Box Turtle Bulletin

Supporting Equality Not Allowed at Florida School

David Davis is the principal at Panama City, Florida’s Ponce de Leon High School. He also has some interesting ideas about which symbols are appropriate and which are offensive to wear on clothing at his campus.

For example, WMBB reports

Davis says clothes with the confederate flag are allowed at school. He says they haven’t caused a distraction. Of the 406 students at the high school, none of them are African American.

But if symbols associated with slavery are inoffensive, what ever could be?

Well, that would be any reference whatsoever that you support equality. Yikes!! That could just lead to civil unrest.

It all started when a student who was ridiculed for being gay approached the principal. Instead of protecting her, he advised that she stay in the closet and not talk about her orientation.

That didn’t go over so well with some of the other students. A couple dozen of them thought they’d stand up for their gay classmates.

Days later, Davis heard of students making gay rights signs, and reports of 25 of them coming to school with the letters “GP” or “Gay Pride” written on their hands.

[17 Year old Heather] Gillman says she is not gay, but her cousin (a student at PDL High) is.

Gillman made t-shirts with slogans like:
-“I support equal marriage rights”
-“I support gays”
-“Equal not special rights”

Well Davis couldn’t have that. He suspended eleven students and threatened expulsion. Unlike Confederate symbols, supporting equal marriage rights is against the school dress code.

So Gillman sued David Davis and the Holmes County School Board.

The case is in trial and so far Davis is showing himself to be intensely stupid.

Monday in court, Davis said students who see the slogans and symbols would be distracted in class, even have mental images of gays having sex.

And this is the man they have in charge of education at Ponce de Leon High School.

sigh.

Racists Gain More Allies from the Anti-Gay Movement

The defense of homophobic violence that started with an article by Ted Pike on David Duke’s virulently racist and anti-Semitic website has now been taken by Peter LaBarbera to his fellow anti-gays: Concerned Women for America (CWA)’s Matt Barber, and Bob Knight of the Culture and Media Institute.

Bob Knight and Peter LaBarbera are old friends from when they were part of Concerned Women, but I really don’t know if either Barber or Knight also share Pike and Duke’s racist and anti-Semitic agenda. They may just have been brought into the alliance by LaBarbera.

AZ House Approves Anti-Marriage Amendment Proposal

We’ve just learned that thirty-three members of the Arizona House of Representatives approved SCR1042, the proposed anti-marriage amendment. The resolution passed 33-25, with two representatives not voting. You can see how each representative voted here. The battle now moves to the Senate. If SCR1042 passes the Senate, the proposed anti-marriage amendment goes onto the ballot for November’s general election.

Now it’s time for Arizona residents to shift their attention to their state Senator.If you don’t know who your Senator is, the Equality Arizona web site can find him or her for you and provide you with phone numbers and contact information. You can call directly, or you can even send a message via Equality Arizona. They’ve made it extremely easy to do this.

Moldovan Pride Rally Attacked By Skinheads, Police Stand By And Watch

Yesterday’s scheduled Gay Pride parade in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau was attacked by a mob of skinheads and Moldovan nationalists before the parade could begin. Moldovan police stood by and refused to intervene as angry mobs, estimated at 200 to 400 people, surrounded a bus carrying 60 pride marchers, trapping them inside for 45 minutes. Skinheads also blocked the door to the offices of GenderDoc-M, the organizers of the weekend’s Pride activities, and trapped several people in the offices for several hours. GenderDoc-M made nine calls to police for help. Police refused to respond.

This latest violence follows a last-minute ban by Chisinau city officials a few days before the parade was scheduled to take place. Officials imposed the ban in defiance of a recent Moldovan Supreme Court ruling which guaranteed GenderDoc-M’s right to assemble.

Former Ex-Gay Spokesperson: “I Was Disowned”

Noé Gutierrez has experienced quite a few twists and turns in his young life. He originally appeared in the gay-affirming video “It’s Elementary,” which teaches school children the importance of respecting diversity. Later, he entered the ex-gay movement and was featured in Dr. Warren Throckmorton’s 2004 video “I Do Exist.” In early 2007, he issued a statement regretting that his story became a part of the “divisive message of the ex-gay movement.” Now he talks about how quickly the ex-gay movement has disowned him, an experience that has an eerily familiar ring among other ex-gay survivors I’ve talked to.

In a long but fascinating statement posted on his web site last month, Gutierrez describes his first-hand account of his involvement in the ex-gay movement. He recounts that while the ex-gay movement preaches about love and compassion toward the ex-gay movement, he found little evidence of it:

Forgiveness and reconciliation were a promise held at the far end of a road filled with sacrifice, self-discipline, and a commitment to never practice anything related to homosexuality. The amount of mental/emotional stress these ministries place on their members is insurmountable. Everyone seemed to manage the stress through various coping strategies. The most successful coping strategy seemed to be for someone to remain immersed in ex-gay ideology. You could accomplish this by becoming a member of a weekly support group or joining a ministry team as a volunteer or staff. The more active you were in a ministry the less likely you were to doubt your ability to achieve change. In short, you would have to eat, live and breathe ex-gay ministry.

Other coping mechanisms that Gutierrez observed included same-sex “couples” who were in ex-gay ministry together doing “God’s work,” and others who married an opposite sex partner in relationships which tended to remind him of the “‘best girl friend’ dynamic of the gay community.”

And of course, there was Noé’s own coping mechanism: his big splash as a spokesperson for the ex-gay movement through Dr. Throckmorton’s 2004 video. But as he grew more famous as a result of the documentary, he began to have doubts about what he had done. That’s when he got the full flavor of how quickly the ex-gay movement can turn on its own:

As I began to sever ties to ex-gay ministry I was shocked to see how quickly people turned away their friendship and camaraderie. It was as if overnight my name had been erased from the hearts and minds of all those who supported and “cared” for me. There was no outreach and no attempts at reconciliation. I was for all intents and purposes “disowned”. Since no outreach was made in my direction, I reached out to Exodus International. I signed up to attend their annual conference because a part of me still held the hope that what they believed could be real. After registering for the conference I got word that the leadership of Exodus had serious concerns that my attendance would do “harm” to the progress of other attendees. I could not believe how my change of heart was treated as though it were leprosy with others around me shouting “Unclean!! Unclean!!”

Following his being cast out, Noé struggled with a very serious depression as a result of the isolation and rejection he experienced from those who were his friends. This, too, is a common experience according to other ex-gay survivors I’ve talked with:

…[T]heir acceptance had in my mind been associated with my own sense of being loved and accepted by God. Therefore I not only felt like a failure in the eyes of Exodus but also in the eyes of God. The weight of this burden is one that I do not wish on anybody, but also one I am glad to have experienced because now I know what harm can come from setting people up for this type of failure. If we instill in men and women that their only way to heaven is to repent and commit to a lifelong pursuit of heterosexuality cloaked under terms of “purity” and “holiness”, what will these men and women do when they find the pursuit is never ending? Is it fair to make such an unattainable goal the key to personal and relational success in love and faith? Will they ever truly feel forgiven by God? Can they then ever experience the freedom in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Or are we committing them to a life of shame and chains for which there is no end?

Noé concludes his statement with a beautiful testimony of a faith that was strengthened, not shattered. In many ways he describes a faith that is similar to my own, although I would never have been able to put it into words as beautifully as his. It is a very inspiring statement for everyone who has ever had to face the seemingly impossible task of reconciling their faith and their sexuality. It’s difficult, but not impossible. What’s more, it’s definitely worth it. After all, “we do exist” also.

Meanwhile — and despite all this — “I Do Exist” remains available for sale on Dr. Throckmorton’s web site.

AZ Anti-Marriage Bill Scheduled For Vote Monday

As we reported earlier, the Arizona House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to move a bill onto the House floor that would place an anti-marriage amendment proposal on the ballot for November. Since that vote was taken, Speaker Jim Weiers (R-Phoenix) has placed SCR1042 on the calendar for a third reading on April 28th, 29th, 30th and May 5th. Each day has come and gone without a vote, and SCR1042 was pulled off the calendar for May 6th and 7th. Now we see it back on the calendar for Monday, May 12.

For Arizona residents, it’s still not too late to act. Remember: there are two representatives for each legislative district. Contact both of them and let them know where you stand. If you don’t know who your representatives are, the Equality Arizona web site can find them for you and provide you with their phone numbers and contact information. You can call them directly, or you can even send a message via Equality Arizona.

Obama Supporter to Marry Bush Daughter

Tonight Jenna Bush, the daughter of President Bush, will marry Henry Hager in a ceremony at the president’s ranch. Officiating will be Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell.

This is an unusual selection in that Caldwell has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and will be campaigning for him. Caldwell, whose church had supported an ex-gay ministry, raised concerns in January among some gay Democrats about Obama’s commitment to equality.

Jenna Bush released a book in September of last year about the personal experience of a young woman in Latin America living with AIDS and her opinions about the efficacy of “abstinence only” education differ from those of her father.

We wish the young couple all happiness and hope that Jenna’s wedding day goes without a hitch.

Another Gay Bar Comes Out

Speaking of straight bars going gay, there’s another one that’s come out of the closet. From The Onion. (Where else?)

Straight Convention Workers An Epicenter For Potentially Deadly Norovirus

It was just last January when the San Francisco Chronicle stoked fears over a new “gay plague” in their article about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA), a bacterial staph infection that is resistant to certain antibiotics. An article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine documented an outbreak of MRSA in the Castro, which lead anti-gay activists to falsely accuse gay men of spreading MRSA from the gay community into the straight community. The only problem with that charge is that MRSA had been making its rounds among heterosexuals for several decades. Ironically, athletes are at particularly high risk.

The Chronicle headline that started that hysteria read:

S.F. gay community an epicenter for new strain of virulent staph

Today, San Francisco activist Michael Petrelis noticed that this morning’s Chronicle headline about an outbreak of a potentially deadly norovirus among straight workers is very different:

Moscone Center workers sickened by norovirus

San Francisco public health officials are warning of an outbreak of a virus that has sickened dozens of people at Moscone Center.

About 70 people who fell ill had been at the Moscone Center between April 30 and Thursday, authorities said Friday. All but three were staff members working at the convention center, said Moscone spokesman David Perry.

Michael Petrelis observes that while the MRSA story in January hyped fears of a dreaded disease in the gay community infecting the “general population,” this story is being treated by some news outlets as a light-hearted, low-key tech story (this norovirus epidemic started during a JavaOne tech conference) aimed at calming fears rather than stoking them. He noticed that CNET’s coverage was downright adolescent:

To clarify, this is a virus that makes you barf and gives you diarrhea. It’s not the kind of virus that sends Viagra-pitching e-mails to all your friends or treats you to a Rick Astley sing-along every time you turn on your computer.

No, you won’t drop dead from it. Norovirus is better known as one of the viruses that causes a nasty stomach flu. Symptoms only last about a day or two, but it’s highly contagious. Just to up the gross-out factor: Norovirus is found in the fecal matter or vomit of people who are infected. If they don’t wash their hands properly, they spread it when they handle food or drinks.

What a difference. When it was gays coming down with MRSA, headlines screamed, “New Superbug Hitting Gay Men” or “Flesh-eating bug spreads among gays.” This time, it’s “Did you get infected? Virus runs amok amid JavaOne.”

The norovirus is passed exactly the same way as MRSA — by people who don’t wash up. And get this: fecal matter is a culprit. That detail is an anti-gay activist’s wet dream. I wonder when Matt Barber and Peter LaBarbera will exploit this latest danger coming from the heterosexual community.

[Hat tip: Michael Petrelis]

Controversey Turns Foe Into Ally

For 25 years, Scottsdale, Arizona’s Anderson’s Fifth Estate was an ordinary rock and new wave dance club whose popularity was waning. That popularity took a dive in 2006 when club owner Tom Anderson asked a transgender woman, Michele de LaFreniere, to leave because of complaints from other patrons.

That incident brought on a year of controversy as Scottsdale residents grappled with a reputation for hostility to the LGBT community. Following that incident, another gay couple was assaulted outside a Scottsdale restaurant and Mayor Mary Manross refused to observe GLBT month in June

But now, things couldn’t be more different. Anderson got to personally know a lit of gay and transgender residents during discussions with the LGBT community, and in the process Anderson underwent a huge transformation. Today Anderson’s Fifth Estate is now called Forbidden, and it is one of metro Phoenix’s hottest gay clubs. And Anderson and his wife are now staunch LGBT allies and good friends of Michele de LaFreniere.

Sometimes all it takes is some conversation and getting to know real people.

Chisinau Mayor Bans Gay Pride Parade

It was just this morning when we reported that Moldova was about to witness its very first Gay Pride parade n Chisinau, the nation’s capital. Now we find that the mayor of Chisinau has banned the parade just two days before it was to take place.

GenderDoc-M, the group that is organizing the parade, says that the mayor has no power to ban the march under a new Moldovan law on public manifestations. According to GenderDoc-M, if the authorities have proof that there could be serious trouble at an event, then a court decision is needed to impose a ban. The mayor has no power to act unilaterally. Last year, the Moldova Supreme Court ruled that Chisinau city officials had violated the Moldovan constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights by banning a previous Gay Pride march.

GenderDoc-M is calling on city authorities to rescind the ban and for city police to provide adequate protection for Pride participants.

Hutcherson’s Wacky Priorities

Every pastor knows that there are certain Sundays in which attendance will be high. Christmas and Easter, for example, will draw those who identify as Christian but generally find other things a higher priority at church time on Sunday mornings.

Another day in which visitors are expected is Mother’s Day, when dutiful children make Mom happy by going to church with her before brunch.

Some churches have a liturgical calendar that establishes themes for each Sunday across the denomination. But non-liturgical pastors tend to strategize their sermons on ‘Visitor Sundays’ so that they appeal to irregular attendees and so that they fit with the theme of the day.

For example, on Christmas a pastor might talk about Christ coming to the world and the change that Jesus made on history. Or he might discuss the sacrifice of His parents, the humbleness of His birth, or even the persistence of the Magi. So too would a pastor generally find Mother’s Day a time to celebrate the special recognition of mothers in the Bible.

But whatever the theme, on Sundays that are likely to draw visitors, a thoughtful pastor will avoid esoteric doctrines or the minutia of theological denominational differences. And while some fire-and-brimstone preachers will take the opportunity to call down God’s judgment on the sinner in the pew, most will avoid a sermon that is likely to frighten away or alienate a non-believer.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. And in honor of that event, Rev. Ken Hutcherson has selected a non-traditional theme. From his church’s website:

Friday, 09 May 2008

Please keep praying for a great turnout for this Sunday’s services for two reasons:

1.) It’s Mother’s Day! We want to honor all of our mothers.
2.) This Sunday will be the first of a two part series on why homosexuality is still a sin.

Pray that many lives will be changed.

Pastor Hutch

What mother is going to want to bring her kids to church on her special day to hear a sermon about gay sex? I can’t imagine who – other than Pastor Hutch – would think this topic is appropriate for Mother’s Day.

Which makes me wonder: is Hutcherson completely obsessed with homosexuality, or is it the only subject that makes him a topic of discussion on blog sites and feeds his ego?

(hat tip GoodAsYou)

District Attorney on King Case Dismisses Quest’s “Blame the Victim” Defense

Karen Ocamb, writing for the Advocate, interviewed Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox about the murder of Lawrence King, a 15 boy shot by a classmate because he was gay. Although William Quest, the defense attorney for King’s killer, Brandon McInerney, has been telling the press that the blame should lie with King or with the school district, Fox isn’t buying it.

Fox declined to say if she thought Quest would mount a “gay panic defense” – saying that McInerney murdered King because the gay boy came on to him. However, Fox scoffed at any “blame the victim” defense as an “absolute failure to acknowledge personal responsibility.” Any “heat of passion” defense,” Fox said, requires an immediate, unforeseen reaction to an objectively overwhelming provocation and the absence of malice of forethought – the exact opposite of premeditation, which is what McInerney is charged with.

Fox further explained her thinking and why the DA wants to charge McInerney as an adult with premeditated murder with a special allegation of a hate crime.

“When you kill someone, to me you need to be incarcerated away from the public for a long time. Because to me, you’ve demonstrated that you’re dangerous. That’s why we have such lengthy sentences for murderers because you don’t want to just say, ‘Now don’t ever do that again!’ They’re dangerous people in most cases – unless it’s some extreme case where the person was under duress – in those cases we generally work out some kind of plea or arrangement. What I’m thinking of is battered women, people who kill under extreme circumstances.

“But if it’s a situation where it’s unprovoked and premeditated,” Fox continued, “then I would say in pretty much all of those cases, that public safety is a tremendous concern for me. And punishment is very high on my list of priorities. I’m very big on personal responsibility. And unless you can show me that you had a really, really, really good reason for doing what you did, I think you should stand up and be accountable for it. And you should be punished because otherwise we would live in pure chaos. These are the rules we’ve set up for each other and to me, it’s a very important part of this job.”

Moldova Begins Its First Public Gay Pride

For the past seven years running, authorities in the former Soviet republic of Moldova’s capital city of Chisinau had banned public Gay Pride celebrations. But a new law on public gatherings appears to have cleared the way for the this year’s “Rainbow over the Dniester” celebration to go forward.

Barring any unforeseen roadblocks, organizers expect to hold this year’s Pride parade on May 11. The parade, organized by GenderDoc-M, will go from the National Library and end at Chisinau’s central square. The theme for the parade is “All Different — All Equal.”

Moldova’s Pride celebrations kicked off yesterday with the laying of flowers to the monument to the victims of repressions, and a symbolic marriage ceremony later that evening. Other events include a concert of Moldovan pop stars, art shows and plays, a commemoration of GenderDoc-M’s tenth anniversary, and a tour of Moldovan historical sites. Celebrations will conclude on May 11 with a “Miss Flawless Queen 2008” contest.

Moldova became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

WND Picks up on David Duke / Ted Pike / Peter LaBarbera’s Justification of Homophobic Violence

World Net Daily has now joined the alliance of racist David Duke, anti-Semite Ted Pike, and homophobe Peter LaBarbera in defending a “strapping, clean-cut, All-American looking young man” who first verbally insulted and then reportedly physically assaulted a young gay man.

Amidst WND’s usual ranting and froth, there was an interesting paragraph in which Rona Lee VanAsdlen, the mother of the assailant, was quoted.

“This would never have even been an event if this was another heterosexual male and he had a conflict with, and that’s just unfair,” she said. “I am a conservative Christian, and my son is. All we are doing is asking for prayers and support from people that may be opposed to this sort of thing happening.

Mrs. VanAsdlen is correct; if this was another heterosexual male there never would have been an event. Because her precious son would not have initiated the situation by directing homophobic comments towards another heterosexual male. VanAsdlen, Duke, Pike, LaBarbera, and WND all portray the victim, Stephen Valasquez as “the real aggressor”, conveniently ignoring that Brett VanAsdlen started the confrontation in the first place.

I’m amazed at the blatant sense of entitlement that directs this story. There’s such indignation that VanAsdlen, a white Christian heterosexual baseball star, should be called to answer for an assault on an insignificant godless homosexual with brown skin.

And all of VanAsdlen’s supporters agree that hate crimes laws unfairly stop people like him from doing what a “typical [white Christian heterosexual] 18 or 19-year-old kid” just does naturally. You know, assault those unlike himself.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised at how anti-gays alligned so quickly with racists and anti-Semites on this common cause. Hate is hate. Scratch a homophobe, find a bigot.