Box Turtle Bulletin

Gay Activist Arrested For Lewd Heterosexual Conduct

No, that’s not a real headline. But Jeffrey Weiss of the Dallas Morning News’ religion blog asks a really great question:

When was the last time you heard of an activist for the other side being accused of the mirror image of what is now a list longer by one GOP senator from Idaho? Which would be, I guess, a putatively gay man arrested for trying to hire a female prostitute.

Have I missed that headline?

Follow Up on Gay Camp

Earlier we reported on Camp Out, a logo program about a church camp for gay kids. Now WCCO.com has a local interest story about the camp. I’m happy to hear that the camp is continuing:

Each year’s session has attracted about 10 campers, most from the Upper Midwest but a few from other parts of the country. The organizers said that publicity from “Camp Out” is increasing interest in next year’s session. It aired for the first time in late July, on the night before this summer’s session, and Wiesner said he got a call that night from a teenager wondering if it was too late to sign up.

Dream Center “Surprised” Haggard Will Be Working There

It’s story that keeps getting more incredible with each passing day. First, Ted Haggard sends out a fundraising letter, asking for financial support while he and his family move into the Phoenix Dream Center’s halfway house to minister to ex-cons, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and “other broken people.” Except his fundraising letter suggests that his donors commit tax fraud by writing a check to a Colorado Springs charity called “Families With a Mission.”

Then we learn that said charity doesn’t exist anymore, and the only name associated with it is one Paul Huberty, a convicted sex offender from Hawaii whose name is not on Colorado’s sex offender registry. Huberty was convicted of attempted sexual assault in Hawaii in January 2004 and sentenced to 12 months in jail with six months suspended. In 1996, he was convicted of sodomy, indecent acts, and adultery with 17-year girl who accompanied Huberty to Europe as his “legal ward.” He was also convicted at that time of fondling himself in the presence of two Dutch women at a public swimming pool.

So what’s the latest? Rev. Leo Godzich, associate pastor at Phoenix First Assembly of God and one of the leaders of the Dream Center has said they are “surprised” to hear that Haggard will be working there. Also suprised? Mike Ware, head of Haggard’s “restoration team.” He’ll be flying to Phoenix to get a face-to-face explanation tomorrow.

Oh boy. These closet cases sure are a handful.

Who Is In the Loo?

The Mayor of Ft. Lauderdale is concerned about a “health crisis” of sex in public bathrooms (eight arrests in two years within the county). And he brought in the parade of anti-gay crusaders to decry the evils of the “homosexual lifestyle”.

But just what is the lifestyle of those who are caught doing the nasty with total strangers in a public potty? Well, from another city, a profile is beginning to emerge. Perhaps it’s something like this:

• Married with three children (adopted) and nine grandchildren
• Member of US Senate since 1991, Idaho
• Board of Directors, NRA
  
• Voted for Federal Marriage Amendment
  
• Endorsed Idaho’s anti-gay marriage amendment
• Consistent conservative “values” voter
• Arrested June 11 for lewd conduct in the bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport

Ah, Senator Craig. You really should know by now that a sex scandal is all the more delicious when it screams of hypocrisy. And since people have been talking about this for years, you’d think you’d have the sense to be a bit discreet.

From Roll Call:

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could … see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

This isn’t Craig’s first brush with sex-scandal. There was some concern that the page scandal in 1982 would include him. He held a preemptive press conference to deny any involvement and quickly married a staffer. And in 2006, blogger Mike Rogers announced that he had witnesses of Craig’s tearoom activities.

Slow learner, that Craig.

In his defense, Craig says:

I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty.

Well I can’t disagree with that.

But Senator Craig, here’s my problem with you. If you have a penchant for hanky-panky with the fellas in the men’s room, you can hardly object when long-term, devoted, caring and committed same-sex couples want the same recognition and rights that you get from your beard, uh wife.

Update: Sen. Craig has just resigned his position as Senate co-chairman for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

Decorated Paratrooper Booted Under DADT

Via the SLDN’s Frontlines, the Stockton Record reports on Randy Miller, an army paratrooper who loved the armey, loved serving the country, and loved following in the footsteps of his late father, his mother and stepfather:

During the one year and 361 days that Miller served in the Army, he earned two Army Achievement Medals and a Combat Infantryman Badge. He voluntarily sought out the dangerous assignment of a paratrooper, making 22 jumps.

He was injured during one of his training jumps, although he didn’t realize it at the time. He went to Iraq with A Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne. After he returned to the US, an MRI showed that the tear in his knee had quadrupled. But his army career came to an abrupt end before it could be treated:

He said he was in a known gay bar minding his own business when a male soldier made him a sexual proposition, which he rejected. The rejected soldier reported Miller to a superior, and Miller was subsequently called in. He didn’t lie. He admitted he was gay.

Miller showed a great deal of integrity in refusing to lie. Unfortunately, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” leaves soldiers open to retaliation and blackmail. A lesser soldier might lie (or worse) to protect his career. Doesn’t anyone else think we leave our armed forces exposed when men and women of integrity are booted while others remain in the services?

Of Tweakers, Tax Cheats and Registered Sex Offenders

Last Thursday, BTB’s Daniel Gonzales told you about Ted Haggard’s fundraising letter, where he asked his supporters to help defray his living expenses as he takes up residence at a halfway house for ex-cons, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and “other broken people.”

According to Haggard’s letter, concerned supports can send their donations directly to the Haggard family in Phoenix. But if anyone needs a tax deduction, they can instead send a check to a Colorado Springs-based charity called “Families With A Mission,” who will then forward those funds to the Haggard family — minus ten percent for “administrative costs.”

As BTB’s Timothy Kincaid pointed out, “[I]f a non-profit is receiving funds which Haggard solicits to be used for his personal benefit and then providing a tax deduction, that would be tax fraud.”

It looks like tax fraud is just the beginning. Dan Savage of Seattle’s The Stranger did some digging and found some rather interesting information about Families With A Mission. The first problem is that the only “Families with a Mission” group registered with the Colorado Secretary of State — using the same mailing address as in Haggard’s fundraising letter — was dissolved last February.

A defrocked preacher being complicit in tax fraud with a non-existent organization. Can it possibly get any worse than that?

Well, yes. It turns out that the only name associated with the now-dissolved charity is a guy by the name of Paul Huberty, a registered sex offender with the state of Hawaii.

Savage discovered:

Court records in Hawaii show that Paul G. Huberty was found guilty of attempted sexual assault in January of 2004 (download ’em here, here, and here), and sentenced a year in jail with all but six months suspended. Huberty was also put on probation for five years, ordered to take polygraphs, not allowed to possess pornography, “not allowed on the property of Kona Christian Academy” and other schools, not allowed to posses firearms, forbidden from foster parenting or being the guardian of a minor, and ordered to pay restitution to a crime victims fund.

It looks like Pastor Ted’s becoming “completely heterosexual” hasn’t done much to improve his sense of judgment.

Ted’s Former Tweaker And Tax Fraud Adventure

First I’ll give you a tidbit on Mike Jones who was last spotted in Denver’s independent weekly, Westword, leading absolutely filthy bar trivia.

As for Ted, although he seems to have been cured of his homosexuality in three weeks, we haven’t heard much on the crystal meth front — which is why it’s comic that:

…the Haggard family plans to move into the Phoenix Dream Center to minister to ex-cons, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and “other broken people,” Haggard writes. “I identify.” [Source: CO Confidential]

It’s no secret ex-gay groups consider gay people to be “broken.”

However most interesting is a snippet of Ted’s fund raising letter which was reprinted in CO Confidential:

But for the next two years, we [my family] will need support. Between now and the end of the year, we have to find the people who want to help us transition into our future. So I am starting today to let friends like you know that we are raising money for support as we move into the Phoenix Dream Center.

[snip]

If any supporters need a tax deduction for their gift, they can mail it to Families With a Mission at P.O. Box 63125, Colorado Springs, CO 80962. The supporters would need to write their check to “Families With A Mission” and put a separate note on it that it is for the Haggard family, then Families With a Mission will mail us 90% of the funds for support and use 10% for administrative costs.

BoxTurtleBulletin author Timothy (who is an accountant by day) provides this insight about tax law:

[I]f a non-profit is receiving funds which Haggard solicits to be used for his personal benefit and then providing a tax deduction, that would be tax fraud.

There’s plenty more to the story on CO Confidential’s site including the fact his severance package includes pay through the end of 2007 and that the family still owns their $715,000 home in The Springs which has not even been put up for sale but frankly his method for providing tax-deductions was what caught our eye.

Marriage is One Vassal / One Vassal

One of the most often heard (and most ignorant) arguments against recognition of same-sex couples is that marriage has always been the same – one man and one woman – for 5,000 years.  Considering that the same people who assert this position also claim they read the Bible, I marvel that they don’t break out in giggles.

In 1994 the acclaimed history scholar John Boswell released Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe. Boswell centered his research on liturgy and offered evidence that during the middle ages certain segments of the Church recognized same-sex couples using ceremonies startlingly similar to wedding.

Now the Journal of Modern History (as reported by Science Daily) will present in its September issue historical evidence of legal documents used by two men to who promised to share “one bread, one wine, and one purse.”

The effects of entering into an affrèrement were profound. As [Allan A.] Tulchin explains: “All of their goods usually became the joint property of both parties, and each commonly became the other’s legal heir. They also frequently testified that they entered into the contract because of their affection for one another. As with all contracts, affrèrements had to be sworn before a notary and required witnesses, commonly the friends of the affrèrés.”

Tulchin acknowledges the difficulties of stating definitively that such civil unions were sexual in nature – just as they would be today.  Nonetheless, recognition of same-sex affection and devotion in a period before our own should hardly shock us.  I doubt my grandmother’s bachelor uncles would be all that surprised.

Big Girl You Are Not So Beautiful

American Idol contestant Mandisa was voted off the show following concerns that she was anti-gay and supported ex-gay ministries. The bruhaha came after she announced on the show that if you want to be free, God’s bigger than your lifestyle and listed as her personal idol a woman who advocates reorientation therapy. Mandisa, it seems, hadn’t noticed that large soulful black women have a built-in fan base – and it isn’t 13 year old girls.

Now, in an interview with Beliefnet.com, Mandisa has some more thoughts on the subject:

You said in an interview in The Advocate that you didn’t think you’d feel comfortable performing in front of a homosexual group. A big part of your faith is interacting with people who don’t know the Lord. Do you think that, if you were to perform at something like that, that would be a way for you to continue your ministry?

It could be. And if the Lord asked me to do it, then I would. But I just think it’s one thing to sort of advocate homosexuality, and I think that if I were to perform at a gay event, that I would be doing that. And because I don’t advocate it, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with it.

I am a Christian singer, and I believe that there are principles that are laid out very clearly in the Bible about homosexuality. If a group wanted me to come out and had no problem with me, you know, talking about my faith and talking about the Bible and scriptures that are in it, then I would consider it.

But to be honest, I don’t believe that I would be asked to because I wouldn’t be singing songs that I did on “American Idol.” I would be singing Christian songs about Christian principles, and I don’t believe that they line up with the homosexual lifestyle. That’s why I said I wouldn’t feel comfortable with it. If the Lord called me to do it, I would do anything that he would call me to do.

It’s not quite the happy judge-nobody tale that she gave the Advocate. But I guess the Lord must have called her to be self-promoting and say what her audience wants to hear. I should probably thank Him that I won’t have to hear Mandisa shreiking at any gay pride events in the future.

Ft. Lauderdale Tourism to Mayor: It has to Stop

Mayor Jim Naugle has been on a campaign to demonize gay folk and make them unwelcome in his city.  His interview with Bill O’Reilly made that clear to anyone who still harbored doubts:

O’REILLY: All right. Now there is a large gay community in Fort Lauderdale and a large gay tourism industry there, as well. And the community — not all of them, but some of them have said that you’re just anti-gay, that you’re homophobic, that you don’t like them, you want them out. And your reply?

NAUGLE: Well, you know, the other problem that we have in our city is that we’re — we lead the nation with HIV who are in the classification of men having sex with men. And that’s something that I want to address, I want to stop, this activity that we have in public places.

Yes, his response to “are you homophobic” really was to start talking about HIV. Translation: “yep, I sure am homophobic.”

But gay people – and decent minded residents – are not without an ally. Nicki Grossman, who wrote to us to welcome us to the city, took the mayor to task:

“The damage has been done to the destination,” said Nikki Grossman with Broward County’s Visitor and Convention Bureau, “we need to get back to work fixing it. The rhetoric needs to stop and the anger, the mischaracterizations and the hurtful mean-spirited rhetoric has to stop.”

And Nicki wasn’t alone:

“I’m asking you to stop,” Oina Lee with Travel Host magazine told Naugle, “I’m really asking you to stop.”

Is he going to stop attacking the gay community, whipping up a storm about a bogus epidemic of public sex, or promoting the lies of homophobes? Not according to Naugle.

Naugle said he will not back off the comments and will be outspoken as long as public health is an issue in Fort Lauderdale.

So while I think the tourist board wants me in Ft. Lauderdale, and I appreciate their words of welcome, I hope the citizens of that fair city say, “enough is enough”, and find a way to rid themselves of this self-promoting windbag and his circus of bigotry.

Good News from Hayward

One doesn’t expect progress in the fight for equality to come out of Hayward, CA.  When I lived in San Jose, this suburb located on the road to Oakland was best known as the closest BART stop.  But today good news is reported by the Oakland Tribune.

Resident Marvin Burrows figured that after 51 years together, his domestic partnership with Bill Swenor, a 38 year employee at an Oakland glass manufacturing plant, entitled him to pension benefits after his husband’s death.  But the Industrial Employers and Distributions Association, which handled the pension benefits denied his claim saying that federal law doesn’t recognize same-sex relationships.  So Bill’s union stepped in and, though it took two years, negotiated for the couple.  However, the labor representative noted that

“For surviving heterosexual spouses, marriage automatically ensures access to pension and retirement benefits. We applaud the ILWU for doing the right thing. We should not forget, however, that the vast majority of same-sex partners in California still do not have this protection.”

Congratulations, Mr. Burrows.  And thank you.

Gannon To Out Karl Rove?

Remember Jeff Guckert? He’s the former talon.com White House “reporter” who worked under the pseudonym of James Gannon and had access to the White House. We later learned that he had exceptionally slim reporting credentials, but he was a Washington, D.C. escort.

Guckert’s/Gannon’s former employer, talon.com, is now reporting that “Jim Gannon” (it looks like they got his name wrong) is about to release a tell-all book in which he outs Karl Rove, President Bush’s long-time advisor. This, of course, has all the credibility of any other Guckert/Gannon story — or a talon.com story. Like this one:

Soon-to-be-ex Bush advisor Karl Rove denied internet rumors that his adoptive father owned several Pierce-Arrows from the gay 90s.

Pierce-Arrow didn’t manufacture cars until 1901, although they did produce bicycles before then. But then, maybe talon.com is now the new Onion.

Update: Did you think I was off the mark in comparing talon.com to the Onion? Think again (scroll down to “Side Dish”). And if you still have doubts, look at this.

Dan’s First Trip To WeHo – Up In Flames

This isn’t big news outside So Cal but Mickey’s, one of WeHo’s more prominant clubs burned down yesterday. I never particularly liked it but it did hold a special place in my heart because it was the first “gay place” my first boyfriend took me out to.

Oh and last year’s Pride float for Mickey’s?

Ft. Lauderdale’s Convention and Visitors Bureau Wants You

In response to our observations about Mayor Jim Naugle’s extravant non-welcome, Nicki Grossman, the President of The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, has written to invite us to visit their beautiful city.

Thank you, Nicki, for that gracious reassurance.  While I am still waiting to see the response from the rest of the city, your welcome goes a long way towards correcting my impressions of the welcome I would receive.

Did You Really Mean It, Alan Chambers?

In September of last year, Alan Chambers was the principle author (with four other Exodus employees) of a book titled God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door.  On page 115, Mike Goeke offered the following advice:

Stand up for gay people. The church and conservative Christianity hasn’t been a safe, welcoming place for homosexuals. Oftentimes pastors and youth leaders make insensitive remarks about homosexuality or gay people. These remarks can be devastating. When you’re a witness to unkind words, or a judgmental attitude, or hate, stand up for gay people. Boldly and graciously confront injustice and hatred. Jesus always stood up for the sinner, and we should as well.

Which brings me to my as-of-yet-unanswered question: Why are Scott Davis, Mike Ensley, and Alan Chambers all going to an anti-gay rally next month with some of those who have been the most guilty of unkind words, judgmental attitudes and hate.  I cannot think of better illustrations of people who embody injustice and hatred towards gay people.

If you can’t “stand up” to these people, Alan, then just who were you talking about?  Why are you going?

I’m still waiting for an answer.