Box Turtle Bulletin

What Do You Want For Christmas?

It all started at the dance…

More Christmas ideas here.

Time Magazine’s Cloud Calls Obama a Bigot

John Cloud, writing in Time Magazine, pulled no punches in his response to President-Elect Obama’s selection of Rick Warren as the minister for his Inaugural Invocation:

Gays and lesbians are angry that Barack Obama has honored Warren, but they shouldn’t be surprised. Obama has proved himself repeatedly to be a very tolerant, very rational-sounding sort of bigot. He is far too careful and measured a man to say anything about body parts fitting together or marriage being reserved for the nonpedophilic, but all the same, he opposes equality for gay people when it comes to the basic recognition of their relationships. He did throughout his campaign, one that featured appearances by Donnie McClurkin, a Christian entertainer who preaches that homosexuals can become heterosexuals.

I’m not willing to go as far as Cloud and call Mr. Obama a bigot. He has established a comprehensive list of goals that would go a very long way towards eliminating institutionalized discrimination against the LGBT community and it is far too early to dismiss this agenda as insincere.

But I do think that the President-Elect is now demonstrating a pattern of response to the gay community which suggests that he does not see our expressions of concern and dismay in the same light as he might those of other subgroups of the American population.

I find it unconscionable that any religious leader would say that a “brother and sister [being] together” and “an older guy marrying a child” are “equivalent to gays getting married”. And I find it perplexing that Barack Obama does not.

LA Times Profiles Pro-8 and Anti-8 Activists

The LA Times has profiled two couples involved in the fight over Proposition 8.

Christopher Lewis and Cody Horton are a young gay couple who moved to rural California from Ohio so that they could be married. They are in their early 20’s, not affluent, and passionate about what is happening to them. They traveled hundreds of miles to be part of the protests in Los Angeles.

Abel Ferreira and his wife, Robbie, live in a gated community, drive Mercedes, and worry about “what is happening to the world beyond the gates”. They gave up All My Children Days of Our Lives and coffee for 40 days to try and get God’s attention and approval.

It may be my own personal bias, or perhaps that of the reporters, but Lewis and Horton are the far more sympathetic couple.

Prop 8 Protests Continue

On Saturday, groups throughout the State of California and across the Country met again to continue the protest over Proposition 8.

Hundreds of people from San Luis Obispo and Palm Springs, to Santa Cruz and Eureka and 39 places throughout the State, carried candles in the cold to remind their neighbors that real people were hurt by this amendment and that they aren’t going away. Around the world some 400 such demonstrations were held.

Sometimes setbacks are events, singular instances which occur and which may have some short term impact on the world, some immediate response, but then they drift away. But sometimes an event is the catalyst for a movement, a special moment that resonates with a community and brings about a shift in the world and the way it operates.

It may well be that Proposition 8 is just such a situation.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

Some games are timeless.

More Christmas ideas here.

Rick Warren’s “Moderation”

It’s official, Saddleback Church bans all people “unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle” from church membership. Also, Jews are going to hell. This is the guy Obama wants to pray on behalf of all Americans.

CA Attorney General Asks Court to Overturn Proposition 8

It is the duty of the state Attorney General, the very definition of his job, to represent the political actions of the state before the courts. Therefore it is very rare for an Attorney General to argue against the actions taken by the legislature or the voters of the state.

Yet that is exactly what Jerry Brown, Attorney General of the State of California, is doing. Brown has submitted a legal brief stating that the amendment to the State Constitution passed in November is itself unconstitutional (Sacramento Bee). This is particularly fascinating because Brown had earlier indicated that he would defend the proposition before the courts.

In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right. Earlier, Brown had said he would defend the ballot measure against legal challenges from gay marriage supporters.

But Brown said he reached a different conclusion “upon further reflection and a deeper probing into all the aspects of our Constitution.”

“It became evident that the Article 1 provision guaranteeing basic liberty, which includes the right to marry, took precedence over the initiative,” he said in an interview Friday night. “Based on my duty to defend the law and the entire Constitution, I concluded the court should protect the right to marry even in the face of the 52 percent vote.”

This decision also may reveal political calculation. Brown wants to be re-elected Governor in 2010 (he served from 1975 to 1983) and may have taken that desire into consideration. If that played into his decision, it may suggest that Brown believes that the opposition to Prop 8 may hurt him irrevocably in the primary while not helping him in the general election.

Or perhaps he just couldn’t live with himself arguing that the freedoms and rights for all in the State of California have an asterisk when it comes to gays.

Forced Divorce

Over 18,000 same-sex couples were married in the five months between when marriage equality was determined to be the law of the State of California and November 4, when California voters narrowly passed Proposition 8.

And, in a move that should be a surprise to no one, those who foisted this inequality on a segment of the population are now demanding that the California Supreme Court invalidate the 18,000 marriages.

During the campaign, hardly a word was said to the voters about this most likely of events. Those who favored Proposition 8 prefered that the voters not consider whether forcing thousands of married Californians into unwanted divorce was disgusting and vile. And the No on 8 Campaign took another tack. They simply declared that these marriages would not be retroactively disallowed and dropped the subject.

At the risk of piling on, this is but another example of the rather short-sighted nature of the No on 8 Campaign. I cannot help but believe that an appeal by married couples in every media region of the state simply asking their neighbors not to force them into divorce might have been more effective than some of the television advertising that was selected in its place.

And as for the supporters of Proposition 8, this clearly illustrates that they were shamelessly lying when they said that this effort was only about “definition” of an “institution” and had nothing to do with gay people. Well, they “protected” their definition and the first thing they did was go after gay married couples.

Lest there be any confusion or uncertainly about the motivations of those who planned and executed this political effort, this brings all to light. By seeking the retroactive invalidation of previously enacted marriages between gay people, they reveal that their motivation is – and always has been – based in a desire to disadvantage, condemn, and punish those persons who are gay. It is without question that form of bigotry known as homophobia.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

The iPod generation has nothing on this.

More Christmas ideas here.

Gay Leader Boycotts the Inauguration

Geoff Kors, the Executive Director of Equality California, had decided that he cannot attend an event that will feature a religious leader that has, in recent weeks, been spouting homophobic rants.

Here’s the email he has sent out:

It is extremely disappointing and hurtful that President-elect Obama has chosen California Rev. Rick Warren, who actively supported Prop 8 and the elimination of existing civil rights for LGBT Californians, to give the invocation at his inauguration.

Accordingly, I have decided to decline the invitation to attend the inauguration as I cannot be part of a celebration that highlights and gives voice to someone who advocated repealing rights from me and millions of other Californians.

I was looking forward to hearing a speech by the new President about his vision of a new America and an end to the politics of division where one group is pitted against another.

Rick Warren does not share that vision. Far from it. Instead, he actively works to divide Americans based on who we are and has been an ardent supporter of efforts to ostracize LGBT Americans. He compared “gay marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy and repeated the inaccurate charge that without Prop 8, conservative preachers could be prosecuted for hate crimes. He described ‘social gospel’ Christians of the 20th century as closet Marxists.”

It would be impossible for me to attend the inauguration where a person who has worked to deny my and Equality California members’ equality is setting the tone.

I commend Kors for the courage of his conviction.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

Before potatoes were plastic —

More Christmas ideas here.

LaBarbera Award: Rick Warren

Like Peter LaBarbera, Obama’s honored pastor just won’t shut up. And the more he talks, the deeper the hole Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren digs. So, we’re giving him a belated award.

Here’s more of that interview with Ann Curry we talked about yesterday. This time, Curry asks Rick Warren, “What if homosexuality is biological?”

Rick Warren: If it’s biological, I’d be glad to know. We all have biological predispositions. Some people struggle with anger, and some people say, “I don’t struggle with anger, but I sure struggle with fear.” And some people say, “Well, I don’t struggle with this, I struggle with being shy.”

Ann Curry: You’re saying if it’s part of your biology it’s your job to struggle against it if in fact, it’s the wrong thing.

Rick Warren: Here’s what I’m saying. I’ve had many gay friends tell me, “Well Rick, why shouldn’t I have multiple sexual partners? It’s the natural thing to do.” Well, just because it seems natural, doesn’t mean its best for you or society. I’m naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see. But it doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do. And why should I rein in my natural impulses. And you say well I have natural impulses toward the same sex, I shouldn’t have to rein them in. Well I disagree. I think that’s part of maturity. I think it’s part of delayed gratification. I think it’s part of character.

Actually, Rick Warren is only reining in his promiscuous urges, not his heterosexual ones. At least I presume so, since he’s married. What he says here is that being gay is indistinguishable from being promiscuous. But what about non-promiscuous gay people? Unlike the standard he set for himself, he expects them to be completely celibate.

Since Warren isn’t celibate, why is he mature and monogamous gay people aren’t? Why don’t his “many gay friends” — and yes, he brings those phantom friends back into the conversation again — delay gratification and demonstrate character, even if they’re not promiscuous?

So, to add to gay relationships being no different from child rape, incest, and polygamy, we can now add promiscuous, immature, and lacking in character. Will the fun never end?

What Do You Want For Christmas?

I wonder if this is where Thomas Kinkade got the idea of “beautiful pictures with light.”

More Christmas ideas here.

Rick Warren Congratulates Himself On His “Model of Civility”

Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren has issued this statement on President-elect Barack Obama’s choosing him to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration:

I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony.

Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America. …

Warren’s model of civility includes describing his “many gay friends” as being in relationships which are morally equivalent to child rape, incest, and polygamy, as well as his bald-faced lies about what Prop 8 will do to free speech. Yes, I’m sounding like a broken record, but I’ll keep saying that because that’s the whole point.

The mainstream media is saying that the outrage over picking Warren stems from his support for Prop 8.  That may explain some of the opposition to him, but it doesn’t explain the near-unanimous and vociferous outrage that is being expressed in the LGBT community. The fuel for the explosive reaction comes from a much deeper source.

It is indeed possible to support Prop 8 civilly. But Warren did not do that. Instead, he not only lied about what it would do, but he further insulted his “many gay friends” — and the rest of us — when he described their relationships as being on par with the lowest form of criminals. Even the most vile criminals — convicted rapists of old ladies, serial killers of defenseless orphans, and baby torturers — they all look down on child molesters, and they don’t think twice about killing them in the most sadistic way. But Warren thinks that the deeply held relationships among his “many gay friends” are no better than child rape. Or incest. Or polygamy.

That is the outrage. Maybe some day Rick Warren will see the need to apologize deeply for that offense. But it won’t happen until everyone — including the mainstream media — calls him on it. It’s not just about Prop 8. It goes much, much deeper, to that “model of civility” that Warren lacks.

Paul Weyrich is Dead

Paul Weyrich has always opposed all matters of equality for gay Americans. His activism was based not in idealism but in populism; his opposition was not based on principles but rather on biases and bigotry. He’s considered the father of the movement of emotions-based conservatives known as the moral majority.

Weyrich is dead at age 66. Life expectancy in the US is 77.

To commemorate Weyrich’s way of thinking, I’ll make an outlandish claim. Using a sample size of one, and applying Paul Cameron’s methods of analysis, I now declare that being a anti-gay activist will take 11 years off your life.

For your reading pleasure, here’s some wildly frothing (but fairly typical) homophobic ranting from the late Mr. Weyrich:

Give same-sex couples the “right” to marry and we can expect some severe consequences. For one, the concept of faithfulness to one’s spouse will be further undermined given that many so-called committed homosexual partners have a high rate of multiple sexual partners outside their relationship. Don’t expect a civil union or marriage certificate to change this.

Rising insurance rates for married heterosexual couples could easily be on the horizon as the negative health consequences of sexual promiscuity in the homosexual community add to the overall health insurance burden.

Permitting same-sex marriage will help lead to more homosexual adoptions which will almost certainly make children from fractured backgrounds even more confused in their interactions with society.

Frankly, if the Indiana homosexuals are so concerned about divorce, then they should look first at their own ranks. Who among them can be urged to renounce their current lifestyle and reconcile with the opposite-sex spouse they left behind? Let’s see if they have the guts and decency to stop their publicity stunt and do that.