Box Turtle Bulletin

Palin’s Church Supports Ex-Gay Therapy

This comes from Time magazine:

“We like to call this the Bible Belt of Alaska,” says Cheryl Metiva, head of the local chamber of commerce. Churches proliferate in Wasilla today, and among the largest and most influential is the Wasilla Bible Church, where the Palins worship.

At the 11:15 am Sunday service, hundreds sit in folding chairs, sing along with alt-rock praise songs, and listen to a 20-minute sermon about the book of Malachi. The only sign of culture warring in the whole production is an insert in the day’s program advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out. The group promises to teach attendees how to “respond to misinformation in our culture” and help them “overcome” homosexuality.

Does the latest addition to the “straight talk express” buy into Love Won Out’s doublespeak?

“A Personal Attack on Myself and My Family”

The San Diego Union-Tribune has received a copy of an e-mail exchange between Doug Manchester, a large contributor to anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, and Paul Wilkins, his chief financial officer. In it Wilkins expresses concern about the financial impact that a boycott could have on Manchester’s hotel properties and offered suggestions as to how to diminish the threat.

Manchester had an interesting response

“I appreciate your rightful concern,” Manchester wrote in a July 29 response, but he added: “I am now really angry and I consider this a personal attack on myself and my family.”

What a telling example of the mindset that the anti-gay Culture Warriors have created in our country. The existence of my family is considered a personal attack on theirs. Even suggesting that they not put funds towards harming my family is a threat to their family.

Mr. Manchester may be a charming person. And his hotels, I hear, are lovely. But for as long as Doug Manchester defines the health and vitality of his family by the destruction and dismissal of my own, I’ll not contribute a cent to his business ventures nor in any way enrich his him or his clan.

Further, those in the San Diego area may wish to contact Fred Karger with Californians Against Hate and set aside some time towards reminding Mr. Manchester that one isn’t entitled to become indignant when one’s attack on other families and their freedoms are questioned.

McCain Campaign Accepts Log Cabin’s Endorsement

Yesterday at Log Cabin Republicans’ Big Tent Event, the McCain campaign accepted the gay group’s endorsement. Mike DuHaime, the National Political Director, spoke on behalf of the candidate and the campaign.

He told the crowd of 200 people, “On behalf of Senator McCain and the campaign, thank you for this endorsement. Sen. McCain is running an inclusive campaign and he’ll have an inclusive administration [as president].”

DuHaime also said that Sen. McCain will win this election because he is the “only one who has the ability to unite the entire party.” He went on to say that everyone supporting Sen. McCain must talk to others about why they’re voting for him. “This is so important in the gay and lesbian community,” said DuHaime.

As Ed Stoddard writing for Reuters noted,

The endorsement may boost McCain’s reputation as a maverick who reaches across partisan lines, but it may not go down well with his party’s conservative Christian base.

The campaign’s acceptance of endorsement, a first for Log Cabin, was also accompanied by unprecedented access to the convention. These steps, while not on par with the way in which the Democratic Party welcomed its gay delegates, are welcome and an indication of a growing acceptance of gay men and women in the fabric of the nation.

Republican Delegates Support Civil Unions

The New York Times has polled the delegates to the Republican and the Democrat national conventions and compared their positions with those of the voting members of their party. Invariably, on each issue (with one exception) the demographics broke down as follows (from most conservative to least):

Republican Delegates
Republican Voters
All Voters
Democratic Voters
Democratic Delegates

However, quite surprisingly there was one issue in which the Republican Delegates proved to be slightly less conservative than Republican voters at large: recognition for gay couples.

Republican voters support marriage with 11%, civil unions with 28%, and no recognition with 57%. Fewer delegates support marriage (4%), but many more support civil unions (43%). Astonishly, more Republican delegates support recognition of same sex couples (49%) than do not (46%).*

Sadly, while that survey is unexpected good news, it is not reflected in the platform of the Republican Party. Although civil unions are not mentioned by name, they seem implicit in the following language:

Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives. [emphasis mine]

The anti-gay languages continues for several more paragraphs and homophobic sentiment is reflected throughout the platform. It really is a nasty document.

Traditionally, the platform of the Republican Party has been turned over to the extreme right of the Party and mostly ignored by candidates and local party activists. In fact, in several instances the 2008 platform takes a position that is directly contrary to the stated position of the presidential candidate.

But if this survey is accurate, perhaps with time and with a growing national support for gay and lesbian Americans, there will come a day when concessions are not made to intolerance and the party platform of both parties will be neither shameful nor discriminatory.

* More than half of Democrats who expressed an opinion, both party and voters, support marriage.

(hat tip to reader Charles)

Happy Birthday, Evelyn Hooker

Today is the 101st anniversary of Dr. Evelyn Hooker’s birth.

Dr. Hooker, the psychologist widely credited with helping to establish that homosexuality is not inherently linked to mental illness, was born September 2, 1907, in North Platte, Nebraska. She was the sixth of nine children.

In the course of her remarkable life, Dr. Hooker surmounted many of the barriers faced by women who sought an academic career in the 20th century. She is best known for her psychological studies of gay men in the 1950s and 1960s.

By demonstrating that well-adjusted homosexuals not only existed but in fact were numerous, Dr. Hooker’s research demonstrated that the illness model had no scientific basis. She helped to lay the foundation for the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and for the American Psychological Association’s subsequent commitment to removing the stigma that has historically been attached to homosexuality.

In my latest post at Beyond Homophobia, I summarize Dr. Hooker’s most famous study and offer some reflections on the lasting impact of her work.

Palin’s Misunderstanding of History

Often evangelical conservatives suffer under the misperception that the nation’s Founding Fathers shared their belief that the country was intended to be a Christian Nation governed according to a conservative understanding of Scripture. Although even the most casual reading of our founding documents will quickly reveal that those who established our governmental system found the idea of a church state to be frightening, a shared mythology thrives within a subset of our nation in which the drafters of our documents have been assigned theology that is consistent with their own. And then sainted.

This often result in rather amusing statements.

In responding to a 2006 Gubernatorial questionnaire from socially conservative Eagle Forum Alaska, the GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin (then running for governor) gave the following answer:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

Palin seems a bit unfamiliar with the history of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Pledge was written in 1892. However, though written by a Baptist minister, the original version did not contain the words “under God”. That phrase was added in 1954 after a campaign started by the Knights of Columbus and supported by a number of Protestants.

If there were any “founding fathers” around in 1954 to consider this phrase “good enough”, they must have been quite old indeed.

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index for 2009

Annually, HRC grades businesses on their policies regarding LGBT equality. And at least partly as a result of HRC’s public dissemination of this information, each year more companies change their personnel policies to accomodate their gay employees.

Check out this year’s listing and see if you need to be a bit more productive today in appreciation (or, alternately, call in sick tomorrow with a hangnail).

Log Cabin Endorses John McCain

Log Cabin Republicans has endorsed Sen. John McCain for President. Log Cabin appears to recognize that McCain’s agenda is not much in alignment with the goals of the gay community or the principles of equality:

“We have honest disagreements with Sen. McCain on a number of gay rights issues. Log Cabin will continue our conversation with him and other Republican leaders about issues affecting gay and lesbian Americans. We will speak out when there’s disagreement—either during the upcoming campaign or when John McCain is President,” said Sammon.

Their endorsement seems based on the following:

• McCain led the Republican opposition to the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment
• McCain has an “inclusive record” which has engendered support from grassroots members of the organization
• McCain has a long history of dialogue and friendly association with Log Cabin
• An endorsement will give Log Cabin better access to a McCain administration
• Other issues (foreign policy, the economy, jobs, energy policy, health care reform, and taxes) are important to LGBT voters
• Gay and lesbian Republicans believe Sen. John McCain is the most qualified person to lead our country.

There is no indication in the press release that Log Cabin had gained any concessions or clarifications of position from the McCain campaign before making their decision.

[Please keep our Comments Policy in mind]

Palin’s Anti-Gay “Pro-Gay” Veto

That glimmer of hope that Sarah Palin might be persuadable concerning LGBT rights appears solidly extinguished. Michael Signorile’s at the RNC, and has this to report:

I went to the Alaska delegation and spoke with a woman who is in Palin’s cabinet. She assured me that Palin is not in favor of giving any rights to gays and didn’t want to give domestic partnership rights to government employees but that she had to veto the bill that would have rescinded such rights because of the Alaska Supreme Court ruling. So can we please cut this crap Log Cabin and the McCain campaign have been trying to put out: Palin only vetoed an antigay bill because she had to, by law. This woman, Annette Kreitzer, who serves in Sarah Palin’s cabinet in the Department of Administration, said, oh, well, it was the law — drat! — or something like that. I’ll play it tomorrow.

Analysis: California Voters Are Rejecting Prop. 8

Supporters of marriage equality got some good news last night when the results of the latest statewide poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California were released.

The telephone survey of 2,001 California adults, including 1,047 likely voters, reveals that Proposition 8 –­ the proposed constitutional amendment to bar same-sex couples from marrying — is losing badly. Among likely voters, only 40% plan to vote for the amendment, compared to 54% who say they will vote against it. The remaining 6% are undecided. (The margin of error is +/- 3 percent.)

Opposition to Prop. 8 doesn’t come exclusively from those who say they generally favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. The sample was evenly split on that question -­ 47% of likely voters favoring marriage equality and 47% opposing it. Thus, consistent with other polls, some respondents who don’t personally support marriage equality nevertheless oppose enacting anti-equality legislation. Indeed, Prop. 8 is supported by only 69% of the likely voters who generally oppose allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Prop. 8 backers tried to find a ray of hope in the PPIC data, noting that amendment supporters were more likely to say the outcome of the vote is “very important” to them ­- 57% versus 44% of amendment opponents.

In my latest post at Beyond Homophobia, I explain why the math behind this claim is flawed. I also discuss the poll findings in depth and consider their implications for the Proposition 8 campaign.

Palin, an Interesting Choice

Sarah Palin is a fascinating vice-presidential selection for John McCain.

The Governor of Alaska, a state that is both unneeded in the electoral college and one certain to vote Republican in any case, Palin has neither the experience nor the political connections to influence other states. But she is both a maverick and acceptable to conservatives.

Palin has not yet had time to illustrate either dogmatism or generosity to the gay community, but what little we know about her does give some glimmer of encouragement.

In October 2005, the Supreme Court of the state of Alaska unanimously determined that gay state employees should have the same spousal benefits as those in opposite sex relationships. The governor, Frank Murkowski, refused to implement the change.

When Palin was elected, she indicated a willingness to comply. The legislature pass a bill which would ban the implementation of the benefits, which Palin vetoed, effectively establishing the provision of benefits. There is more to this story, including a vote, but I’m having a bit of difficultly finding it and I am limited on time this morning.

Palin is opposed to gay marriage but she has stated that she has personal relationships with gay people whom she counts as friends. It’s difficult to say with certainty, but from the perspective of our community, Palin may have been the best choice of all the candidates on McCain’s short list.

A “Guest Post” from Shirley Phelps: Nine Reasons Why “God HATES Colorado”

The Democratic National Convention is over. The Obama has been nominated, the speeches have been made, and now everyone is beginning their long treks home, inspired by the closing night and energized for the fall campaign.

The convention drew quite a few people to Denver, many of them with differing agendas and messages. Among them was a contingent from Westboro Baptist, the famous God-Hates-Fags brand of “Christians.” BTB contributing author Daniel Gonzales recently moved to Denver, and when he learned that the WBC folks have labeled the entire state as the “land of the Sodomites,” he wondered how all of Colorado happened to earn such a reputation. So he decided to write to Shirley Phelps:

Good morning Shirley,

I’m one of Jeremy Hooper’s activist friends out of Denver and I also write for a local gay magazine (the gayzette) here so I had a question about your DNC press release, specifically “Colorado – Land
of the Sodomites.” Could you elaborate on how you reached that determination? Most locals would agree Denver can be pretty gay at times but I’m curious what the state as a whole did to earn this title.

I would be happy to print your response in it’s entirety (as long as it’s not like a thousands words) and may swing by one of your protest sites to say hi during your visit.

thanks,
Dan Gonzales

Ms. Shirley’s response managed to cross the thousand word threshold — 1,860 words, to be exact — listing nine reasons why “God HATES Colorado.” It’s robably too long to appear on the pages of the Gayzette, but since we strive to present differing points of view from time to time on this web site, we thought you might be interested in what’s on her mind.

Or then again, maybe not. To me, it all has the quality of a car wreck — you know its ugly, but you can’t help but look. So go on. You know you want to.

Click here to read nine ways

Poll: No Movement on Proposition 8

The Public Policy Institute of California released a poll yesterday showing that Proposition 8 continues to have limited appeal.

Proposition 8, which would amend the state Constitution to allow marriage only between a man and a woman, is trailing 40% to 54% among likely voters, according to the poll. In a separate question, pollsters asked respondents if they support or oppose allowing gay men and lesbians to marry. On that question, Californians were evenly split, 47% to 47%.

This is the fourth major poll and it confirms the results of previous polling and seems to illustrate that the LA Times poll was likely an anomaly:

May 20-21, LA Times

54% Yes
35% No

May 17-26, Field Poll (average of two questions)

42% Yes
53% No

July 8-14, Field Poll

42% Yes
51% No

August 12-19, PPIC

40% Yes
54% No

Other than the LA Times poll, these are all within the margin of error and seem to indicate that the opposition to the proposition is fairly solid.

I’ve not seen the response of Yes on Proposition 8, but I can project a couple likely claims.

The anti-marriage activists will likely point to the question about whether Californians favor allowing same-sex couples to marry and announce that less than half of Californians are in favor. They may also claim that this is a decrease (though the PPIC reports that this hasn’t changed since August 2005).

Additionally I suspect that they will point out that anti-marriage Californians are more passionate in their support for Proposition 8; and the PPIC report does support that claim. Of those intending to vote yes, 57% said the outcome is “very important” while only 44% of those opposing Proposition 8 placed the outcome in the highest level of importance. Those stating the results to be “somewhat important” were 29% and 31%, respectively.

However, even if only those who place the highest importance on the results of the vote showed up at the polls, opponents would still outnumber supporters. And if “somewhat important” voters are added in, the proposition would lose in a landslide.

Massachusetts Delegates Take Pride In Marriage Equality

During today’s roll call vote delegates from each state stand up and start by briefly introduce there state and generally mention their state’s recent political achievements or point out any defining characteristics of the state. When Massachusetts came along their representative noted their pride in being first in the nation for marriage equality. Video can be found on PageOneQ.

Gay Rights Pioneer Del Martin Dies

Sad news:

Del Martin, a pioneering lesbian rights activist who married her lifelong partner on the first day same-sex couples could legally wed in California, has died. She was 87.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says Martin died at a San Francisco hospital Wednesday morning two weeks after a broken arm exacerbated her existing health problems. Kendell says her wife, Phyllis Lyon, was by her side.

This is Del Martin (left, 87) and Phyllis Lyon (right, 83) at their wedding last June. They had been together for fifty-five years.

They, along with six other women, founded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955. The Daughters were the first major lesbian organization in the United States. Phyllis edited the DOB’s newsletter The Ladder beginning in 1956. Del edited The Ladder from 1960 to 1962. The Daughters eventually disbanded in 1970 after having established chapters all across the United States

In 1964, they helped found the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, bringing together national religious leaders and gay and lesbian activists for a national discussion of gay rights. Later, Del was heavily involved in getting the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

Shortly after Del and Phyllis’ wedding, we re-printed a portion of the very first issue of The Ladder, which featured an essay by Del Martin. In celebration of all that Del has been able to accomplish in her life, we offer her own words from 1956 for your consideration:

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Since 1950 there has been a nationwide movement to bring understanding to and about the homosexual minority.

Most of the organizations dedicated to this purpose stem from the Mattachine Foundation which was founded in Los Angeles at that time. Members of those organizations — the Mattachine Society, One, and National Association for Sexual Research — are predominantly male, although there are a few hard working women among their ranks.

The Daughters of Bilitis is a women’s organization resolved to add the feminine voice and viewpoint to a mutual problem. While women may not have as much difficulty with law enforcement, their problems are none the less real — family, sometimes children, employment, social acceptance.

However, the lesbian is a very elusive creature. She burrows underground in her fear of identification. She is cautious in her associations. Current modes in hair style and casual attire have enabled her to camouflage her existence. She claims she does not need help. And she will not risk her tight little fist of security to aid those who do.

But surely the ground work has been well laid in the past 5½ years. Homosexuality is not the dirty word it used to be. More and more people, professional and lay, are becoming aware of its meaning and implications. There is no longer so much “risk” in becoming associated with [text missing].

And why not “belong”? Many heterosexuals do. Membership is open to anyone who is interested in the minority problems of the sexual variant and does not necessarily indicate one’s own sex preference.

Women have taken a beating through the centuries. It has been only in this 20th, through the courageous crusade of the Suffragettes and the influx of women into the business world, that woman has become an independent entity, an individual with the right to vote and the right to a job and economic security. But it took women with foresight and determination to attain this heritage which is now ours.

And what will be the lot of the future lesbian? Fear? Scorn? This need not be — IF lethargy is supplanted by an energized constructive program, if cowardice gives way to the solidarity of a cooperative front, if the “let Georgia do it” attitude is replaced by the realization of individual responsibility in thwarting the evils of ignorance, superstition, prejudice and bigotry.

Nothing was ever accomplished by hiding in a dark corner. Why not discard the hermitage for the heritage that awaits any red-blooded American woman who dares to claim it?

Del Martin, President
Daughters of Bilitis

Thank you Del. Go in peace. Our condolences go out to her widow Phyllis, and to the Martin-Lyon family.