Box Turtle Bulletin

ADF: perhaps the worst written letter ever

The Alliance Defense Fund has released a copy of a letter which they claim was sent to President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and in which they oppose the proposed change to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Supporters of ADF should hope they are bluffing and never sent the letter. Not only is their argument irrational, but the letter itself would get a failing mark in a sixth grade English class.

Here at Box Turtle Bulletin we occasionally make mistakes. Sometimes we misspell a word, get a reference wrong, or flub grammar (and are subjected to the resulting scorn). But we aren’t writing to the White House, and we don’t have paid proof-readers. However, ADF is supposed to be comprised of lawyers, with staff to review, so there’s just no excuse for the ADF’s laughably amateur letter.

So as to help them avoid future mockery, let me share a few tips on letter writing to ADF:

1. When writing to try and influence a powerful person, try to get their name right.

• The Secretary of the Air Force is not “Michael B. Donnelly”; his last name is Donley. Perhaps you have him confused with anti-gay activist Elaine Donnelly, but I doubt that he appreciates the comparison.
• The Secretary of the Navy is Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. If you are going to include his middle name, then for heaven’s sake include his suffix.
• Yes, Admiral Mike Mullen is an admiral in the Navy. But generally, “Navy” is not part of his name.

2. If you want mail to arrive, address it properly – even the “cc’s”

• The office of the House Republican Leader is at “H-204 The Capitol” not at “H0204 The Capitol”.
• The Secretary of the Navy is at “1000 Navy Pentagon”, not at “100 Nay Pentagon”.
• The office of the Secretary of the Army is not exactly at “1400 Defense Pentagon”. That is the address of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

I mean, really guys, it’s right there on the Department of Defense website. You can cut and paste it.

And while we’re at it, you only need to put “cc:” on the letter one time. Adding it in front of one name halfway down the list isn’t necessary.

3. Try and present your arguments in a consistent pattern

If you are numerating several points, use wording consistently. Don’t use “Whether chaplains could” three times but select “Whether chaplains can be allowed to” when there is no difference in meaning to be distinguished by different wording.

4. Try to avoid nonsensical and grammatically flawed language.

For example, the following sentence purports to introduce a “consequence”, but instead asks a question (which was not punctuated with a question mark):

That is a Constitutional offense that carries a very pragmatic consequence: just what will happen to recruiting efforts if Christians become second-class soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines.

And this sentence makes no sense whatsoever:

We urge you to reconsider your decision and avoid this collision with America’s most cherished and fundamental freedom of religious liberty.

What is “America’s most cherished and fundamental freedom of religious liberty?” It is the freedom to keep gays from the Military? Is it the freedom of chaplains to preach against “homosexual behavior?”

Or perhaps they were trying to say “American’s most cherished and fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.”

We’ll never know.

5. And finally, try not to introduce off-subject and irrelevant matters into your conclusion.

After four pages of discussion about chaplains and “homosexual behavior”, ADF provided this, their second to last paragraph:

In fact, it is more than plausible that forcing the military to affirm homosexual behavior will prove unwise. Recently, hundreds of religious leaders in civil life—including many from the faith communities that supply many military chaplains—declared their reasoned and conscientious opposition to the normalization of homosexual behavior through the artifice of same-sex “marriage.” This opposition is deeply rooted in the theology of the faith communities represented by the signatories, and such conscientious opposition will come to a sharp head within a military that compels affirmation of homosexual behavior.

Huh?

How, exactly, does (sect specific) religious opposition to civil marriage relate to gay personnel in the military? ADF never tells us, other than to suggest that it has something to do being “unwise”. Or perhaps ADF is assuming that anything gay relates to everything gay, though polls on marriage and military service certainly show otherwise.

Ugh.

Who wrote this thing? And why on earth would they actually consider sending it?

I guess that we can all just be glad that when it comes to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, our opposition is addicted to appearing like blithering idiots.

ADF: not allowing anti-gay chaplains to dictate policy is unconstitutional

One of the things I truly hate about political advocacy is the tendency of activists to veer towards hyperbole. The “what if” exceptions become the arguments of likelihood or commonality. The minor and slightly inconvenient are expressed in terms of extreme hardship or catastrophic abuse.

But sometimes claims and statements reach beyond rhetoric and oratorical posturing and jump straight to the irrational or the bizarre. And the claims made by the anti-gay legal advocacy group, Alliance Defense Fund, about the unconstitutionality of allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military are an example.

On Wednesday, ADF issued a letter to President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates stating their position:

… if Chaplains with beliefs that contradict the proposed policy [allowing service of openly gay men and women] are kept from roles that are likely to generate conflict – like preaching or counseling – then they, the faith groups they represent, and the soldiers whose religious beliefs they serve will all be marginalized. The military would effectively establish preferred religions or religious beliefs. This is a Constitutional offense that carries a very pragmatic consequence: just what will happen to recruiting efforts if Christians become second-class soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines.

Setting aside the atrocious grammar, misspellings and errors that are abundant in this letter, let’s look at the logic which ADF displayed. Here is their argument:

• Obama and Mullen seek to overturn a policy which “that prohibits open homosexual behavior while serving in the military.”
• To “affirm homosexual behavior” is to “for the first time in history espouse a military policy that is completely at odds with the morality expressed by many of its chaplains.” (emphasis in original)
• Chaplains have to “abide by applicable laws, and all applicable regulations, directives, and instructions of the Department of Defense and of the Military Department” and also they must represent “specific religious denominations, and are accountable in their ministries to those groups.” But because “orthodox Christianity” does not “affirm homosexual behavior”, then “chaplains with contrary religious beliefs will be forced to choose ‘to obey God or men.'”
• Chaplains would lose the right to deny sacraments, counsel their beliefs, or to preach in opposition to homosexual behavior. They would be forced to “allow soldiers openly engaged in homosexual behavior to lead worship services or serve in other lay leadership roles.”
• This would lead to soldiers being denied the right to worship: “If chaplains are limited in teaching and counseling on their beliefs, then the soldiers who share their faith and rely on their instruction will
  necessarily also suffer a diminished ability to freely exercise their faith.”

This is so nutty that I can’t help but wonder if they even really sent this; surely they know that it would be an embarrassment.

First, the policy has nothing to do with “homosexual behavior”. Anti-gay activists always term their opposition in language of “behavior”, seeking to link every gay issue to “wiggling a penis in excrement“. The way that they get around this military ban being on identity is to define the act of identifying oneself as gay as being “homosexual behavior”. And a change in policy to allow open service has nothing to do with “affirmation.” The military allows its personnel many freedoms that they never “affirm.”

And, as ADF well knows, chaplains are free to preach according to their faith, to counsel on whatever they believe is appropriate, and to encourage such standards of personal morality as they think are appropriate. Any chaplain would be free to tell a soldier, “I think you should give up homosexual sex” just as freely as he is able to tell him, “I think you should give up premarital sex”, or “I think you should give up drinking.” To claim otherwise is disingenuous.

Our military is religiously diverse. And chaplains have found ways to minister to those who disagree on a whole host of issues without having to choose ‘to obey God or men.’

No Catholic chaplain is required to offer sacraments to Wiccans. No Baptist chaplain is required to say the prayers at Seder. Lutheran chaplains need not discuss the truths found in the Book of Mormon, and Pentecostals need not hear confession. But yet they all find a way to meet the spiritual needs – and often just the need for a sympathetic ear and comforting counsel – of folks whom their doctrines declare to be godless sinners dangling over the fires of hell.

It is an insult to chaplains to assume that they can work with Muslims and atheists and newly-converted pacifists, can counsel agnostics and Greek Orthodox and Reform Jews, can worship with Quakers and Pentecostals and Seventh Day Adventists all without losing their religious freedoms, but if a gay person is in the camp then it all goes out the window.

And finally, the ADF makes the outlandish assumption that the military must accommodate the anti-gay chaplains without any concern for pro-gay chaplains. They ignore the hundreds of chaplains from mainline Christianity or Judaism who believe in civil equality as a matter of the justice provisions of their faith.

Truly, they have it backwards. To establish military policy to accommodate the religious teachings of anti-gay chaplains while disdaining the religious teachings of others, would be an act of establishing religion. To say that we cannot allow gay people in the military because some chaplains are entitled to dictate the military’s official theology would be an unconscionable slur on the intents and purposes of the First Amendment.

Ugandan Lawmaker Would Kill His Own Gay Son

Ugandan MP Otto Odonga

Kaj Hasselriis, writing for Canada’s Xtra, reports on a human rights forum held in Kampala this morning in which a Ugandan Member of Parliament declared that he would kill his own son if he were gay.

The forum, Human Rights and Sexual Orientation, witnessed this exchange between its keynote speaker and chair of neighboring Kenya’s Human Rights Commission Makai Mutua, and MP Otto Odonga, who argued in favor of the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

“I am baffled by the kind of hatred you spew against gay people,” Mutua said, “including your desire to be a hangman. Would you apply to be a hangman if the person to be hanged were your son?”

When Odonga nodded yes, Mutua said, “There is something deeply wrong with you.”

MP Christopher Kibanzanga also spoke out against LGBT people, and expressed bewilderment over the notion of bisexuals. “Who are bisexuals?”, he asked. “What do they do? Has it just been imported into Africa?”

Other MP’s were reportedly in the invitation-only audience of about eighty people, but they remained unidentified and refused to speak. Pro-LGBT advocates were also in attendance but, according to Xtra, they remained silent.

The task of defending Uganda’s LGBT citizens apparently fell to Mutua and a leader of an African women’s advocacy group. Mutua reportedly stole the show when he sharply rebuked those pushing for Uganda’s draconian anti-gay proposals, saying, “It’s important that we all try to expose ourselves to knowledge, to keep on growing. People who express extremist views are, in my view, always the ones who have read the least.”

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Why This Black Gay American Still Supports President Obama

(Editor’s note: When President Barack Obama took the oath of office, the LGBT community was hopeful that significant change would be coming on our issues. This hope was felt by supporters and non-supporters alike. Since then, there has been considerable disappointment over the pace of action (or inaction, as some would say) on DADT, ENDA, and DOMA. We offer this guest commentary as a counter-argument and point of discussion. — Jim Burroway)

In late August 2008, I had the opportunity to attend the Democratic National Convention. I listened carefully to the speeches of Michelle Obama, Mrs. Clinton, and President Bill Clinton. On August 28, 2008 , I listened to Senator Barack Obama outline his soaring vision for America. I heard him speak on how he would address the sinking economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , health care reform, clean energy technology, and job creation. I felt like Senator Obama was speaking directly to me when he said, “I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and to live lives free of discrimination”. In my opinion that statement was his promise to millions of LGBT Americans that we were part of his plan to make America a better place and that eliminating those vestiges of discrimination would be an important part of his agenda. Like millions of Americans, I decided that I would work hard to help elect Barack Obama President of the United States .

Fast forward to today, a little over a year since Barack Obama was sworn in as our President; and there has been much discussion in some quarters of LGBT communities questioning whether or not his administration has the stomach to move “our” agenda forward. There are those who believe he is moving too slowly on the repeal of Don\’t Ask, Don\’t Tell (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act, and that he has not done enough to push the passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Many of those same voices have called for the LGBT community to withhold support and money from the Democratic Party, based on their belief that President Obama has not kept his word to our communities. But for this Black Gay American, this rhetoric contrasts greatly with the reality of the Obama Administration\’s accomplishments on LGBT issues during his first year in office.

In only one year in office, the Obama Administration has extended benefits to same-sex partners of Federal employees; signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded the existing US federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim\’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or disability; lifted the HIV Entry Ban; extended the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act; reversed an inexcusable US position by signing the UN Declaration on Gay Rights; has spoken out forcefully on Uganda\’s repressive treatment of its LGBT communities; endorsed the Baldwin-Lieberman bill; hired and appointed a record number of qualified LGBT Americans, including over ten Senate confirmed appointments; and in the summer of 2009, the Administration released the first Presidential PRIDE proclamation since the year 2000. In addition, the Obama administration has sought out input from the LGBT community on hundreds of proposed policy changes affecting all levels of the Federal government.

Recently Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “Speaking for myself, and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is the right thing to do. No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape the … facts that we have a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens”. Anyone who understands how the Pentagon operates must realize that the Obama Administration had a strong hand in moving the military establishment to support the repeal of this odious law.

I believe that advocacy and applying political pressure for the LGBT agenda on both the Obama Administration and Congress are fundamental tenets granted to all citizens of this Republic. While our great nation still has a far ways to go before LGBT Americans will enjoy all of the promises and benefits made to us in the Constitution, I do believe that the Obama Administration has been subject to unfair criticism from parts of the LGBT community, who, for whatever reasons, refuses to acknowledge the many accomplishments in the first year of this administration. I have faith that our President will continue to make good on the promises made that warm summer evening in Denver , Colorado and, this Black Gay American will continue to support the Obama Administration as one of our best hopes to bring about equality for LGBT Americans.

Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr. is a resident of Washington, DC and is a Member at Large on the Democratic National Committee.

Jesus Thinks Elton John is Gay

The feeling is mutual. So there.

CPAC Overboard on DADT

Die-hard supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s ban on LGBT people serving openly, held a news conference at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 18 in Washington, DC. It was a truly priceless exercise in surrealism that has to be seen to believe.

Here are my favorites. Tom Minnery of Focus On the Family thinks repealing DADT is a bad idea, but not because he dislikes gay people. In fact, he’s worried all to pieces over what repealing DADT would do to gay men:

There are going to be a number of young gay men who have been shoved in the middle of this social engineering debacle and told that it is their right to serve. In the confines of barracks life, the sexual tension that will result when you try to develop a warrior culture and put these two very different ideas of sexuality in the middle of that culture, it’s going to produce a lot of abuse, a lot of angry, a lot of severely disappointed young gay men.

Tony Perkins, of the Family “Research” Council has a hard time with polling data:

When you look at the polling data of the sixty percent of Americans or whatever saying they thing that homosexuals should be open, should be able to serve openly in the military, well do they really understand the conditions under which their sons and daughters and their neighbor’s kids would have to serve in.

People understand the conditions of war very well, and nobody understands it better than those who are in the military currently. The Military Times finds that there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of men and women currently in uniform supporting DADT. Fewer still who personally know a gay person serving are willing to report them to their command.

But the most surreal statement comes from Retired Admiral James “Ace” Lyons:

You know in the Navy in the late nineteen hundreds, homosexuality was rampant in the United States Navy. It was so bad that mothers would not let their sons enlist in the Navy until the Navy cleaned its act up, and fortunately they did. …On board ship the Navy found that there are three things unacceptable to good order and discipline and its impact on readiness. You cannot have a thief aboard, you cannot have a drug-user or a drug-pusher, and we found out you could not have a homosexual.

And as anyone who has ever been to Fleet Week in San Francisco, New York, San Diego and Ft. Lauderdale can tell you, they don’t have any homosexuals in the Navy anymore.

Anti-Gay Vigilantism Unleashed In Kenya, More Mob Arrests Feared

This story broke out while I was away for a family funeral, and was unable to report on it. But it’s an important development reflecting widening anti-gay violence in East Africa. According to media reports, five Kenyan men were arrested last Friday for alledgedly planning a same-sex wedding. Those allegations sparked a massive protest and threats of mob violence. The five have been released by Mombasa police, saying that there has been no evidence to hold or prosecute them. But police also advised the men to leave the area for their own safety.

That is the situation according to media reports. But it now appears that perhaps one reason police released the five men is that there had been no same-sex wedding in the first place. BTB has been in contact with local LGBT advocates on the ground there, and they have a different take on what happened.

According to one Muslim 26-year-old gay man, he first heard the rumor that a gay wedding was to take place at a mosque in a sermon by a local imam. After the sermon, he went to a barber for a haircut who asked the man about the wedding. The man denied knowing anything about it, but the barber then accused the man of being one of the grooms. The barber then warned the man that February 12th would be the day in which “there was to be a hunt for the wedding people,” and warned him to take care of himself or he would be killed. The barber also warned him never to step inside his shop again.

Another account, written by LGBT advocate Denis Nzioka, has events turned the other way. According to Nzioka, the problem started when a well known gay man went into a barbershop in the Mtwapa area, and the barber noticed that the man’s haircut looked really nice and asking him where he was going. The man jokingly said he was going to get married. The barber took the joke seriously and alerted the imam at the local mosque, who then made the announcement. That sermon was then picked up by local media, according to Nzioka:

A local radio station, Kaya FM, then picked up the story and started a series of programs on gays. Kaya FM presents in Swahili and many of the Mijikenda languages – Digo etc (therefore has a real grassroots reach). The main focus of the discussion was on this impending wedding of two men in Mtwapa. Other local radio stations also picked up the story including Baraka FM, and Rahma FM and ultimately national radio stations including Kiss and Classic FM.

Bishop Lawrence Chai of Free Apostolic Churches of Kenya (left) and Sheikh Ali Hussein of Masjid Answar Sunna Mosque, Mtwapa, speak to journalists on Feb 11. (Photo: George Kikami/Daily Nation)

Whatever the sequence of events, we do know that on Thursday, February 11, religious leaders held an inflammatory news conference to condemn the suppsed wedding. According to the Daily Nation’s account of that day:

Speaking after a joint meeting on Thursday, religious leaders condemned the planned wedding. Furious clerics from the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) and the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) met at Masjid Answar Sunna Mosque, Mtwapa and cursed the couple and the organisers of the unconstitutional marriage.

The clerics claimed that a large number of youths were being recruited into gay clubs and warned that “God is about to punish the fastest growing town in Coast region”.

CIPK Kikambala region coordinator Sheikh Ali Hussein and Kilifi’s NCCK representative Bishop Lawrence Chai said they had given the government seven days to close down night clubs they accused of fuelling homosexuality in the town.

In fact, Nzioka reports that just a week earlier, a group of young men entered the Kalifornia Club, which is frequented by gay men and women, and took to the dance floor while singing, “gays have no joy and this time round they will have no joy or happiness for them.” Nzioka reports that this move was seen as a forewarning of things to come.

The clerics, during their Thursday news conference, also demanded the government shut down the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), an HIV/AIDS medical center which they accused of providing counselling services to the gay community.

On Friday, February 12, a mob gathered in front of KEMRI, and demanded that all shogas (the Swahili word for gays) to surrender. One man was pulled from the facility and arrested by police.

Meanwhile, other mobs were rampaging around town arresting other suspected gay men. One young man, a 23-year-old security guard, was beaten senseless and drenched in kerosene before police arrived. He was thrown into jail with no medical attention. Another man was taken from his home along with a friend who was visiting from abroad. That home was ransacked by a mob.

Later that morning the mob returned to KEMRI where police arrested another staff member, a transgender woman identified as Yvone. In all, five people were taken into police custody and were later released. No charges were filed.

At least one arrest was captured on tape by NTV Kenya:

The next day, the mobs continued to rampage, and another man was attacked and burned with cigarette butts. They were about to douse him with kerosene when police intervened. He was arrested and taken to Mtwapa police station. A mob tried to attack the station but was repulsed by tear gas. That man was reportedly an asthmatic who was denied medical treatment by police. Advocates tell BTB that activists from the Kenyan Human Rights commission were able to get him released and into a hospital for treatment.

It appears that overall at least six people were arrested and later released. None of them have been charged. They are all now in hiding. Local LGBT and human rights advocates are struggling to provide havens and medical treatment for those attacked despite meager financial resources.

Advocates tell BTB that gay people in Mombasa are in hiding, afraid to go out for their jobs or daily errands. Those who have fled to not expect to return home anytime soon. The BBC also reports that police continue to crack down on the gay community.

Worse, it appears that the trouble isn’t over. According to local LGBT advocates, there are rumors that anti-gay forces were to met on Wednesday, Feb. 17 to strategize on searching for more LGBT people, with another anti-gay demonstration set to take place on Friday, Feb 19.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, and is punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment. Last October, the director of Kenya’s National AIDS/STI Control Program announced that the country would undertake a census of the LGBT population. That move was greeted with widespread skepticism.

Malawi Couple To Be Sentenced March 22

Steven Monjeza (R) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (L)

A Malawi court will sentence Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza next month of charges of “gross indecency.” Chimbalanga, who identifies as a woman, and Monjeza were arrested last December after holding a traditional engagement ceremony. The couple face a maximum sentece of 14 years at hard labor.

The couple have complained at gross mistreatment by police and fellow prisoners, and were subjected to humiliating “medical” examinations. They were also abused in court, when Tiwonge Chimbalanga fell ill during the trial and was forced to clean up her own vomit.

Since the couple’s arrest, Malawi authorities have arrested an LGBT advocate for hanging gay rights posters in Blantyre, the country\’s commercial and judicial capital. There has also been an announced crackdown on a “network of high-profile” LGBT people, which has already netted at least one other arrest. That witch-hunt is expected to continue.

Polygamy a Slippery Slope to Killing Gays

Opponents of same-sex marriage often claim that allowing marriage equality would be the first skid down the slippery slope to polygamy. Of course, there’s no evidence to support that assertion. In fact, quite the contrary. A Christian country that is considering the legal murder of gay people is going to the mat to protect marriage between one man and any number of wives:

The state (Uganda) on Thursday moved to protect the principal that a man can have more than one wife. The Attorney General\’s office has responded to a petition seeking to nullify the practice of polygamy by arguing that polgymay is protected by the Constitution under Article 37.

…But Attonery General Khiddu Makubuya stated in his response to the petition, that the law does not stop two consenting adults to choose the marriage of their choice. He said polygamy was protected under Article 37 of the Constitution which gives everyone the right “to belong, practice, enjoy, profess and promote any culture, tradition and religion of his or her own choice.”

Well, not just any culture, tradition and religion…

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell invites the firing of state employees solely for being gay

On Tuesday, Mrs. Jones told her pupils, “Hello class, I’ve noticed that you’ve been picking on a few of the children. It must stop, so I will not tolerate any abuse towards Alice, Bobby, or Carlos.”

On Wednesday, Mrs. Jones said, “Today I have a new rule, different from yesterday’s rule. From now on you cannot abuse Alice or Bobby.”

Carlos went home that day with a black eye.

The Washington Post is reporting on a change in state hiring policy enacted by new Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell has signed an executive order barring discrimination in the state workforce on grounds that include race, sex, religion and age, but not sexual orientation.

Previous governors included sexual orientation.

There really is no way to translate this action other than that McDonnell believes that sexual orientation, in and of itself, can and should be used as a sole cause for firing state employees or denying promotion. This action by their governor is an open invitation for supervisors or managers to fire or demote employees. And it is likely to happen.

But what is even more likely to occur is abuse, harassment, and antagonizing of gay people. If a coworker calls someone a “damn pervert”, that’s not going to be punished. If the morning meeting is started by a daily f*ggot joke, there’s no recourse. If a state employee shares how they lost the paperwork of the “flaming queen in my line” to gales of laughter, that will not be illegal discrimination. And posting big signs quoting Leviticus or “protecting marriage” will not be an indication of a hostile workplace.

How can there be any respect or consideration, any objection to abuse, if the official state policy is “it’s OK to fire the queers!!”

This Is A Gay Establishment

Last night a friend of mine who’s short on cash asked me to come cheer/vote for him at a $100 amateur strip contest at Club Q in Colorado Springs.  Though I often visit The Springs for activism I’d never been to Club Q before and was immediately struck by this large sign next to their front door.

Click to enlarge

Allow me to offer a translation: “If you come in and bang patrons with your religious beliefs the lesbians will get all worked up and we’ll throw your ass out.”

The experience in many ways reminded me of the 2006 documentary Small Town Gay Bar despite El Paso County having a population of nearly 600,000.  Much like a small town gay bar Club Q serves the entire spectrum of LGBT people and the facility and decor is very eclectic and somewhat pieced together.  The outdoor smoking patio for example contains a garden bench, a living room sofa and a bench that was clearly taken from the back of a mini-van.

But the most interesting part of the evening was the strip contest, open to all patrons regardless of gender.  The voting was narrowed to one guy (my friend) and one gal and in the end the guys were louder but the gals greater in number.

World Net Daily and Molotov Mitchell Want To Kill You

World Net Daily posted this video a month ago, but it didn’t get much notice. Now it’s on YouTube, and everyone with an ounce of decency are horrified at Mitchell’s enthusiastic call to execute gay people. He calls their Anti-Homosexuality Bill “more American than Americans.”

Believe it. There really are people who want to kill you. Some are even willing to brag about it.

Click here to see BTB\’s complete coverage of recent anti-gay developments in Uganda.

Gay Witch-Hunt Underway In Malawi

Malawi authorities are on the hunt:

Malawi Police have uncovered a network of high-profile people who are involved homosexual acts including University of Malawi lectures and priests police spokesman said. Davie Chingwalu, police spokesman for the Southern Region is quoted by Associated Press that police investigation indicates that some University of Malawi lectures are involved in practices of homosexuality.

“Some are white expatriates, some are priests while others are university lecturers,” Chingwalu is quoted by AP. … Chingwalu said police are still investigating the matter and warned that “we will arrest them all.”

A deputy government spokesman, Kingsley Namankhwa, urged gays to “come out in the open” so that they can be arrested. Police have already arrested Tony Chirwa, 60, on a complaint that he “sodomized” a 23-year-old man.

Last December, 26-year-old Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested following a traditional engagement ceremony. They have since been charged with buggery or unnatural acts between males and gross indecency, which carries a sentence of fourteen years at hard labor.

Two weeks ago, police arrested Peter Sawali, 21, for posting gay-rights posters in the city of Blantyre, the country\’s commercial and judicial capital. He was sentenced to two months’ community service.

Cardinal: Politicians Who Support Marriage Equality Are No Longer Catholic

Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna

An Italian Cardinal has warned that politicians supporting same-sex marriage are committing “a publicly and gravely immoral act“:

“It’s impossible to consider oneself a Catholic if that person in one way or another recognizes same-sex marriage as a right,” said Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reprinted a portion of a doctrinal note the cardinal released Feb. 14 concerning “Marriage and Homosexual Unions.” The note, which appeared in full on the archdiocese’s Web site, was aimed at helping enlighten Catholics in public office so that “they would not make choices that would publicly contradict their affiliation with the church,” he wrote.

His restriction would extend even to those who are called to enforce or follow such a law:

If a Catholic official were to ever implement or enforce such a law, “God forbid, we will, at the proper moment, give the necessary directives,” he wrote.

The Cardinal’s statements do not constitute official church teaching, but there has been a growing chorus of voices calling for the excommunication of Catholic politicians over a number of social issues.

Washington Archdiocese: No Foster Family For You!

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has ended its foster-care program in response to the District’s move toward marriage equality. Catholic Charities turned their 80-year-old foster care program over to the National Center for Children and Families on February 1. Catholic Charities CEO Edward Orzechowski said that he believes the other social service programs run by the group will continue to operate as long as they don’t recognize the validity of same-sec relationships:

Asked if that meant looking at ways to avoid paying benefits to same-sex partners or ways to write benefits plans so as not to characterize same-sex couples as “married,” Orzechowski said “both, and.”

“Now we’re in a position where we need to scrutinize everything,” he said. “From our point of view, it’s important that we don’t in any way compromise our religious teaching.”