Box Turtle Bulletin

Heterosexual Menace: BBIAB

BBIAB (“Being buried in a box”) is a societal menace and it is time we take a stand. Mollifying the proponents for immorality has only made the problem worse and pretending that it isn’t happening won’t make it go away. It’s time we look at the cause of this problem and who is behind it.

I propose we take steps – now – to correct this cultural malaise and return our society to the good wholesome 70’s.

TEACH KIDS REAL RISKS IN THE CLASSROOM: Stop pretending that all lifestyles are at equal risk for being buried in a box – because BBIAB is NOT behaviorally- or lifestyle-neutral. Instead, teach students in school health classes the DOCUMENTED REALITY that certain behaviors, especially heterosexual sex, are particularly high-risk for BBIAB.

RE-STIGMATIZE DANGEROUS BEHAVIORS: In the wider culture and especially among youth, re-stigmatize heterosexual sex and other (predominantly) heterosexual acts (e.g., “golddigging,” heterosexual slang for granpa-bimbo perversion). If other behaviors were as dangerous as heterosexual sex, there would be well-funded PR campaigns and government mobilizations to curtail them. Political Correctness is no excuse for failing to educate against bad and harmful behaviors.

(Satire inspired by The Peter)

Really? Ya think?

This video is pretty controversial, even in the gay community.  I don’t like it.  I expected to like it — I’ve been mocking Michele Bachmann for a long time — but I don’t.

First, I’m not a big fan of using kids as political props. I’ve ridiculed our opponents for doing it. Was this video his idea? I don’t know but I doubt it. Is he just being pushed into camera to parrot what his mother told him? That feels more likely. I have no confidence this kid understands what he’s saying.

Gives me the creeps.

It’s bad for another reason, though:

I like Michele Bachmann in this video!

I didn’t even think that was possible. But for these few seconds, I see a side of her I’ve never witnessed. She’s charming with the boy, kind and gentle. She’s helpful when he’s shy. And when the shock hits, she directs her reaction to the mother, not to him. She casts a frozen glance at Mom, then smiles at the boy and quietly tells him, “Ba bye.”

The videographer’s intent may have been to cut through Bachann’s political facade and expose a monster within, but this video does just the opposite.  I still can’t stand the woman, but this snippet humanizes her. In fact, if you framed it just right and gave it a good spin, the video could be an ad for our opponents.

What do you all think?

Everything I’ve said so far is subjective. I don’t know the boy, don’t know the Mom, don’t know how this whole thing came to be. Did anyone have the same reaction? The opposite?  Did anybody see their reaction shift with multiple viewings?

I’d like to know.

Another Teen Takes His Life

The bullying got so bad, friends say, that Jacob Rogers dropped out at Cheatham County Central  High School in Ashland City, Tennessee, just a few miles northwest of Nashville. He took his own life Wednesday:

“He started coming home his senior year saying ‘I don’t want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a f****, they call me gay, a queer,'” friend Kaelynn Mooningham said.

Kaelynn said her friend Jacob felt ignored.

“Jacob told me no one was helping him. He constantly was going to guidance,” she said.

The school says they were only aware of one bullying incident, and said they intervened. But the fact that Jacob quit going to school around Thanksgiving should have been a red flag. Jacob’s grandmother, who was his primary guardian, found some notes Jacob let behind which included passwords to his email and phone to allow investigators to determine why he killed himself.

For more information on suicide prevention, research and help-seeking resources, see the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). If you or someone you know needs help, see The Trevor Project’s web site or call the Trevor Lifeline: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).

Is Cameroon Next?

From the African news blog Behind the Mask:

Alternatives Cameroon, an LGBTI organisation, reports that government policy makers last week convened to endorse a preliminary draft of a law that imposes harsher penalties for homosexual acts.

…Existing laws criminalise homosexual practice with prison sentences lasting up to five years in prison and a fine of 20,000 CFA to 200,000 CFA francs (US$41 to US$410). The proposed new law will impose harsher penalties with up to 15 years in prison for homosexual acts.

This action comes after several arrests of alleged homosexual men in Douala and Yaoundé, the country’s biggest cities, over the past three months and the sentencing of two others to five years in prison for homosexual acts in November.

The Daily Agenda for Thursday, December 8

TODAY’S AGENDA:
Ninth Circuit Court Hears Argument on Prop 8 Tapes: San Francisco, CA. Plaintiff in Perry v. Brown (formerly Perry v Schwarzenegger) will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninths Circuit today that the Prop 8 trial tapes should be publicly accessible. The testimony of several of Prop 8’s supporters, it turns out, is deeply embarrassing to anti-gay groups, and they have been fighting tooth and nail to keep the public record out of the public’s reach. Last September, Federal District Judge James Ware ruled that “Transparency is pivotal to public perception of the judiciary’s legitimacy and independence” and ordered the tapes release. That order was stayed while Prop 8 supporters appealed. Oral arguments take place today at 2:30 PST.

Ninth Circuit Court Hears Argument on Whether A Gay Judge Can Rule On Marriage: San Francisco, CA. Yes, it’s a busy day in San Francisco. Immediately following oral arguments on whether the Prop 8 tapes should be made public, the same court will hear oral arguments on Prop 8 supporter’s request that Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional should be vacated because Judge Walker was gay. Because, you know, women judges shouldn’t be allowed to judge cases involving women’s issues and black judges shouldn’t be allowed to judge cases involving African-American issues. Or something. Prop 8 supporters tried that argument with Federal District Judge James Ware and lost, so they’re appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court. Oral arguments begin at 3:30 PST.

If you know of something that belongs on the Agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

As always, please consider this your open thread for the day.

A Millerial conspiracy

Isabella Miller-Jenkins and Lisa Miller. Both are reported missing.

When Lisa Miller fled the country with her daughter Isabella Jenkins-Miller, I wondered how long it would be before we saw either of them. But in April of this year progress was made on the case. The FBI reported that it had determined that Miller had fled to Nicaragua and had been assisted there by Mennonite missionaries.

When Timothy (“Timo”) Miller, the Mennonite missionary, was arrested for for his role in providing plane tickets and shelter for Lisa Miller, it was noted that he was not related. The last name similarity was just coincidental. And I was willing to buy it.

But today we read of a new arrest (Fox)

A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.

Okay. I’m sorry. That’s just too many Millers to be coincidental.

So what’s going on here? I have a hypothesis. And if I’m right, it was rather clever of Lisa’s supporters.

If you want to sneak someone out of the country, you want to be inconspicuous. You want to raise as little attention as possible. But if you buy tickets for someone of the same name, it raises no attention. And if you are a Mennonite missionary, it seems natural that someone with your last name comes visiting. By being assisted by other people named Miller, Lisa could disappear.

Now I can’t claim that there’s a Millerial conspiracy (sorry, Millerite was already taken). But if so, then you have to wonder just how Lisa Miller came in contact with these other non-related Millers. One would almost have to have access to a large data base from which to solicit people named Miller for their support.

Pat Roberston: God Will Punish the US for “Enforcing” Homosexuality On Other Nations

Isn’t it appalling that the United States of America would try to enforce the acceptance of homosexuality on other nations, but at the same time we would not force them to take care of their religious minorities and they would permit discrimination and persecution of Christians? What kind of a country have we got? You know there is a God in heaven, and he is just. Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble when I remember that God is just.” He is just. He is not going to allow this thing to go on forever. This country cannot continue to violate God’s principles and to make a mockery of his laws and think we’re going to get away with it. And when the blow comes, it’s going to be horrible.

Cuz, you know, jailing and killing gay people is God’s will after all.

Marriage Criminalization Bill Introduced In Nigerian House

It took barely twenty-four hours for Nigeria’s House of Representatives to register its answer to the Obama Administration’s pledge to become more vigorous in protecting the human rights of LGBT people abroad. The Associated Press reports that the bill which imposes prison terms for gay unions of all stripes which passed the Nigerian Senate last week has was introduced into the nation’s lower house today:

A spokesman for the House of Representatives and a cabinet minister in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer were defiant in the face of Western criticism over the measure. “We have a culture. We have religious beliefs and we have a tradition. We are black people. We are not white,” said Zakari Mohammed, who is also a lawmaker.

He said same-sex marriage “is alien to our culture and we can never give it a chance. So if (Western nations) will hold their aid to us, to hell with them.”

Information Minister Labaran Maku said “we reserve the right to make our laws without apologies to other countries.”

President Barack Obama’s actions and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech seems to have touched off a particular anger, with one lawmaker vowing to up the ante:

Mohammed vowed lawmakers would proscribe even tougher penalties than those proposed so far. He said “to hell with the super powers if they are for gay marriages.”

When the anti-gay bill was first introduced in the Senate, it contained a three-year prison term for couples who enter into a same-sex marriage or any other arrangement  “for other purposes of same sexual relationship.” It also included fines for “witnesses, abet and aids the solemnization of a same gender marriage contract.”

 But by the time the measure finally passed last week, the penalties were substantially increased. The defined unions being outlawed were broadened considerably and the penalty was increased to fourteen years in a Nigerian prison, and the fines for supporting such a union were replaced with ten years imprisonment.

And that’s not all. New crimes were also added. “Any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisation, or directly or indirectly make public show of same sex amorous relationship” is now subject to ten years imprisonment. The same penalty applies to anyone who “supports the registration, operation and sustenance of gay clubs, societies, organisations, processions or meetings in Nigeria.” What tougher penalties could be added to the bill is anybody’s guess.

Ugandan Television Reports on US Foreign Policy Initiative for LGBT Human Rights

NTV is owned by the same company that publishes Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper. This news report was posted to their YouTube channel just moments ago:

The report itself is very calm and measured. But it does reflect prevailing opinion not only in Uganda but through much of Africa when the reporter asks at the end, “Will Uganda blink and bow to the pressure?” The image of bowing, as you can imagine given Africa’s history, has a very specific humiliative resonance that goes much deeper than much of the rest of the world. The three lawmakers in the report — Anti-Homosexuality Bill author M.P. David Bahati, M.P. Steven Ochola of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDP), and Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo (Lokodo is identified as “Rev. Fr.,” despite having been defrocked by the Vatican) — all spoke against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks in Geneva. Human rights lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuzi suggests that a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise might be the best way to go for Uganda’s LGBT community.

Update: Paul Canning pointed me to this question which NTV has put on its Facebook page. The responses are pretty fascinating. Yes, there are some pretty odious comments. But at least on Facebook, those East Africans who are defending gay rights as human rights are not exactly shrinking violets. I would ordinarily suggest that you chime in, but as it is, we have plenty of people in Uganda making the case to  fellow Ugandans for fellow Ugandans. That’s always good to see.

New Perry Ad: There’s Something Wrong

In case, for whatever reason, you didn’t understand what Texas Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry was trying to say yesterday, he put it in a television ad today:

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. As President, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.

Press Coverage of Obama’s LGBT Human Rights Policy Was Muted

ThinkProgress found that yesterday’s announcements by the Obama Administration that American international agencies would use their resources to promote human rights for LGBT people worldwide was barely mentioned on American television. It’s getting a bit more play in the newspapers, but since fewer people are getting their news from newspapers, I wonder whether this is something that has, so far, slipped right past most Americans as they go about their days.

In Africa as well, yesterday’s announcement has been met mostly with silence  so far, although it generally takes a day or two before stories like this percolate through the press. Neither Uganda’s independent Daily Monitor nor the pro-government New Vision mentioned the story, although Daily Monitor does cover a talk by U.S. Ambassador Jerry Lanier urging Uganda to stand on its own economically, citing hard economic times in the U.S. which may result in lower levels of aid. Kenya’s Daily Nation, which is owned by the same media company as Uganda’s Daily Monitor, also didn’t cover the story. Neither did The Standard.

In Nigeria, where the country’s Senate recently passed a bill which would impose prison sentences for gay relationships and LGBT advocacy, a quick look at the Nigerian Tribune, Daily Sun, Vanguard, and Guardian revealed no mention of the story. The Nation carried a brief mention of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech in Geneva. That story was pretty straightforward and was limited to quotes from Clinton’s speech. Punch, which I suspect may be a tabloid, although it’s articles are much more “newsy” than a typical tabloid, carried more thorough coverage of the Obama Administration’s policy, which Punch said “signposted the likelihood of a diplomatic showdown between Nigeria and the US, against the backdrop of last week’s passage of an anti-LGBT bill by the Senate.”  Punch asked Bola Akinterinwa of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs how the new initiative might affect diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Nigeria. Here’s Punch’s description of that exchange:

He described the bill as part of the country’s ‘municipal law’ which he said was different from international law.

According him, the municipal laws of a country are meant to be obeyed by all agencies and persons residing in the country where such laws are in operation. He said anybody, including foreign envoys, who contravenes the municipal laws can be convicted.

He said, “There is no problem there at all. First of all America has laws, Nigeria has laws. Those laws constitute what they call municipal laws. Municipal laws are quite different from international laws. International laws are also referred to as law of nations. The International law is the one governing all the nations of the world, whereas the municiapal laws govern the affairs of each country.

“If Obama is asking US agencies to promote gay rights or lesbian rights, they can do so. There is no problem as long as they will not infringe on the municipal law of their host countries. If they do, they will be tried based on the municipal law and they will be guilty.”

Senate leader Victor Ndoma-Egba also declared, “Nigeria is an independent nation; we are a sovereign state. We have our own values. We are not going to tie our indigenous values with the values to other nations.” He added, “How many states in the US have legalised same sex marriage? Why can’t they start from inside their own country before going out to other countries?”

In Malawi, which gained international attention when they convicted and later pardoned a same-sex couple for undergoing a traditional engagement ceremony, The Nyasa Times covered the story with a provocative photo of a “lesbian kiss.” Malawi has already suffered a cut in British aid last summer over a diplomatic row when the British ambassador criticized Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika for his increasingly autocratic actions. The Nyasa Times said that the Malawi President “defends Malawi laws for the criminalisation of sexual orientation when he adopted Zimbabwean President  Robert Mugabe’s lingo, describing gays as worse than dogs.”

The Times in Johannesburg carried a very comprehensive story in its paper this morning, including quotes from Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen and other U.S. LGBT advocates.

The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, December 7

TODAY IN HISTORY:
Pennsylvania Colony Enacts New Sodomy Law: 1682. Sodomy laws seemed to come and go in Pennsylvania. The colony had originally included Sodomy in a long list of offenses which were considered capital crimes, but the first assembly in 1676 held under the proprietorship of William Penn codified Quaker leniency in its law reform when it limited the death penalty to murder. This effectively left Pennsylvania without a sodomy law for the next six years, when the colony instituted this new law:

…if any person shall be Legally Convicted of the unnatural sin of Sodomy or joining with beasts, Such person shall be whipped, and forfeit one third of his or her estate, and work six months in the house of Correction, at hard labour, and for the Second offence, imprisonment, as aforesaid, during life.

This law would remain in effect until 1693, when William Penn fell out of power and was replaced with a Royal governor who repealed most of Penn’s legislation, including the non-capital sodomy law. No new law would be enacted until 1700 (see November 27).

If you know of something that belongs on the Agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

As always, please consider this your open thread for the day.

What Rick Perry opposes

Rick Perry opposed the statement today by the President. As he was rather specific, we must assume that he means what he says. In case you didn’t do a point by point comparison, here is what Rick Perry supports:

Rick Perry believes that countries should deny people their rights because of who they love. This isn’t surprising, really, as he has long held that the state of Texas should deny gay people rights that are shared by heterosexuals solely because they are gay. And, unlike others who talk about “everyone being treated equally to anti-gay laws”, Perry has been clear that he hold personal animosity to gay people. As gay people.

Rick Perry opposes combating the criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad. Again, no surprise. Rick Perry supported the criminalization of LGBT conduct and presumed conduct based on status in his home state of Texas.

Rick Perry opposes protecting vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. I won’t put the words “let ’em die” in his mouth. I don’t know that he’s actually said that.

Rick Perry opposes the use of foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination. I suppose this goes to anyone, not just gay people. But if Perry were no find that it was in America’s interest to, say, encourage a Muslim nation to allow a Christian minority the freedom to practice their faith, he would never do so for a sexual minority. Mostly because he actively supports discrimination against sexual minorities.

Rick Perry opposes the swift and meaningful U.S. responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad. And he would never ever engage International Organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination. Again, Perry sympathies with the abuser, not the victim.

Ideologically, it’s difficult to conceptualize a greater enemy to gay people. Santorum, perhaps. But never has there ever been in modern times a President who held the level of personal animosity that Rick Perry has for you. Not Eisenhower, not Nixon, not Johnson, not Reagan, and neither Bush. It is inconceivable that Perry could have the personal gay friendships of Reagan, the gay appointments of the Bushes, and certainly not the supportive views of Carter, Clinton, Ford, or Obama. None of the other credible GOP candidates, Romney, Gingrich, or even Bachmann would be worse.

We very seldom use the term “hate” to categorize a politicians views. It seldom is accurate. But I concur with Jim completely: Rick Perry hates you. Deeply.

Anti-Gay Extremists Have A Cow Over Obama’s Foreign Policy Memorandum

"You have the right to be jailed."

Any day our opponents are driven to fits of apoplexy is a good day if you ask me. Family “Research” Council’s Peter Sprigg is positively sputtering over the Obama Administration’s memorandum directing American international agencies to take action in countries where LGBT abuses are taking place. Sprigg’s sputtering, but unfortunately he’s not speechless:

It is startling that President Obama is prepared to throw the full weight and reputation of the United States behind the promotion overseas of the radical ideology of the sexual revolution. If he did the same on other issues, his own liberal allies would undoubtedly accuse him of cultural imperialism. Threats to withhold foreign aid from poor countries unless they conform their laws to the views of Western radicals are unconscionable.

The United Nations, like the United States, remains sharply divided on the issue of whether special rights should be granted on the basis of sexual conduct, sexual orientation or gender identity. No treaty or widely accepted international agreement has established homosexual conduct as a human right, yet the Obama administration’s actions seem guided by this fiction.

Right. Obama shouldn’t be listening to “Western radicals” who think gay people shouldn’t be jailed. And we already know Sprigg’s opinion on that topic, and given the Family “Research” Council’s lobbying Congress against resolutions condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, it’s safe to say that the rest of FRC shares Sprigg’s position.

Knows a thing or two about foreign intrigue.

Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber chimes in with his own outrage:

The announced policy, according to Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel Action, “displays the arrogance of the Obama administration.”

It is “frankly offensive,” says the attorney, that President Obama “feels compelled to export American culture’s decline in morality, and export that immorality to other nations that are trying to adhere to traditional principles relative to human sexuality.”

Barber also notes that the administration is apparently ignoring the fact that foreign nations — like the United States — are sovereign countries. He adds that the U.S. is “using essentially blackmail and the purse strings” of the nation to force countries to change their moral principles.

Speaking of exporting immorality, has anyone seen Lisa Miller lately?

“queers can…”

No, this isn't Michel Bachmann with a bad haircut.

Janice Daniels is the newly elected mayor of Troy, Michigan. She’s also not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Even if the only other tool is a mallet. In fact, Janice is so dense that she thinks she’s “a good person.”

Daniels – who ran with a motto that surely sent her sixth grade grammar teacher into tears – sought to bring her private industry experience as an associate realtor to Troy so as to protect its limited, constitutional government and the interests of its leaders, We The People. And lest you doubt her “high standard of achievement in communications”, she has had her “Guest Opinions” published in the local paper. So there.

And the good people of Troy elected her with 52% of the vote. (I dunno, I don’t live there. But was the other smiley white female Republican realtor really a worse choice?)

But Janice has discovered that politicians are held to a higher standard than realtors. Higher, even, than guest opinionizeres. And comments made on Facebook are fair game.

Back in June, before Janice’s rise to power, she made a little comment in response to New York’s vote for marriage equality.

“I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.”

And when it was made public this week, the wheels fell off her wagon.

Folks are up in arms that Mayor Janice referred to gay people as “queers”. And Janice herself was quick to apologize.

“I may have said something like that,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t have used that kind of language, but I do believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.”

And when local students protested she demanded they “forgive” her.

“I’m a good person, I really am. I said one word that you don’t like. One word.”

But that particular word selection isn’t the issue. Yes it is undoubtedly true that Janice meant the word to be a slur. But calling gay people “queers” isn’t the problem.

Had Janice said “Oh my cousin is going to New York to marry her girlfriend. I can’t wait to go to my first queer wedding.” we’d all be so pleased. And her statement wouldn’t have been much better with any other word choice.

And it isn’t that Mayor Janice doesn’t support equality. She is entitled to “believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.” That, in and of itself, is not any indication of hatred or bigotry. Many good people with caring hearts and compassionate spirits have not yet evolved to the point where they see marriage laws in terms of equality.

But words are telling, and this sentence tells us a lot. Janice Daniels didn’t post on Facebook that she disagreed with New York’s law. Or that she was disappointed. Or that marriage should be defined on her terms. Janice didn’t mention the legislature or the law at all.

To Janice the issue isn’t over the state’s definitions. It’s about a certain group of people being allowed to do something. And, let’s be real, it’s not the “get married” part that has her in a tizzy. It’s hard to invest much emotion into weddings which we find objectionable, be it a drunken Vegas stunt, an octogenarian-golddigger match, or a reality show finale.

No, Janice’s real objection was that “queers can…”

In fact, Janice so objects to the fact that “queers can..” that she threatened to throw away her carry bag. She so objects to “queers can…” that, for a moment anyway, she no longer loved New York. The state had betrayed her. Not because it now allowed yet another class of marriages of which she didn’t approve, but because they voted and now “queers can…”

Janice can declare that she “loves everyone” all day long. But when it comes to discerning poor word selection from heart-felt animus, queers can.