.

We can agree to disagree when it comes to religious doctrine or even political positions. But when it comes to suggesting that there are only two ways to deal with one’s sexuality, there can be no agreement. The message of “change or die” must itself die. Better that than another struggling LGBT kid or adult.

See also:
Alan Chambers’ Death or Change

Speaking of Satire

Have you seen Encyclopædia Dramatica?

Raleigh, NC Pair Charged With Sodomy

… even though Lawrence vs. Texas invalidated out all sodomy laws in the U.S. nearly five years ago.

What’s worse, Nelson Keith Sloan, 40, was charged after calling police to his apartment complaining of an assault. Also charged, Ryan Christopher Flynn, 25, who was also charged with assault in addition to sodomy.

Flynn is using the “he asked for it” defense, claiming that they were engaging in rough “consensual” sex, a claim that Sloan denies.

“I didn’t allow anything,” he said Saturday after being reached at home by phone. “They knew it and turned it around and arrested me. I have never been so humiliated in all my life. It’s just awful.”

Police did not charge Flynn with any sort of sexual assault.

Sloan’s outrage is completely justified. When someone is attacked and calls the police, the last thing that person expects is to be charged with a crime — in this case, a nonexistent one — unless the complainant filed a false report. One wonders how Raleigh police and the D.A. would have handled this had this been a woman attacked by a man.

Unbelievable.

Pam Spaulding has more background on recent attempts to wipe this anachronistic law off the books.

ADF’s “Homosexual Agenda” Looks Surprisingly Like Their “Heterosexual Agenda”

LGBT bloggers are having a field day over the Alliance Defense Fund’s “discovery” of the Homosexual Agenda. According to the ADF, the agenda looks something like this:We did some digging around, and we managed to get a copy of the actual Heterosexual Agenda. Guess what? It looks surprisingly similar:They may try to tell you there’s no such thing as a “Heterosexual Agenda,” but don’t you believe it.

[Hat tip: Pam Spaulding for the ADF’s “Homosexual Agenda”]