Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyMay 10th, 2011
William Temple (Photo: Evan McMorris / TPM)
Tea Party Founding Fathers chairman William Temple addressed a news conference Monday morning warning lawmakers against raising the debt ceiling. Dressed in his trademark colonial garb, Temple warned that any lawmaker who voted for raising the debt ceiling would receive a zero on their scorecard when they rate candidates for 2012. But he was open to compromise:
On the list was keeping the front lines of America’s wars as free of openly gay people and women of any sexual leaning as possible. Temple said that “if the House Armed Services Committee and the Pentagon slow down on injecting open homosexuality and females into forward combat roles,” tea partiers might be able to put up with their new Republican House voting to ensure American government services are paid for with more borrowed cash.
Temple’s line of reasoning:
When the Pentagon’s own studies show that military effeminization may have an extremely costly impact on recruiting and retention, when Islamists have shown their willingness to sexually brutalize American female reporters, why would John Boehner’s House Republicans be caving to political correctness? Why would House Republicans who know better be fostering inappropriate attractions in the intimacy of tents, bunks, barracks, platoons, subs, tanks, convoys, cockpits, latrines, showers, toilets and locker rooms when we are fighting wars in three Muslim nations?
It’s a good thing the Tea Party is only interested in economic matters.
May 10th, 2011
For those who are following our Ugandan coverage via our RSS feed, here are some important updates you may have missed…
May 10th, 2011
[Correction: The Ugandan Embassy is on 16th St, not 15th street as originally reported. The link to Google Maps was/is correct.]
[Update 12:00 EST: It should be noted that while there has been much discussion about dropping the death penalty or making other alterations to the bill, none of that has occurred yet. The time when that might occur — if one would believe that such modifications were to occur — would be during its second reading. As of today, the death penalty is still in the bill.]
[Update 1:15 EST: Warren Throckmorton has confirmed that the report from Stephen Tashobya, Chair of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, was completed and sent on to Parliament. A Parliament spokesperson confirmed that the report, which includes recommendations for modifications to the bill, will be made public tomorrow. Only one bill passed today, which pushes two other major pieces of legislation off until tomorrow. But the spokesperson speculated that Parliament may hold its session open late into the evening to complete its agenda.]
[Update: 1:35 EST: GetEqual has also added a dial-in campaign in addition to their scheduled protest: “GetEQUAL is calling on every American citizen to dial-in into the Ugandan Ambassador to the United States, Perezi K. Kamunanwire and inform him that every Ugandan life matters. Participants will begin calling the Ugandan Embassy at 10:00am today and continue until the vote. The call in number for the Ugandan Embassy is (202) 726-4758.]
[Update: 1:45 EST: From Pink News: “Foreign secretary William Hague says that the UK is continuing to urge Uganda not to pass a bill that could see gay people executed. Responding to questions on Twitter, Mr Hague wrote: “We oppose this bill and will continue to raise our concerns with Ugandan government. We urge Ugandan MPs to reject it.” He continued: “Our embassy is lobbying Ugandan gov & the UK initiated a formal EU demarche [diplomatic move] to the Ugandan foreign minister on the bill.”]
[Update: 1:55 EST: I will be on Michelangelo Signorile’s program on SiriusXM OutQ with guest host Mike Rogers to talk about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. I will be on shortly after 3:00 EST. If you’d like to listen online for free, you can register here. The channel is 108 on both Sirius and XM.]
The Ugandan Parliament has published in today’s order paper a notice of upcoming business:
NOTICE OF BUSINESS TO FOLLOW
1. BILLS SECOND READING
I) THE HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION AND CONTROL BILL, 2010
II) THE ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL, 2009
There are two ways to read this. The bill’s listed under “business to follow” do not always come up for immediate consideration. I’ve watched some bills remain under this notice for weeks on end.
On the other hand, Wednesday May 11 is a very significant day, and the vote can be an important diversion. Not only is it the last scheduled day of final scheduled session of the 8th Parliament, but it also happens to coincide with the day in which the opposition leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye, plans to return from Nairobi, Kenya, where he had been treated for injuries sustained when he was attacked by security forces during a peaceful protest. Police smashed the window of a car he was riding in and sprayed pepper spray and tear gas. Besigye was blinded and received multiple injuries. When he attempted to go to neighboring Kenya for treatment, the Ugandan government delayed his flight from Entebbe airport for nearly two hours. Thousands have been injured in rioting that has taken place in multiple cities across the country, as unrest has spread over rising fuel and food prices, as well as ongoing widespread corruption within the government. Human rights advocates have condemned the government’s violent response to peaceful protests.
Clearly, passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which is very popular among ordinary Ugandans, would be a cynical diversionary ploy on the part of the government.
There is another political factor one must consider. Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi is fighting to retain his position as Speaker in the next Parliament. According to this New Vision article, MP David Bahati, the sponsor of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, appears to be involved, either directly or behind the scenes, in the Speaker selection process. He may be using that leverage to force the speaker to fast-track the bill for a vote.
If the bill does come up for a second reading, that is when amendments to the bill may be offered. A third reading can quickly follow a second reading, at which time the bill would be passed and sent to the President. The president can assent to the bill or return it to Parliament for changes. According to one Parliament member, the President has not returned a bill to Parliament during his term.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, if passed in its current form, would impose the death penalty for those who are HIV-positive, who is a “repeat offender,” or whose partner is deemed “disabled” regardless of whether the relationship was consensual. It would also impose a lifetime sentence for other cases. The bill would lower the bar for conviction, making mere “touching” for the perceived purpose of homosexual relations a criminal offense. It threatens teachers, doctors, friends, and family members with three years imprisonment if they didn’t report anyone they suspected of being gay to police within twenty-four hours. It also would broadly criminalize all advocacy of homosexuality including, conceivably, lawyers defending accused gay people in court or parliamentarians proposing changes to the law. It even threatens landlords under a “brothel” provision if they knowingly rent to gay people.
GetEqual has announced a protest for this afternoon from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Ugandan Embassy, 5911 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. (map). Says GetEqual: “Please bring signs, banners, and your best protest chants Tuesday afternoon to the Ugandan Embassy as we let Uganda know that we stand in solidarity LGBT Ugandans, their families and friends, and we will not sit idly by while Members of Parliament debate whether to imprison or kill them.”
If you can’t make it to the protest in person, you can call, write, and/or fax the Ugandan Ambassador to the United States. Please be polite, but firm. The contact information is:
His Excellency Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Tel: (202) 726 4758
Fax: (202) 726 1727
pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org
Also, there’s an AllOut petition you can sign online. It now has over 250,000 signatures and is addressed to President Museveni. There is another petition at Avaaz.org with over 650,ooo signatures. Sign both of them. The second one has some incorrect information listed — the bill was never “stopped.” Also, the bill is not dead “If we block the vote for two more days until Parliament.” The bill doesn’t officially die until the 8th Parliament expires on May 18. It could be called back into special session before then.
You can keep up with ongoing developments on this facebook page and on Warren Throckmorton’s blog. We will do what we can here as well.
May 10th, 2011
UPDATE: The GetEqual protest at the Uganda Embassy is TODAY. See updated info below.
Stephen Tashobya
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” Bill Is In The Balance: Stephen Tashobya, chairman of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee for Uganda’s Parliament, must be feeling the weight of the world on him right now. Yesterday, his committee heard testimony from supporters and opponents of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The fate of the bill now rests in Tashobya’s hands, as well as those of the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Ssekandi. If the committee’s report on the bill is completed and presented to Parliament, Ssekandi could then call the bill for a second and third reading, with passage taking place on the third reading. According to the current schedule, all of this has to occur before the end of the day on Wednesday when the 8th Parliament’s session is scheduled to end.
If Tashobya’s report does not make it into Ssekandi’s hands by Wednesday morning, the likelihood that the bill will be voted in would be significantly lessened. But constitutionally, the 8th Parliament remains in effect until May 18th. Ssekandi could conceivably call Parliament back for a special session. But time is already running out for that. Thursday is a special national holiday as President Yoweri Museveni is sworn in to begin his twenty-sixth year as President. Swearing in of MP’s for the 9th Parliament occurs over three days from the 16th through the 18th, with the next Parliament beginning its term on the 18th. That effectively would leave Friday the 13th as a potential day for a special session.
Protesters at the Ugandan Embassy in November 2009, following the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Protest At Uganda Embassy: GetEqual has announced a protest for this afternoon from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Ugandan Embassy, 5911 15th 16th Street NW in Washington, D.C. (map). Says GetEqual: “Please bring signs, banners, and your best protest chants Tuesday afternoon to the Ugandan Embassy as we let Uganda know that we stand in solidarity LGBT Ugandans, their families and friends, and we will not sit idly by while Members of Parliament debate whether to imprison or kill them.”
If you can’t make it to the protest in person, you can call, write, and/or fax the Ugandan Ambassador to the United States. Please be polite, but firm. The contact information is:
His Excellency Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Tel: (202) 726 4758
Fax: (202) 726 1727
pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org
Also, there’s an AllOut petition you can sign online.
Exodus In Morgantown: Exodus International travels to Morgantown, West Virginia today to conduct an “equipping event” at Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. The event is a sort of a miniature “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference, but tailored specifically for pastors, ministerial leaders and seminary students. The event is today from 8:30 a.m. to 2:oo p.m.
Truth Wins Out’s Wayne Besen will also be in Morgantown, joining Fairness West Virginia for “Fairness in Faith: Fighting the Ex-Gay Myth and Propaganda Machine,” from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on West Virginia University’s campus in the Mountainlair Greenbrier Room. The event is being held in conjunction with First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown’s companion event, “Let My People Go: A Liberating Faith for People of All Sexual Orientations,” will be held at the church at 456 Spruce Street in Morgantown. A light supper will be served at 5:30. The prizewinning film “For the Bible Tells Me So,” which explores issues of sexuality and faith, will be screened at 6:30 with a discussion to follow. For more information, please call (304) 712-9805 or send an email to Bradley@fairnesswv.org.
Lisa Miller (left) and Janet Jenkins (right)
Lisa Miller Case: Timothy David Miller returns to court today for a probable cause hearing in Burlington, Vermont. He was arrested on charges that he helped Lisa Miller kidnap nine-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins and leave the country in defiance of a judge’s order that she turn over custody to Janet Jenkins. Jenkins and Lisa Miller had been in a civil union when they had their daughter, Isabella, but the union fell apart when Miller decided to leave and renounce her homosexuality. Miller initially had custody of Isabella, but refused Jenkins’s visitation rights. Jenkins was awarded custody in 2009, but by then Miller had already fled the country. Timothy David Miller (no apparent relation) allegedly purchased the airline tickets to Nicaragua and arranged for a place for them to stay. A federal arrest warrant has been issued for Lisa Miller who remains at large, and the girl is listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Becoming Chaz: This much talked-about documentary chronicles Chaz Bono’s transition from the golden-haired “Chastity” of The Sonny and Cher Show. Beginning with his hormone shots and through his surgeries, the documentary reveals that the transition is not just one of physical changes, but of his heart and soul as well. The documentary premiered last January at the Sundance Film Festival, and will air tonight on OWN at 9: p.m. (EST/PST). It will be flowed with a live discussion hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, with the audience and viewer invited to a conversation with Chaz, his family and filmmakers. You can see the trailer for Becoming Chaz here.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Book Burning in Berlin: 1933. After having raided the Institute for Sexual Research and looted its vast library and archives (See the May 6 Daily Agenda), the German Student Association (Deutsche Studentenschaft) proclaimed a nationwide “Action against the Un-German Spirit”, which culminating in the “cleansing” (“Säuberung”) by fire on May 10, 1033 of an estimated 25,000 volumes of “un-German” books. Book burnings took place throughout Germany, and the bulk of the books burned in Berlin came form the ISR. About 40,000 people watched in the Opernplatz as propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels declared “No to decadence and moral corruption!” LGBT advocacy, which had developed as a strong scientific and social institution in Germany over the past several decades, was shut down virtually overnight.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Scott Brison: 1967. Brison is chief economic spokesman for Canada’s Liberal Party, representing the riding of Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia in Parliament. But hie entered politics as a Progressive Conservative in 1997. He came out as gay in 2002, saying that he is “not a gay politician, but a politician who happens to be gay.” While he was the fourth sitting Member of Parliament to come out, he was the first openly gay MP for the Progressive Conservative Party. In 2003, he crossed the aisle and joined the Liberal Party after the PC merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative Party. In 2004, he became the first openly gay cabinet minister when Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed him Minister of Public Works. On August 18, 2007, Brison married his partner, Maxime Saint-Pierre in Cheverie, Nova Scotia.
Michele Van Gorp: 1977. Born in Warren Michigan, Michele Van Gorp played women’s collegiate basketball at Purdue University for her freshman and sophomore years, then transferred to Duke University, where she led Duke to the school’s firs NCAA final. She was drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Van Gorp was the only open lesbian in the WNBA from 2002 (when Sue Wicks retired) until 2005, when Sheryl Swoopes and Latasha Byears came out. Van Gorp retired from the WNBA in 2005 following injuries, and she is now coaching in France.
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here.
May 9th, 2011
[The following statement has been released by Uganda’s Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. The Coalition is made up of 23 Ugandan and East African NGO’s focusing on human rights, HIV/AIDS, labor rights, and women’s and refugee issues. The statement reiterates comments made earlier today in testimony before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee concerning the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The statement references some of the political turmoil that has engulfed Uganda for nearly a month, as well as important court cases that are directly relevant to LGBT rights. One of those cases involved the late David Kato and others whose photos were published in the tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication by the same name) under the headline of “Hang Them!” The court ruled that Rolling Stone had violated the plaintiff’s rights three weeks before Kato was murdered. The statement below echos many of the themes heard in the posted audio clip from today’s testimony.]
Is Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” Bill being used to blind the World?
Press statement for release on Monday 9th May 2011.
Just days after opposition leader Colonel Kizza Besigye was deliberately blinded with pepper spray while on his way to work, the internationally reviled Anti-Homosexuality Bill was brought back to Parliament for public hearings in preparation for the second reading. Speculation is rife that the Bill, once believed to have been permanently shelved by Cabinet in light of its many absurdities, is being used to blind the world to everything else that is going on in Uganda right now. Alternatively that re-opening the discussion about a backwards looking and harmful proposal is symptomatic of a more general problem of weak governance.
Whatever the case may be, Uganda is struggling to come to terms with rampant inflation, teargas and mass arrests on an unprecedented scale: As civil society protests the draconian crack-down on protesters and opposition, it is clear that if the hate-filled Kill the Gays Bill is passed, it will finish the process of burying alive not just the sexual minorities of Uganda, but also all those who support the principles of constitutionalism, human rights for all, inclusivity, and democratic governance.
The essence of our submission to the Legal & Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the Ugandan Parliament, as made on Monday 9th May 2011, is therefore as follows:
From a LEGAL PERSPECTIVE, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is:
1) Unconstitutional because it violates the rights to privacy, freedom from discrimination, equal protection for all, and protection of minorities. These rights as they relate to sexual minorities have already been established in Uganda’s High Court in the cases of Victor Mukasa & Another vs. Attorney General (High Court Miscellaneous Cause No 24 of 2006), and Kasha Jacqueline, Pepe Onziema & David Kato v. Giles Muhame and The Rolling Stone Publications Ltd (2011).
Six of the eighteen substantive provisions of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 are UNCONSTITUTIONAL. This implies that parliament can only pass them after amending the constitution.
2) Disproportionate because it elevates the crimes provided for to the same levels as those of terrorism, treason and misprison of treason. The Bill therefore proposes that consensual sex between adults is as dangers to the people of Uganda as the placing of a bomb in a crowded nightspot!
3) Redundant because it replicates existing provisions. Most importantly:
The new provisions of the Bill if passed into law would be are largely incapable of implementation. Most importantly:
Twelve of the eighteen substantive provisions are REDUNDANT. This is because they either replicate existing law or they are incapable of being practically implemented. In essence, this makes the whole bill a waste of time, for without a constitutional Amendment, it would be useless to pass a Bill whose provisions are either unconstitutional or redundant.
From a MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE the Bill is based on false science, myths and discredited theories with regard to:
If adopted, the Bill would force Medical professionals to inform on their homosexual clients, thereby breaking the two most fundamental tenets of their profession, namely the Hippocratic Oath and the commitment to total client confidentiality.
From a PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE the Bill, if passed into law, would be a direct attack on Uganda’s already weak efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, as it would criminalise outreach, education and information at a time when new infections are on the rise and more people need to be placed on ARV treatment. It is generally understood that stigmatisation of vulnerable and at-risk groups is one of the biggest obstacles to HIV prevention; this Bill simply worsens the stigma and makes it impossible for health workers to do their jobs. The Bill, if passed into law, will thus become a further hindrance to Uganda’s attainment of the Millenium Development Goals. From a mental health perspective, the Bill is bound to produce an increase in depression and suicides by persons who feel they have no choice but to suppress their sexuality.
From a GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE the Bill is repugnant in that it criminalises a range of civil society activities, and thereby circumscribes their capacity to intervene effectively. It undermines civil society’s freedom of expression through banning the ‘promotion’ of sexual health and sexual rights messages. It also asserts a single model of family rather than recognising the diversity of traditional and modern structures already existent in Uganda. As such it stifles the majority of Uganda’s heterosexual citizens, alongside their homosexual brothers and sisters.
From a POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE the Kill the Gays Bill, and the wider homophobic discourse which it is derived from, and which it seeks to exacerbate, is being used to divert the attention of ordinary Ugandans from more immediately pressing issues.
CAN THE BILL BE AMENDED?
The Coalition has been reliably informed that attempts have been made to find a ‘win win situation’ which protects both National and International interests by amending those portions of the Bill which are most offensive to international best practice. We also hear that Honorable Bahati, has proposed a number of amendments to his original Bill.
As a Coalition we do not believe that there is any conflict between national and international perspectives on the failings of the original Bill, nor do we believe that amendments in any way offer an acceptable way forward; while the wording may change, the intention of an Anti-Homosexuality Bill will remain the same: to Kill the Gays. We therefore reject the original Bill, together with any attempts to amend it, in their entirety.
HAS THE PROCESS BEEN SUFFICIENTLY TRANSPARENT?
We also protest the manner in which, since the tabling of the Bill in 2009, attempts have been made to exclude the voices of civil society actors from the debates about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Laws, unlike sex between consenting adults, should be done in public, not behind closed doors. We therefore thank the Legal & Parliamentary Affairs Committee for hearing our submissions on Monday 9th May 2011.
POSITION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD
1. We call unanimously for the complete withdrawal of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, whether in its original or amended form.
2. We urge the incoming Parliament to pursue urgent legal reform to introduce clear legal recognition of the distinction between consensual and non-consensual sex between adults, whatever their gender. Specifically:
3. We call for a broader, more informed and ongoing dialogue on sexual health and sexual rights, between a broad range of stakeholders, including but not limited to: Government, religious leaders, traditional leaders, human rights activists, feminists, journalists, public health workers, sexual majorities and minorities, to minimise the manipulation of sexuality for political purposes, and to maximise human rights, public health and good governance for all.
For further information on the work of the Coalition, please go to www.ugandans4rights.org or write to us on info@ugandans4rights.org.
May 9th, 2011
[Update: Paul Canning alerted me to this 30-minute audio snippet from today’s hearing. Beginning at the two-minute mark, the speaker describes how the bill is based upon false premises and is not supported by science:]
Warren Throckmorton has his ear to the ground on the rapidly developing situation in Uganda, where Parliament may be set to pass the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law. He reported that the Human Rights Commission, Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Coalition on Human Rights all testified against the bill during hearings today. The Associated Press reports that pastor Martin Ssempa testified again this morning, calling for the death penalty to be removed and replaced with seven year’s imprisonment. This is a remarkable backtracking from supporting lifetime imprisonment previously. Ssempa went on to call for the bill’s passage “because homosexuality is killing our society.”
LGBT Advocate and retired Anglican Bishop Christopher Senyonjo also testified against the bill. He warned the committee that the bill would not make gay people suddenly disappear, but would instead turn Uganda into a police state. He also warned that the bill would result in an increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS because gay Ugandans would fear seeking treatment.
The AP also reported on the bill’s future:
Stephen Tashobya, the head of the parliament committee, said it is time legislators give the bill priority. He said a report on the bill would be ready by Tuesday and could be presented to parliament by the end of the week.
“Due to public demand the committee has decided to deal with bill,” Tashobya said. “The bill has generated a lot of interest from members of the public and members of parliament and that is why we spared some time deal with before this parliament ends.”
Parliament is due to end on May 11, although Parliament itself doesn’t constitutionally expire until the 18th. It’s not clear whether there is enough time for the bill to make it to the floor before the 11th, but Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda said that if Parliament does take up the bill, it will be almost certainly be passed. Warren Throckmorton, who is constantly updating this thread with new information as he finds it, comments on the bill’s prognosis:
Tashobya is quoted as saying he would have the report completed by tomorrow. However, he just told me a few minutes ago that he cannot promise to complete the report by tomorrow. He did say that he would complete the report before the end of Parliament which is the 18th of May. When I asked him how the Parliament could vote on a bill in this manner, he said that the Speaker (Edward Ssekandi) makes those decisions. Theoretically, the Speaker could call Parliament into session anytime before May 18 for a vote on any left over bills.
According to Tashobya, the Company bill did not pass today, and the Procurement bill was pushed to tomorrow, thus making it even more difficult for any new bills to come to the floor before Speaker Ssekandi’s end of official business date of May 11. The AHB coming to the floor appears to hinge on the completion of the committee report by Mr. Tashobya sometime tomorrow and the Speaker’s willingness to bring it to the floor on Wednesday. If this does not happen, the Speaker would have to call the MPs together sometime during the festivities of the Presidential inauguration and the swearing in of the new Parliament on the 18th.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, if passed in its current form, would impose the death penalty for those who are HIV-positive, who is a “repeat offender,” or whose partner is deemed “disabled” regardless of whether the relationship was consensual. It would also impose a lifetime sentence for other cases. Those provisions may be modified, although that still remains uncertain.
Even with those proposed modifications, the bill would still remain a potent threat to human rights. The bill would lower the bar for conviction, making mere “touching” for the perceived purpose of homosexual relations a criminal offense. It threatens teachers, doctors, friends, and family members with three years imprisonment if they didn’t report anyone they suspected of being gay to police within twenty-four hours. It also would broadly criminalize all advocacy of homosexuality including, conceivably, lawyers defending accused gay people in court or parliamentarians proposing changes to the law. It even threatens landlords under a “brothel” provision if they knowingly rent to gay people.
There is an AllOut petition which is now at about 40,000 signatures with a goal of 100,000 signatures by tomorrow. This will be presented at Parliament by Bishop Senyonjo tomorrow.
May 9th, 2011
I received an email on Friday:
I like the history bits you’ve beet putting on the blog. In order to be equitable to the trans community, here’s a little timeline I’ve developed over the years.
That was from Marlene Bomer, guest lecturer on gender and sexuality at Bowling Green State University and host of TransTalk. Attached was a “little timeline” — 64-pages! — of transgender and gender-bending history going back to 500 BCE. Two of today’s moments in history (Dana International and Harvey Fierstein) came straight from her timelime. I’m deeply grateful to Marlene for her important contribution to The Daily Agenda.
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Uganda’s Parliament Fiddles While The Country Burns: Uganda is in a massive upheaval right now. Middle class Ugandans are joining the poor and opposition leaders in protesting by launching a “walk to work” campaign. Incredibly, government forces have responded as though peacefully walking to work were illegal, violently breaking up groups walking together and imprisoning opposition leaders. Kizza Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni’s main opponent in last February’s election, had to flee to Kenya for medical treatment after police attacked his vehicle and threw a live teargas canister inside through a smashed window. With that, what started as a peaceful campaign turned to full-blown rioting across the country. Thousands of ordinary Ugandans have been injured since mid-April, and several killed. Uganda’s deteriorating economy has been traced to rising fuel prices exacerbate by to a falling Shilling brought on by massive government spending and corruption to curry favor in February’s elections, and the unbudgeted purchasing of six Russian SU-30 MK2 fighter jets for US$600 million. Uganda’s foreign reserves are dangerously low and the country is facing IMF deadlines in June to get its financial house in order. That’s just a month away.
L-R: Unidentified, American holocaust revisionist Scott Lively, International Healing Foundation's Caleb Brundidge, Exodus International boardmember Don Schmierer, Family Life Network's Stephen Langa, during the March 2009 anti-gay conference in Uganda.
So what is Parliament doing about all of this? According to reports last Friday, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee is set to resume hearings today on the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to this web site, Pastors Martin Ssempa and Stephen Langa testified before the committee last Friday. Langa is head of the Family Life Network, and was responsible for organizing the infamous three-day conference in March 2009 featuring three American anti-gay activists, which kicked off the campaign that led to the bill’s introduction. Ssempa hired George Oundo to pose as an “ex-gay” in support of the bill in mid-April. It’s unclear whether Ssempa will hire more “witnesses” for today’s hearing. Also expected to testify are representatives from the Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. If the bill makes it out of committee, it will almost assuredly pass if it is brought up for a vote in Parliament before the session ends on Wednesday.
Edie Windsor (Photo: Michael Key/Washington Blade)
Windsor v. US: Parties in the case of Windsor v United States will meet today in conference before New York Federal District Judge Magistrate James Francis to discuss proposals for a schedule for briefing and discovery for the case. The judge may decide on a schedule based on those proposals. The ACLU is representing Edie Windsor, who had to pay $350,000 in estate taxes because of DOMA when her spouse, Thea Spyer, died in 2009. The two had been together for 44 years and married in Canada in 2007.
After the Justice Department said that they would not be able to defend DOMA under heightened scrutiny, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) hired former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement to defend DOMA. Windsor, the ACLU, Clement, and Justice Department officials are all expected to appear for today’s conference at the Southern District of New York Courthouse.
New York Lobbying Day: LGBT advocates will gather in Albany to lobby state senators who are undecided or who have not yet announced a position on marriage equality. Representatives from Empire State Pride Agenda, HRC, Marriage Equality New York, Log Cabin Republicans, Freedom to Marry and Queer Rising will participate in the lobbying efforts. A vote count by Gay City News shows that 26 Senators out of 62 support marriage equality, six short of the 32 needed.
Rally at Albany: Part of Monday’s lobbying efforst include a massive lunchtime rally at West Capitol Park beginning at 1:00 p.m. Speakers include Miss New York Claire Buffie, Rev. Stacey Latimer, Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward and Dru Levasseur, a Lambda Legal Transgender Rights Attorney.
"The Tyburn Tree" west of London. It was located near the present-day Marble Arch at Hyde Park
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Hanged for Sodomy: 1726. In July of 1725, Gabriel Lawrence, 43 and “a Papist” — that alone was also a crime in 18th century England — was indicted “for committing, with Thomas Newton, aged 30 years, the heinous and detestable sin of Sodomy, not to be named among Christians.” They were arrested at the famous “molly house” of Margaret Clap, a “place of rendezvous for Sodomites.” Newton described the place: “For the more convenient establishment of her customers, she had provided beds in every room of the house.” Newton testified against Lawrence, taking upon himself the role of innocent “victim” even though he, too, was at the molly house and arrested.
Newton claimed that he didn’t know that Claps’s establishment was a molly house. He must have been pretty dumb, because he apparently spent a lot of time there. He not only testified against Lawrence, but also against two others at the house: William Griffin, 43, and Thomas Wright, 32, who “often fetched me to oblige company that way.” All three defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. On May 9, 1726, Lawrence, Griffin, and Wright were hanged at the infamous gallows known as “the Tyburn Tree.” In exchange for his testimony, Lawrence was granted immunity from prosecution.
[From Ian McCormick’s Secret Sexualities: A Sourcebook of 17th and 18th Century Writings
Ignorance Is Bliss: 1871. Dressed as Lady Stella Clinton and Miss Fanny Winifred Park, Ernest Boulton, 22, and Frederick William Park, 23 attended a performance at the Strand Theatre in London and were arrested by police. A search of their homes turned up more than a dozen dresses, petticoats, bodices and bonnets. Their landlady described their dresses as very extreme. They were charged with conspiracy to commit sodomy.
The two defendants appeared in court in drag. The whole thing was baffling to the Attorney General, who, testified on May 9, 1871, that the lack of detailed British knowledge on the topic as one of the country’s virtues. He thought it “fortunate [that] there is little learning or knowledge upon this subject in this country; there are other countries in which I am told learned treatises are written as to the appearance to be expected in such cases. Fortunately Doctors in England know very little about these matters.” Ignorance reigned, and it was to Boulton and Park’s benefit. Sure, they dressed funny, engaged in “disgraceful behaviour,” and wrote piles of letters describing their exploits — an entire day was spent reading them into the record — but none of that counted as evidence of a conspiracy to commit sodomy. And since wearing dresses itself wasn’t against the law, the jury found them not guilty.
Harvey Fierstein’s Debut: 1971. Pork, Andy Warhol’s only play, debuted on a New York off-Broadway stage. One of the cast members was a sixteen-year-old (or eighteen-year-old, his birth year seems to vary) drag queen by the name of Harvey Fierstein.
Dana Goes International: 1998. The music world is shocked when judges at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham, England choose openly MtF Dana International (born Yaron Cohen in Tel Aviv, Israel) as their champion. Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli conservatives were shocked and demanded that next year’s telecast not be held in the winning country, as tradition holds, due to the “shame” of her being transsexual. Dana countered, “My victory proves God is on my side. I want to send my critics a message of forgiveness and say to them: try to accept me and the kind of life I lead. I am what I am and this does not mean I don’t believe in God, and I am part of the Jewish Nation.”
Lightning may strike again. Dana International won the Israeli national Eurovision competition again, this time with her song “Ding Dong.” So thirteen years later, she will once again represent Israel at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany this week.
BIRTHDAYS:
Alan Bennett: 1934. The English performer and playwright is best known for The Madness of George III and the film adaptation, The Madness of King George. He received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay. In August 1960, he achieved instant fame as a comedy actor at the Edinburgh Festival by appearing in a satirical review with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook. His first play, Forty Years On, debuted in 1968. His critically acclaimed The History Boys won three Lawrence Olivier Awards in 2005 and Six Tony Awards on Broadway in 2006. His memoir, Untold Stories
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May 8th, 2011
Mom and me
TODAY’S AGENDA:
What, You Can’t Pick Up A Phone? Today is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
New Yorkers Family Research Foundation RV Tour: That anti-equality group has painted up an RV and are touring the state with their message against marriage equality. Today, your grumpy uncle’s RV stops at the Eastview Mall in Victor, NY, just a few miles southwest of Rochester at 1:00 p.m. They “urge concerned citizens to attend these events and remind their elected officials that base voters care deeply about this issue.” If you’re a concerned citizen in the Rochester area, consider yourself invited.
BIRTHDAYS:
Tom of Finland: 1920. Born Touko Laaksonen, Tom of Finland was famous for his stylized homoerotic and fetish art. Over a forty year career, he produced some 3500 drawings in his unique exaggerated style. If Barbie dolls proportions represent an anatomically impossible ideal for women, Tom of Finland’s hypermasculine characters were portrayed in similarly fantastical idealization of manly men. His style was partly influenced by “beefcake” and “physique” magazines which skirted on the edge of U.S. censorship codes in the 1950s and 1960s. But as the codes were struck down in the 1960s over First Amendment issues, his drawings became more explicit and more overtly homoerotic. His depictions became the definitive style guide for leathermen through his portrayal of policemen, lumberjacks, sailors and bikers. Several examples of his “dirty drawings ” — his unabashed term for his artwork — have been acquired by New York’s Museum of Modern Art. He died of a stroke brought on by emphysema on November 7, 1991.
Darren Hayes: 1972. The singer-songwriter was the front man of Savage Garden. Their 1987 album by the same name peaked at #1 in Australia, #2 in the U.K., #3 in the U.S. Their biggest American hit was “Truly Madly Deeply.” Their follow-up album yielded another #1 hit in the U.S. with “I Knew I Loved You.” In 2002, he launched his solo career, and by 2005 it was clear that Savage Garden was through.
Darren married his “childhood sweetheart” in 1997. They divorced in 2000 after he told her that he was gay. After years of public speculation about his sexuality, Hayes came out on July 18, 2006, when he announced that he had married (via civil partnership) his boyfriend a month earlier. In April, 2007, he told The Advocate, “First of all, it took me a long time to even accept that I was gay. And then it took me a long time to be happy that I was gay.” That summer he headlined London’s Gay Pride at Trafalgar Square. You can see his video for “It Gets Better” here. His fourth solo album is due out later this year.
Enrique Iglesias: 1975. I know, he’s not gay dammit, but he did say he could be my hero and that’s good enough for me. Plus, there’s this performance at London’s famous G-A-Y nightclub in 2007:
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here.
May 7th, 2011
That Chrome/”It Gets Better” ad premiered during Glee last week. Of course, Glee is gay friendly and has a large gay-friendly audience. I suppose it could be argued that this was the audience least in need of the message. A lot of gay kids who are picked on for being gay probably wouldn’t be caught dead watching the show or admitting they like it. And, as an indirect audience for the message, a lot of bullies probably aren’t fans either.
Yesterday, the ad went to a much wider audience, appearing on ESPN during the National Basketball Association playoffs. (I would have written NBA but, admit it, many of you would not have known what that was.)
May 7th, 2011
Dharun Ravi (left), and Molly Wei (right)
Molly Wei appeared in court Friday to request admittance into a pretrial probationary program that could lead to the dismissal of all charges against her in exchange for her testimony against Dharun Ravi, the Rutgers student who reportedly broadcast a live video feed of Tyler Clementi’s sexual encounter with another man in his dorm room. That incident, along with another attempt a few days later, led to Clementi’s suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge.
As part of the plea deal, Wei agreed to counseling and to do 300 hours of community service, in addition to testifying against Ravi. According to prosecutors, Ravi and Wei watched Clementi through a video cam from Wei’s laptop computer in her dorm room.
Clementi’s parents agreed to the plea arrangement. According to Joe Clementi, Tyler’s father, her actions were “substantially different in their nature and their extent than the actions of Tyler’s former roommate.”If Wei completes the three year program, then two counts of invasion of privacy will be dismissed. Otherwise, she faces trial and up to three years’ imprisonment.
Two weeks ago, Ravi was charged with fifteen felony count, including invasion of privacy and attempted invasion of privacy, bias crimes, tampering with evidence and witness tampering. He faces up to ten years in prison.
Tyler Clementi
When Clementi committed suicide last September, his death was among a rash of suicides that sparked a national conversation about the difficulties LGBT youth experience. That attention became the genesis for the It Gets Better project, in which people all over the world upload videos of encouragement for young people who face bullying, taunts, and other difficulties with their peers and/or families. There is also a companion book, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living
May 7th, 2011
The 137th running of the Kentucky Derby is today at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. “The most exciting two minutes in sports” begins at 6:24 p.m. EST. The hats and mint juleps however can be had throughout the day and on into the night.
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Transgender Job Fair: The GLBT Community Center of Colorado’s Transgender Career Advancement Project (TAPC) will hold the first-ever Colorado Transgender Job Fair. It’s being touted as “the first one of its kind to be held in a non-coastal city.” The fair goes from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will be held at the GLBT Community Center at 1301 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver. To learn more or to register, call 303-951-5203, e-mail transprograms@glbtcolorado.org or go to www.glbtcolorado.org.
AIDS Walks this weekend: Charlotte, NC, Cheyenne, WY, Ft. Wayne, IN, Ogunquit, ME, and Poughkeepsie, NY.
Pride celebrations this weekend: Edinburgh, Scotland and Northampton, MA.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Jesse Helms rails against “militant-activist-mean lesbian”: 1993. But of course, in Helms’s imagination what other kind of lesbian was there? President Bill Clinton had nominated Roberta Achtenberg, a San Francisco civil rights lawyer, as Assistant Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. As San Francisco City Supervisor, she supported efforts to bar the Boy Scouts from using the city’s school facilities because of its exclusion of gays scouts and leaders. Helms blew his stack over that. “She’s not your garden-variety lesbian,” he told the Associated Press. “She’s a militant-activist-mean lesbian, working her whole career to advance the homosexual agenda. Now you think I’m going to sit still and let her be confirmed by the Senate? . . . If you want to call me a bigot, go ahead.”
Helms was a bigot and Achtenberg was confirmed. She remained on the job until 1995 when she left to run for against Willie Brown for mayor of San Francisco. Obviously, she didn’t make it. Achtenberg is currently serving on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Helms is currently dead.
BIRTHDAYS:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 1840. The great Russian composer’s brother, Modeste, was comfortable with being gay, but Pyotr was not, at least not until much later in life. But he had to undergo an short, disastrous marriage before he arrived at the conclusion that his sexual orientation was insurmountable. Meanwhile, he became Russia’s most celebrated composer, with Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin, The Nutcracker, and his Fourth Symphony and Sixth Symphony (Pathétique) probably his finest works. He composed the 1812 Overture to celebrate Russia’s defeat of Napoleon at the outskirts of Moscow. Tchaikovsky confessed that the work, complete with live canon shots, would be “very loud and noisy, but I wrote it with no warm feeling of love, and therefore there will probably be no artistic merits in it.” He warned one Russian conductor, “I shan’t be at all surprised and offended if you find that it is in a style unsuitable for symphony concerts.” The 1812 Overture, it turned out, became one of his most popular works.
His death in 1893 was attributed to cholera, although many people believe his death was a suicide. One story has it that a sentence of suicide was imposed in a “court of honor” by Tchaikovsky’s fellow alumni of the St. Petersburg Imperial School of Jurisprudence because of his homosexuality. Another has it that his suicide was ordered by Tsar Alexander III himself. There doesn’t appear to be much evidence for either theory. By whatever means he may have died, many have taken Pathétique, which Tchaikovsky premiered just a few days before his death, as his final statement. According to an eyewitness at the premiere:
Tchaikovsky began conducting with the baton held tightly in his fist … in his usual manner. But when the final sounds of the symphony had died away and Tchaikovsky slowly lowered the baton, there was dead silence in the audience. Instead of applause, stifled sobs came from various parts of the hall. The audience was stunned and Tchaikovsky stood there, motionless, his head bowed.
Many regarded Pathétique as Tchaikovsky’s requiem. Indeed, it was played a second time three weeks later at his memorial concert in St. Petersburg.
Mike Jones: 1957. In November, 2006, Mike Jones revealed to a Denver radio station that Rev. Ted Haggard, pastor of Colorado Springs’s New Life Church and head of the National Association of Evangelicals, had been Jones’s client for nude massages for the past three years. Haggard’s career was essentially over as he went off to seek — well, its unclear what he sought exactly. Without a doubt, Haggard’s life became infinitely more complicated. But, surprisingly, so did Jones’s. In many people’s minds, the fact that Jones offered massages with a happy ending was as shocking as Haggard’s fall — even among some elements of the LGBT community. Mike has been out of the limelight lately, but I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him a happy 54th, and to thank him once again for going public.
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here.
May 6th, 2011
As we reported, the U.S. Olympic Committee had named Proposition 8 advocate Peter Vidmar as its 2012 chief of mission. He has now resigned that commission. (USA Today)
When the Tribune story broke, reaction was nearly immediate — and almost entirely negative — within the USOC. Aimee Mullins, the former president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and chef de mission for the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Games team, said she was “concerned and deeply saddened” about Vidmar’s past actions.
“The Olympic movement is about promoting equity for all,” she said.
In a statement released Friday evening, Vidmar said, “I have dedicated my life to the Olympic movement and the ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. I wish that my personal religious beliefs would not have become a distraction from the amazing things that are happening in the Olympic movement in the United States. I simply cannot have my presence become a detriment to the U.S. Olympic family. I hope that by stepping aside, the athletes and their stories will rightly take center stage.”
I wish his personal religious beliefs would not have become a distraction, either. I wish they had not distracted him from being a decent human being instead encouraging him to arrogantly thrust his religion, his opinion, his money, and his time into my life in order to harm me and my community.
I have no sympathy for those who are discovering that their innocent little “stand on the issue” which they were willing to make because of the “call of their church” is now being seen as mean-spirited and based in animus. And not just by the “militant homosexual activists”, but by average everyday citizens. My heart doesn’t bleed in the slightest for those who are finding that doing real harm to real people can have real consequences.
A Commentary.
May 6th, 2011
Now that the state of Illinois is offering civil union recognition to same-sex couples, the Catholic Church has disseminating fears that they will no longer be able to offer foster care or adoption services. They have vowed to be defiant.
And to the Catholic Church in Illinois, I say:
I support you.
I totally agree that if Catholic girls wish to give their children up for adoption and want them to go to Catholic families and be raised in the Catholic faith, then Catholic organizations should be able to facilitate such adoptions. With Catholic dollars.
After all, that is the very meaning of Catholic charity. Catholics sacrificing and contributing for the betterment of others. Bringing Catholic funds to help those in need.
Amen.
Oh… wait, what’s that? Oh you actually do placement with non-Catholics. Well, that’s even more charitable of you. Peace be with you.
And – sorry, say that again? You disallow unmarried heterosexual couples and all gay couples?
Oh, well I think that is extremely foolish of you and that you are denying a loving family to hard-to-place children. You should really reconsider your values.
But I guess it’s your money. And there are some children being placed that otherwise would not have a family so I’ll defer to your decisions on how best to spend the contributions of your parishioners.
But it’s what? I’m sorry, you mumbled that last part. It’s not what?
Oh, it’s not the money of your parishioners! Oh, so it’s Vatican money? No?
I’m confused. Then who gave you the money to run these programs?
THE STATE??!!?? You mean that the State of Illinois is paying you to run a program that decides foster care and adoption placement based on your own religious criteria? That tax dollars are taken out of the paychecks of gay people and given to you and that you won’t even let them apply?
And the kids AREN’T EVEN CATHOLIC??!!?? They are just kids placed with you by the State????
NO FRIGGEN WAY!!! Why that’s… it’s just… whew whew
Whew… sorry that I got so excited there. I guess I just over-reacted.
Well, there’s the clear and easy solution. The one I’m sure you have already started.
Just pull out your checkbook, Cardinal, and write the state a great big check to pay them back for the fees they’ve given you to administer the state’s foster care and adoption programs. And notify the state that you’ll only be placing kids that are brought to you with the parents’ intention that they be placed according to the teachings of the Church.
And then, praise be to God, you can go back to applying Catholic rules to Catholic kids and everyone is happy.
No?
NO?
What do you mean, “NO??”
You don’t intend to repay the State? You don’t intend to only place kids brought to you by their parents for Catholic placement?
Well, F U, Cardinal, you selfish, money-grubbing, pompous bureaucrat.
No, I do NOT support you discriminating against me and my family with MY OWN MONEY.
So kindly take your self-righteous discrimination and shove it.
Oh, and while you’re at it, you may want to consider removing “Charities” from your name. It isn’t charitable if you do it with someone else’s funds.
May 6th, 2011
From last night’s GOP debate in South Carolina:
May 6th, 2011
That is the message from the Central United Methodist Church in Toledo, Ohio. It’s part of a larger campaign which the church calls “a prophetic call to the Church to get out of the business of marginalizing gay and lesbian persons from the Church, and to welcome them as full members. The electronic billboard lit up with the message on April 25, and the church has secured the billboard for one month. They’d like to extend it if they can raise enough money.
[Hat tip: Lez Get Real]
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