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 lobbyJune 27th, 2008
Google’s celebrating along with the rest of us. To see what I mean, just go to Google and search for something gay. It should look something like this:
Do you see the rainbow stripe between the sponsored ads and the search results? And it’s context sensitive. Search for “gay Paris,” and the stripe’s not there. Very clever!
June 27th, 2008
The Republic of Iceland has recognized same-sex civil unions since 1996. Now the Iceland Review reports that churches will now be able to offer services recognizing these unions.
Ãrni Thór Arnthórsson and his American fiancé Paris Prince will be the first gay couple to get married in church in Iceland early next month after a new law on the right of religious associations to confirm cohabitation of gay couples took affect today.
We would welcome any readers familiar with Icelandic law and language to clarify whether these unions may now be identified as marriage or whether that term was simply a translation convenience.
UPDATE:
This article in xtra.ca by Nicholas Little suggests that marriage may be the proper term:
1996.
The Althing grants same-sex registered partnerships equal status with heterosexual marriage, with the exception that neither adoption nor in-vitro fertilisation is permitted.The Althing also amends the general penal code to include sexual orientation as prohibited grounds for discrimination. This makes it illegal to refuse people goods or services on account of their sexual orientation, or to attack a person or group of people publicly with mockery, defamation, abuse or threats because of their sexual orientation.
2006.
The Althing grants same-sex couples full legal rights of marriage, but denies churches and religious groups the authority to perform the legal ceremony.Jun 27, 2008.
Ministers of churches can now join same-sex couples in legal marriage.
As more information is available we’ll let you know whether Iceland has become the Seventh nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
June 27th, 2008
I mentioned earlier this morning that another anti-marriage amendment was introduced in the Senate. What I didn’t know was that these two upright paradigms of traditional “monogamous” heterosexual marriages were co-sponsors: Larry “Tap-Tap” Craig (R-ID), and David “D.C. Madam” Vitter (R-LA).
Of course, they’re only monogamous in that peculiar way in which heterosexuals define monogamy.
Honestly, you just can’t make this stuff up.
June 27th, 2008
What does the US have in comment with Sudan, Russia, Libya and Saudi Arabia? We are among the twelve countries that prohibit HIV-positive non-citizens from traveling to those countries. What’s more, HIV is the only condition that is designated by law as grounds for inadmissibility to the United States. Bird flu, SARS, leprosy and tuberculosis are in the clear, but HIV is banned.
This ban was put in place by President Reagan and Sen. Jesse Helms during the AIDS hysteria of the 1980’s. But now there is widespread support to repeal the ban, support that extends to President George Bush. But the PEPFAR bill (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has remained bottled up in the Senate by a group of seven Republican Senators, including David Vitter (R-LA), who has admitted to using the services of the so-called “D.C. Madam.”
June 27th, 2008
We’re still not sure what McCain might have told the Log Cabin Republicans during his still-unacknowledged meeting with them, the LCRs are sure to be disappointed by this news. “Protect Marriage,” the California group that is sponsoring the Californian anti-marriage amendment, has announced that John McCain is supporting their efforts to abolish more than 2,000 legal marriages in California. According to McCain’s statement:
“I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions.”
Actually, Arizona defeated an attempt to write a ban on same-sex marriage into the constitution in 2006. Nevertheless, same-sex marriage is explicitly banned in Arizona by state law, and that law has been consistently upheld by the courts.
A vote to put another proposed amendment on the ballot may come up for a vote in the Arizona Senate as early as today. It’s still not too late to contact your Senator. And thanks to Equality Arizona, it only takes about three minutes of your time.
June 27th, 2008
Pink News is reporting that a gay bar in Budapest was fire-bombed last night after its address appeared on a hate group’s website. It’s unclear how heavily the bar, called Action, was damaged.
Gay rights groups have voiced concerns about extreme right-wing violence. They accuse a hate group using a website called kuruc.info for last night’s bombing. The website, a Hungarian site hosted in the United States, is known for posting addresses, phone numbers and other personal information about gay activists. Yesterday, the site post an address list of all the gay bars in Budapest, with Action being the first on the list.
Budapest’s chief of police is anticipating violence during this year’s Pride celebrations slated for July 5th. Last year, gangs of ultranationalists, skinheads and fascists attacked Pride cellebrants. Pride organizers criticised police for failing to take appropriate action during last year’s events.
June 27th, 2008
Janice Langbehn is suing Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami because hospital administrators refused to allow her access to her dying partner.
In February 2007, Ms. Langbehn, her partner Lisa Marie Pond, and three of their four children were in Florida preparing for a cruise to celebrate their eighteenth anniversary. But before the cruise could leave port, Ms. Pond suffered a massive stroke and was taken to Jackson Memorial. But hospital personnel refused to let Langbehn into Pond’s hospital room, even after a legal power of attorney was faxed to the hospital. Pond was pronounced dead of a brain aneurysm about eighteen hours after being admitted to the hospital. The only time Langbehn was allowed to see her partner was when a priest was giving her last rites.
Langbehn filed a federal lawsuit in Miami on Wednesday charging hospital employees with negligence and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” The suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000. You can read Janice’s account of the ordeal here.
This is why marriage is so important. Hospitals like Jackson Memorial claim that because Langbehn wasn’t Ponds “immediate family,” they could ignore all evidence of their actually being one — even when presented with a legal power of attorney that anti-gay activists claim would make everything “equal” but separate.
Jackson Memorial Hospital is affiliated with the University of Miami, and touts itself as “one of America’s finest medical facilities.”
June 27th, 2008
Must be. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the so-called “Marriage Protection Act” to amend the U.S. Constitution to deny marriages to gays and lesbians. This is a companion measure to Rep. Paul Broun’s (R-GA) bill in the house. Neither is likely to go anywhere this time.
June 27th, 2008
Army Sergeant Darren Manzella, who appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes to talk about serving openly as a gay man in the Iraq war, has been discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” effective June 10.
According to his interview with Lesley Stahl, he served openly during most of his time in the army with the full support of his colleagues and superiors. This isn’t surprising. According to a poll of military veterans, 73% said they would feel comfortable serving alongside a gay or lesbian service member.
Sgt. Manzella told the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), “My sexual orientation certainly didn’t make a difference when I treated injuries and saved lives in the streets of Baghdad. It shouldn’t be a factor in allowing me to continue to serve.” Sgt. Manzella was awarded the Combat Medical Badge for serving under fire in the streets of Baghdad to provide medical care to American soldiers, Iraqi Guardsmen and civilians. He also received several other awards recognizing his courage and service.
June 26th, 2008
UPDATE :
June 30, 2008 – David Benkof’s personal anti-gay blogsite, Gays Defend Marriage, has now removed references to his “Fabulous Observant” column and no longer refers to Benkof as a columnist for gay newspapers.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Anti-gay activist David Benkof has been writing articles in mainstream newspapers posing as a columnist for the gay press. No doubt he, and the opinion editors, believe that this gives his op-eds more credibility. Until we began to look into his claims, his bio stated:
David Benkof is a columnist for several gay newspapers around the country and blogs at gaysdefendmarriage.com. Write to him by e-mail at davidbenkof@aol.com
In our report David Benkof: Behind the Mask, we exposed this deception along with his self-description on his anti-marriage website:
David Benkof’s “Fabulously Observant” column offering readers of LGBT newspapers traditionally religious and conservative perspectives on gay and lesbian issues debuted at the beginning of May. Currently, two publications subscribe – the Dallas Voice and Q-Notes (North Carolina). Other publications in Florida, Ohio, and Oklahoma have purchased at least one installment.
I’m particularly excited that in publications like Q Notes, my column will run alongside those written by people like Wayne Besen, who I’m told despise me and everything I stand for. We’re a wide and diverse community, and everyone’s voice should be heard.
As we stated in our report, when we contacted Q Notes we were told by Matt Comer, the Editor, that Benkof had been dropped due to his “recent extreme misrepresentation” and had been instructed to remove any reference to Q Notes from his site.
Now we have been told that the Dallas Voice, Benkof’s last contracted gay outlet, has discontinued his column. In an e-mail to Wayne Besen, separately confirmed to us, Editor Tammye Nash said that the Dallas Voice will not be publishing any more of Mr. Benkof’s columns. She had based her original willingness to carry Benkof on work performed when he wrote for Q Syndicate but his more recent anti-gay work had changed her mind.
In his latest anti-gay article, published by the San Francisco Chronicle, Benkof does not reference gay newspapers. His bio states:
David Benkof blogs at GaysDefendMarriage.com. To comment, e-mail DavidBenkof@aol.com.
However, those going to his site still find the statement that Benkof is “a columnist for the Dallas Voice and several other LGBT newspapers”, and that:
David Benkof’s “Fabulously Observant” column offering readers of LGBT newspapers traditionally religious and conservative perspectives on gay and lesbian issues debuted at the beginning of May. Currently, the column runs in the Dallas Voice at least once a month. Other publications in Florida, Washington state, Ohio, and Oklahoma have purchased at least one installment.
I’m particularly excited that in some publications, my column will run alongside those written by people like Wayne Besen, who I’m told despise me and everything I stand for. We’re a wide and diverse community, and everyone’s voice should be heard.
See Also:
David Benkof: Behind the Mask
Benkof’s Continuing Parade of Lies and Deception
David Benkof’s One Man Anti-Gay Campaign of Lies and Deception
June 26th, 2008
Driver error led me to prematurely celebrate the five year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling which struck down anti-sodomy laws across the nation. Dr. Gregory Herek apparently is in better control of his blogging software than I am of mine.
Dr. Herek is a prolific researcher and professor of psychology at U.C. Davis. Today he posted excerpts from a longer article he wrote to commemorate the ruling. In it, he explores the role that social science played in that ruling and what it tells us today in our current debates over same-sex marriage. He concludes:
Because current debates about law and policy concerning sexual orientation inevitably raise questions about the nature of intimate relationships, parenting, family dynamics, and the personal impact of sexual stigma — phenomena that have been extensively studied by behavioral and social scientists — psychologists and other behavioral scientists have an ongoing role to play in communicating our knowledge to policy makers, jurists, and the public.
By doing so, we will continue to fulfill our longstanding commitment to take the lead in removing the stigma historically attached to homosexuality and same-sex intimate relationships.
Like everything else Dr. Herek writes, this is well worth reading and bookmarking.
June 26th, 2008
Yesterday’s vote by the Arizona Senate to advance an anti-marriage amendment to the voters fell short. But amendment supporters today vow to bring the measure back for another vote on Friday.
The thirty-member chamber voted 14-11 to place a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage onto the ballot. But since the Arizona constitution requires that a majority of the members elected must approve the measure, sixteen votes are needed for passage.
When supporters of the ban realized that they didn’t have enough votes — Sen. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa) had gone on vacation — Sen. Linda Gray (R-Phoenix) switched her vote in a procedural move to allow her to bring the measure back again for another vote. Another vote will likely be called on Friday when Johnson is expected to interrupt her vacation to support the measure.
Which means that come Friday, we may see an anti-marriage amendment placed on the ballot. Arizona residents are encouraged to contact their Senator and voice their opinions. Equality Arizona makes this easy. Just enter your zip code, and their web page will automatically provide you with contact information and talking points. It takes all of three minutes.
June 25th, 2008
Remember Justin Nichols, the Plano, Texas Teen Court officer who was almost fired by the Collin County Commissioners when they learned that he’s gay? Well, they apparently decided that they didn’t want to look like a bunch of backwoods hicks and decided not to fire him publicly. But they did negotiate an undisclosed settlement to try to get him to leave quietly. Part of the terms of the settlement was that Nichols couldn’t discuss the settlement.
But the incompetents running Collin County forgot to include something very important in their settlement. They omitted a standard statement which would have prevented Nichols’ lawyer or anyone else connected with the case from disclosing the terms of the agreement. And they got the amount of the settlement wrong. Instead of paying Nichols $26,500 to get his gay butt out of the courthouse like they had all agreed to, the settlement calls for $26,500,000. That’s $26.5 million!
I’m guessing there must be a study somewhere correlating homophobia with lower IQs.
June 25th, 2008
GayPatriot has exclusively learned that presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain held a personal meeting with the head of the national gay Republicans organization, the Log Cabin Republicans. Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon confirmed his meeting with Senator McCain earlier today.
It is not inconsequential that the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party has met with a leader in the gay community. It suggests that McCain recognizes our community to be a constituency and that we have specific concerns and issues upon which we may be able to find common cause. It also suggests that he is unlikely to be quick to engage in politics based on accusations of “homosexual agenda”.
I hope that Log Cabin is able to get the Senator to clarify his position on certain areas of policy that seem to be nebulous or contradictory. I also hope that the Senator will craft a campaign that actively competes for the votes of gay and lesbian citizens. Such a direction would not only be effective in moving our country closer to equality under law for the members of our community but it would also go far towards healing the rift in the nation caused by culture war and past devisive campaigns.
June 25th, 2008
The Arizona Senate has rejected a proposal that would have asked voters to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. The 14-11 vote fell two votes shy of what was required to send the proposal to the November ballot. Senators later voted to reconsider the measure at another unspecified date.
The Arizona legislature is just about to end its legislative session. And since this proposal has been rejected, I don’t know what’s meant by the line saying that they voted to reconsider the measure “at another unspecified date.” When I know, you’ll know. But for now, it looks like it might be dead for 2008.
Update: What that last line means is that they can still bring the amendment up for a vote at any time between now and the official end (“sine die”) of the session. In a just-released statement, Equality Arizona characterized the move as a “desparete maneuver” by Senate Republicans to force a vote. Sixteen votes (a simple majority of the Senate) was needed to pass the resolution. Five Senators did note vote.
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
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