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 lobbyOctober 17th, 2008
A large coalition of Phoenix-area clergy called No Longer Silent has released this video urging Christians to vote against Proposition 102, Arizona’s so-called “marriage amendment.”
October 16th, 2008
Eastern Group Publications is a media outlet that is likely unfamiliar to most Californians. But this newsgroup prints ten local newspapers that reach a demographic that may not see itself represented by the Los Angeles Times or the Daily News. These bilingual weeklies targeted at a mostly Hispanic readership have a combined distribution of well over 100,000:
And while this may not be exactly the editorial I would have crafted, nonetheless I welcome EGP’s position:
Prop 8—Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Why is this Proposition on the ballot? Government cannot legislate morality. We believe marriage should mean a man and a woman becoming wedded, but if gays believe they are morally entitled to legally wed, we don’t believe there is anything that will change their minds. The courts have already affirmed this right, so should we.
Vote No
This pragmatic “Who Cares?” approach may well resonate with their readers.
October 16th, 2008
The San Diego Union-Tribune is not pleased about the content of the Yes on 8 advertisements.
The “Yes on 8” forces have recently waged an offensive but terribly effective war on the airwaves to convince voters that, if they don’t draw the line at gay marriage, before they know it their children will learn about same-sex unions in public school.
How shameful. That is not what this debate is about. Parents have the right to be notified if such a thing is discussed in class, and to remove their children if necessary. The ads don’t mention that.
…
Enough with these petty political games. This is serious business. Let’s shelve the theatrics, and think about what would be best for all Californians. The answer begins with equal rights for everyone and a No vote on Proposition 8.
This is their second editorial opposing the proposition.
October 16th, 2008
A school bus driver in Bourbonnais, Illinois, has been charged with leading a homophobic attack on a ten year old boy.
Kankakkee Sheriff’s Police Department charged Russell A. Schmalz, 46, with mob action, endangering the life of a child, and battery in connection with an incident in which he taunted the student passenger and encouraged other students to chase and beat the child:
The incident occurred last Friday,” [Chief Deputy Ken] McCabe said, alleging that Schmalz was taunting the boy by calling him “gay.”
“When the boy got off the bus the driver encouraged several other students to go after him and tackle him. Our investigation shows that occurred,” McCabe said.
Investigators are also investigating allegations that Schmalz himself got off the bus and grabbed the boy. Bourbonnais School District officials said the driver has been terminated.
October 16th, 2008
Bakersfield, though only a two hour drive from Los Angeles, is worlds apart when it comes to equality and support for members of gay community. In June, Kern Co. Clerk Ann K. Barnett cancelled the performance of all civil marriages rather than allow gay people to avail themselves of the services of the county.
So it is especially sweet that the Bakersfield Californian has come out in strong opposition to Proposition 8:
The bottom line is the California Constitution and ultimately the U.S. Constitution. Both guarantee all people equal protection and equal rights under the law. We must not support any constitutional amendment that would serve to take away fundamental rights. It’s as simple as that.
Californians need to move beyond the divisiveness that Prop. 8 has engendered and embrace tolerance and reconciliation. Live and let live.
We recommend a NO vote on Prop. 8.
October 16th, 2008
We reported to you on October 7 that the No on 8 campaign was worried because they were being outspent, and without our message being heard we were facing frightening poll results.
At that time the Yes on 8 supporters were out-contributing us by 3 to 2.
It seems that our supporters have heard the plea. And the fundraising deficit is beginning to diminish. The Mercury News reports:
After sounding the alarm last week about its $10 million fundraising deficit, Equality California, the lead organization for the No on 8 campaign, has raised more than $3 million within California since Oct. 6.
The No on 8 campaign has also received commitments for an additional $4 million in donations that have not been received, said Kate Kendell, a member of the campaign’s executive committee. “That has been extraordinary, and has certainly we think helped us close the gap on the $10 million they had out-raised us, but we are not the least bit sanguine about this.”
Recent significant pledges and contributions include (Advocate and CA Sec. of State):
Other contributors have given generously with five and six figure contributions (including a $650,000 contribution that seems to have caught no press). As they have not been publicized, they may be seeking a low profile so I won’t draw attention to their names. But these contributions come from various walks of life, many are heterosexual, many are not extravagantly wealthy. Business have contributed, as have trade groups, political associations, and religious groups.
Thank you to all who have contributed.
All is appreciated and more is needed. Please continue to contribute what you can, not only to No on Proposition 8 but also to efforts to fight against Proposition 102 in Arizona and Amendment 2 in Florida.
In the same time period,
Since Oct. 6, large contributions to ProtectMarriage.com, the lead group supporting Proposition 8, have totaled just $405,969.
October 16th, 2008
… and incest and polygamy.
These people running this campaign have no shame whatsoever.
October 16th, 2008
You may recall that the Yes on 8 campaign has the endorsement of a sole newspaper, the Paradise Post. And you may know that Paradise is a small neighbor of Chico.
Well, the Chico Enterprise-Record has released their voter recommendations and it seems that the attitude in Butte County is not universally in favor of discrimination.
Proposition 8 would overturn the right of same-sex couples to marry, getting around the pesky little constitutional requirement of equal treatment for all by amending the constitution.
We still fail to understand why this is the government’s business, and the proponents’ arguments just don’t catch much traction with us. How can preventing some people from marrying protect marriage? Wouldn’t banning divorce be better?
The arguments against same-sex marriages seem close to arguments against mixed-race marriages you’d hear back in the ’60s. Hopefully we’ll get beyond all that some day. Vote no on Proposition 8.
October 16th, 2008
Ten years ago today, family and friends were gathering in Casper, Wyoming, to say their final good-byes to Matthew Shepard. Earlier that morning, Matthew’s parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, met with reporters before the funeral for a very brief public statement. Choking back tears, Dennis said:
On behalf of our son Matthew Shepard, we want to thank the citizens of the United States, and the people of the world, who have expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to our family during these trying times. A person as caring and loving as our son Matt would be overwhelmed by what this incident has done to the hearts and souls of people around the world… We are honored and touched beyond measure…
Please understand and respect my family’s request for a private and dignified farewell to our son today. Matt’s family and friends, loved him deeply, and we need to share a quiet goodbye to him. Matt himself would have been the first to honor another family’s request if this had happened to someone else.
We should try to remember that because Matt’s last few minutes of consciousness on earth may have been hell, his family and friends want more than ever to say their farewells to him in a peaceful, dignified and loving manner.
By all accounts, Matt’s funeral at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church was peaceful, dignified and loving. Only selected friends and family were allowed to attend, in an attempt to keep the service quiet and private.
The scene outside the church was in equal parts dignified and circus-like. Crowds of mourners stood quietly in the gentle snowy weather to pay their respects, while police, reporters, photographers and satellite trucks buzzed around them.
A short distance away stood a contingent of protesters from Fred Phelps’ notorious Westboro Baptist Church. They were there holding signs that read, “God hates fags,” and “Matt In Hell.” But they were surrounded and shielded from the church by counter-protesters — for want of a better word — who fashioned large white bedsheets into giant angel wings.
While Westboro’s tactics were the most talked-about example of anti-gay extremism on display that day, they weren’t entirely alone. Ten years ago today also saw Robert Knight’s Family Research Council use the occasion of Matt’s funeral to denounce Phelps — and to boast about their part in the ex-gay advertising blitz that had begun the day before Matt’s murder. The FRC’s statement condemned Phelps’ tactics while sharing his message of condemning Matthew to hell:
While we share Mr. Phelps’ opposition to the homosexual political agenda, his belief that homosexuality is a sin, and his call for punishment of Mr. Shepard’s killers, we do not endorse his tactics, and have asked his group to stop letting themselves be used by the media to crudely caricature Christians.
The ‘truth in love’ media campaign reaches out to people struggling with homosexuality and offers them hope for change and redemption. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, homosexuals are included in a list of sinners, who, if unrepentant, will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ten years have passed since Matthew Shepard has been laid to rest. Where are we at today?
One thing is undeniable. We’ve made great strides in changing how people view LGBT people. More people are “out” than ever before, living openly for the most part in relative safety.
And yet, too many things still haven’t changed. It is still legal to fire people from their jobs for being gay. Marriage rights are only secure right now in one state. Wyoming is one of twenty states which still does not have a hate crimes law to cover sexual orientation. And the federal hate crime statute still covers race, religion, and national origin — but not sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.
Yet official statistics continue to show that when hate crmes do occur against LGBT people, those crimes are more likely to be violent crimes when compared to other classes which are already protected.
In these ten years since Matthew’s death, we have continued to lose countless lives — singled out simply for who they were. We’ve lost Brandon Teena, Danny Overstreet, Phillip Walstead, Amancio Coralles, Satendar Singh, Scotty Joe Weaver, Daniel Fetty, Steven Domer, Roberto “Poncho” Duncanson, Sean Kennedy, Angie Zapata, Michael Sandy, Simmie Williams, Jr., and Lawrence King — just to name a very few.
As Judy Shepard has said on the tenth anniversary of her son’s death, so much has changed. Yet so much remains the same.
See also:
(Oct 16) Today In History: Rest In Peace
(Oct 13) Today In History: “Something In the Culture”
(Oct 12) Today In History: Matthew Wayne Shepard (Dec 1, 1976 – Oct 12, 1998)
(Oct 11) Today In History: The Vigil
(Oct 10) Today In History: Armbands and Scarecrows
(Oct 9) Also Today In History: Details Emerge
(Oct 9) Today In History: “We Just Wanted To Spend Time With Him”
(Oct 8) Today in History: Two Men Arrested
(Oct 7) Also Today In History: Another Assault In Laramie
(Oct 7) Today In History: “Baby, I’m So Sorry This Happened”
(Oct 6) Today In History: Before Matthew Shepard
October 15th, 2008
A poll of Asian Americans reveals that they do not favor amending the constitution to enshrine discrimination against gays. (SJ Mercury-News)
The poll found that 57 percent of Asian-Americans likely to vote in the Nov. 4 election oppose Proposition 8, which would reverse last spring’s California Supreme Court ruling that gave gays and lesbians the right to marry. Only 32 percent planned to vote for the measure. Eleven percent were undecided.
The poll (pdf) found the proposed amendment to be out of favor with all subsets of this population.
Across all national origin groups in the survey, more opposed than favored the changing the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. An outright majority opposed the measure among Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Vietnamese, and a near majority of Japanese Americans (46%) and Asian Indians (47%) did so as well.
October 15th, 2008
Steve Bing, a producer of such movies as Beowulf and Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, has pledged $500,000 to the campaign to fight against Proposition 8.
Bing is what one might call “notoriously heterosexual”. Let’s hope his giving sets an example for those in the entertainment industry who are gay or who have benefited greatly from gay support.
October 15th, 2008
Dear Madonna,
You are coming to Los Angeles next month as part of your Sticky and Sweet Tour. Several of my friends are going and they’ve asked me to get a ticket as well.
In fact, among some of my friends, being one of your fans is almost an expectation. More than one were teen-age members of your fan club (they’re in their 30’s now) and while only one actively collects memorabilia anymore, the idea of missing a concert of yours is unthinkable.
I’m sure you’ve figured by now that these friends are gay men. After all, Madonna, gay men make up a huge majority of your loyal fans, those who buy every album and keep your name and music relevant.
And I do enjoy your music. I own several CD’s and caught your last concert in Las Vegas. It was a great show and I hear the new one is as well.
But I will not be going.
You see, Madonna, when you make a career out of appealing to a gay audience, when you cultivate your Gay Icon status, and when you make hundreds of millions of dollars in the process, you owe something back. You owe the loyalty to the gay community that they have given you.
And you are not fulfilling that obligation. You have given NOTHING to the fight in California, Arizona, and Florida to protect the rights of the gay citizens of those states. I guess you think that you have better things to do with your money.
So if you are looking for me to drop down a couple hundred bucks to watch you lip-sync, it isn’t going to happen. I too have better things to do with my money. For one thing, I’ll need to pick up the new Fall Out Boy album.
Sincerely,
Timothy Kincaid
p.s. Feel free to pass this message on to Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler, and Cher, all of whom have also given nothing to the cause.
October 15th, 2008
We have a few additional newspapers who’ve added their editorial voice in opposition to Proposition 8
The Los Angeles Daily News is LA’s smaller and slightly more conservative paper and bases its readership in The Valley and other suburban areas.
The supporters of the ban, which include several faith-based organizations and churches, see this as a movement toward societal acceptance of a group that they don’t think ought to exist. Under the U.S. Constitution, they have a right to think that. But it doesn’t allow them to deny equal rights to anyone.
It’s time to put this issue to rest.
The court ruled that the state constitution does not tolerate a distinction between unions of opposite-sex couples and those of same-sex couples. And we don’t believe that voters should, as a matter of equity, fairness and decency, go out of their way to rewrite the constitution to create such a distinction.
To approve Proposition 8 is to codify discrimination. Californians cannot let that happen.
Newspapers Opposing Proposition 8
Newspaper Endorsing Proposition 8
October 14th, 2008
The Press-Enterprise is the leading newspaper for the Inland Empire, that section of Southern California which is East of the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. This area is conservative and the Editorial page of the PE often reflects that political slant.
The PE has just released a recap of their voter recommendations and, not surprisingly, their endorsements for Congressional, Assembly, and State Senate seats consist of ten Republicans and one Democrat.
However, they also recommend a “No” vote on Proposition 8.
As the Press Enterprise editorial on September 27 stated,
The court ruling merely made marriage legally available to couples who until now did not have that option. The decision to marry is those couples’ business, and no one else’s. There is no compelling public policy reason to reverse that arrangement, and voters should say no to Prop. 8.
It’s nice to see the message get out that those who favor Republican representatives can also join in this principled stand against an unnecessary and discriminatory effort.
October 14th, 2008
In the wake of the Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling allowing same-sex couples the same access to marriage as opposite-sex couples, Governor Jodi Rell expressed her disagreement with the ruling. She felt that the state’s Civil Unions legislation was both admirable and adequate.
I disagree with today’s State Supreme Court ruling but as governor, I will uphold it. I continue to believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
I also believe that the historic civil union law that I proudly signed in 2005 is equitable and just. We were the first state to enact such a law through legislative action and not a court mandate.
The Supreme Court has spoken. I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision – either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution – will not meet with success. I will therefore abide by the ruling.
Well, the first poll has come it and it seems that Governor Rell misjudged the majority of the people of Connecticut. (Hartford Courant)
Fifty-three percent of Connecticut residents support Friday’s historic ruling by the state Supreme Court that legalizes gay marriage, while 42 percent of residents polled said they do not.
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