Tag: Gay Politics

Another Evangelical Preacher Is Forced Out of the Closet

Jon Ponder

Paul Barnes of Grace Chapel, a 2,100-member church in the Denver suburbs, resigned last week and came out to his congregation in a 32-minute videotaped message that was played during services yesterday:

“I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy,” Barnes said in the 32- minute video, which church leaders permitted The Denver Post to view. “… I can’t tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away.”

His wife, Char, cradled his hand.

Barnes’ resignation was prompted by an anonymous phone call to an associate pastor at the church. Barnes’ name had been mentioned, the caller said, as part of a campaign of “blowing the whistle” on closeted gay evangelicals.

Mary Cheney Is Pregnant

Jon Ponder

Just what the world needs — more Cheneys:

Mary Cheney, the vice president’s openly gay daughter, is pregnant. She and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, are “ecstatic” about the baby, due in late spring, said a source close to the couple.

It’s a baby boom for grandparents Dick and Lynne Cheney: Their older daughter, Elizabeth, went on leave as deputy assistant secretary of state before having her fifth child in July. “The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth grandchild,” spokesman Lea Anne McBride said last night.

Mary is 37 years old, and works for AOL. (Which speaks volumes.) She and Poe live in Virginia, a state where members of her party successfully voted in a constitutional ban on same sex marriages last month.

Turns Out Mitt Romney Is Just Another Massachusetts Liberal

Jon Ponder
It’s one thing to be a homophobe out of ignorance. It’s another to be a homophobe for political gain. In 2006, the former is inexcusable while the latter is despicable.

Republican outgoing Gov. Mitt Romney got himself elected in Blue State Massachusetts by portraying himself as a liberal Republican. Now that he’s running for president, he has done a complete reversal, trying to make his name synonymous with “homophobe.”

It’s one thing to be a homophobe out of ignorance. It’s another to be a homophobe for political gain. In 2006, the former is inexcusable while the latter is despicable.

Anyone thinking of supporting Romney’s bid for president because of his socially conservative views on gay people should know a few things about the governor. When Romney ran against Ted Kennedy for the Senate in 1994, he wrote a letter to the Mass Log Cabin Club in which he pledged: “[A]s we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent.” During the same campaign, when he was accused of having once described gay people as “perverse” during a religious meeting of Mormons, Romney’s campaign issued a forceful statement decrying the accusation as false and reiterating that Romney respected “all people regardless of their race, creed, or sexual orientation.”

[…]

Bad Week for Mark Foley: Dad Dies, Criminal Probe Announced

Trish

Paging Mark Foley. At last Jon has an answer to his question. He’s been wondering about the whereabouts of the missing former Florida Congressman, who checked into rehab and hasn’t been heard from since.

Turns out his dad died of cancer on Tuesday and Mark did show up for the funeral.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has opened an investigation into whether former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley broke any criminal laws with sexually explicit computer messages he sent to former male teenage pages

Edward J. Foley Jr., a former teacher and high school principal and father of former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, died Tuesday.

Mr. Foley, of Ocean Ridge, had been ill with cancer since 2003. His daughter, Donna Foley Winterson, notified The Palm Beach Post of her father’s death.

…A proud Irish-American who loved to tell stories, preside over family gatherings and play golf, Mr. Foley believed in his family, his church and his community.

Mr. Foley, a native of Newton, Mass., moved to Florida in 1958 after living briefly in Arizona. He came here with his wife, Frances, whom he met in Catholic school. They were married 62 years.

But that wasn’t the only bad news for Mark this week.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has opened an investigation into whether former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley broke any criminal laws with sexually explicit computer messages he sent to former male teenage pages on Capitol Hill.

“It was a preliminary inquiry before, but we found the basis to open up a criminal investigation,” Kristen Perezluha, an FDLE spokeswoman, said Thursday. She did not elaborate. The FBI is also investigating Foley.

…Meanwhile, Foley has returned to Florida to attend his father’s funeral after spending more than a month in an Arizona rehabilitation facility for alcoholism, said his attorney, David Roth.

Wonder what the deal with Arizona is? His parents lived there and he went there for rehab. And let’s not forget John McCain.

Anyway, Mark’s been on a bit of a downward cycle lately. If you didn’t really mind people who can’t accept themselves and try to deny who they are and demonize others just like them, you’d almost feel sorry for him. Or not.

Oklahoma’s Draconian Anti-Gay Adoption Law Is Under Review

Jon Ponder
This is a window into the American Taliban mindset: Punishing gay people is worth the effort at any cost, even if it means taking children away from their parents and returning them to orphanages.

A federal appeals court in Colorado is reviewing a two-year-old Oklahoma law that not only prohibits gays from adopting children in the state but invalidates adoptions by gays in other states if the families were to move to Oklahoma:

In May a lower court struck down the law in a 31 page ruling that was highly critical of the state legislature for passing the measure.

The Adoption Invalidation Law, hastily passed at the end of the 2004 Oklahoma legislative session, had said that Oklahoma “shall not recognize an adoption by more than one individual of the same sex from any other state or foreign jurisdiction.”

Lambda Legal, representing same-sex couples took the state to court, calling the law so extreme it had the potential to make children adopted by same-sex couples in other states legal orphans when the families are in Oklahoma.

“The very fact that the adoptions have occurred is evidence that a court of law has found the adoptions to be in the best interests of the children,” wrote U. S. District Judge Robin Cauthron.

“To now attempt to strip a child of one of his or her parents seems far removed from the statute’s purpose and therefore from [the state’s] asserted important government objective.”

This is a window into the American Taliban mindset: Punishing gay people is worth the effort at any cost, even if it means taking children away from their parents and returning them to orphanages.

2006 Terry Dolan Award Seeks to Name Biggest Gay Republican Hypocrite

Jon Ponder

History will remember 2006 as the Year of the Gay Republican.From Mark Foley to Ken Mehlman, from Pastor Ted Haggard to over 200 gay Capitol Hill staffers on “The List,” the sheer volume of queers in Republican corridors of power has surprised even the most cynical observers of the Gay Old Party.

Of course, self-hating gays are not new to Republican politics. During the McCarthy era, homo-miscreant Roy Cohn helped persecute gays working for the government. Even the eponymous Sen. Joe McCarthy was allegedly gay.

But the most extravagant example of a Republican self-hating homo may well have been the Reagan era “New Republican” operative, Terry Dolan. A rabid homophobe by day, at night, Mr. Dolan allegedly prowled D.C. leather bars for what was then known as “rough trade.” (See bio in sidebar.)

In the craven spirit of the late Mr. Dolan, we propose the awarding of the 2006 Terry Dolan Award to (dis)honor the gay Republican who has done the most to harm to the cause of gay civil rights in the past few years.

To wit, a partial list of nominees:

[…]

Rosie O’Donnell on Radical Christianity and Islam: Irreverent Yet Irrelevant

Buck Banks

Rosie’s thorny: On Sept. 12, on the TV show “The View” that she co-hosts with Barbara Walters and a couple other female talking heads, Rosie O’Donnell, blathering on about religion, dropped this little off-the-cuffer: “Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States.”

‘Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like the United States.’
— Rosie O’Donnell

Somehow I missed the ensuing ruckus raised by the Christian Right, the calls for ABC to fire O’Donnell, etc. Maybe that’s because “The View” is just not on my radar — or apparently many other folks’ radar, either.

So why bring this up two months later? Well, to fill the post-election vacuum, of course. But more importantly because our old pal George Barna has just released the results of another one of his Jesus surveys that sought to measure the depth of cultural penetration and height of dudgeon achieved by O’Donnell’s comment (which I agree wholeheartedly with, by the way). Here’s some of the results from the Barna Group survey:

Despite the media hailstorm stirred by her controversial remark, only one out of every six American adults (17 percent) was aware of her words. The group most likely to know of her verbal assault was evangelical Christians, who were twice as likely as other Americans (36 percent) to have heard about her statement. Even within the Christian community, other segments remained largely ignorant of the slur. For instance, only 17 percent of all other adults who consider themselves to be Christian but are not evangelicals knew of her words, similar to the statistics among Catholics (18 percent) and Protestants (20 percent). The episode failed to generate much buzz among non-Christian adults: only 10 percent of those who associate with a non-Christian faith, and 14 percent of atheists and agnostics were aware of her remarks. The outburst was no better known within the gay and lesbian community, of which Ms. O’Donnell is an outspoken champion: only 14 percent of adults who associate with that lifestyle were aware of her comments.

Most Americans disagreed with Ms. O’Donnell’s point of view. In total, just 10 percent strongly agreed with her statement and 18 percent agreed somewhat, while 15 percent disagreed somewhat and 48 percent disagreed strongly. In total, then, about one out of every four Americans (28 percent) agreed to some extent, while more than twice as many — two out of every three (63 percent) — disagreed.

Levels of disagreement varied substantially across faith groups. For instance, eight out of 10 evangelicals strongly disagreed compared to only one out of three non-Christians. Strong disagreement was measured among half of all Catholics (47 percent), nearly six out of 10 Protestants (57 percent), and eight out of 10 Revolutionary Christians (79 percent).

The question is, however, not whether one agrees with Rosie, but whether her assessment was correct. Of course evangelicals and “Revolutionary Christians” (whatever those are) came out 8-to-1 against, but that’s to be expected — because they are the problem. There are indeed parallels between what the Imams and the Christian Right are each trying to accomplish:

1) Creation of a theocracy where there is no distinction between church and state — a basic tenet of Islam and a goal of the Bible-thumpers.
2) Creation of a homogenous congregation that shares a monolithic belief system — for example, today Muslims who convert to Christianity can be jailed and executed in Afghanistan, and Lord only knows what Revolutionary Christians would do if they took over the government, but I give you the Protestant Reformation, for starters.
3) Conquest and conversion — both the radical Islamists and the radical Christists want to convert the whole world to their peculiar tenets, indeed, they believe that it is an essential facet of their faith to do so.
4) Eradication of homosexuality (except for preachers and pashas).

So, in a way, Rosie actually was right. Like some kind of idiot savant she managed to piece together a coherent sentence that made a very large point in a very small soundbite. Problem is, nobody much heard it or cared beyond the few heads of Christian groups who saw an opportunity to get their names in the media by condemning O’Donnell’s statement and calling for her to be fired (at the stake, perhaps?).

It’s clear that not that many people watch “The View,” and virtually nobody really cares about what Rosie O’Donnell thinks as a culture commentator. Unfortunately, the truth behind her words received as little consideration as their source, and that might turn out to be a very dangerous thing down the road, when the Christian equivalent of the Taliban takes over the United States.

Then we can hail Rosie as a prophet, a martyred lesbian prophet no doubt, but a true seer nonetheless.

First Mehlman, Next Karl Rove?

Trish

Somebody measure the drapes in Karl Rove’s office. It didn’t take long for Georgie’s vexation at his party’s sorry showing in the midterm elections to manifest. First Rumsfeld was gone and now Ken Mehlman has gotten the ax. Yes, the Republican National Committee’s chair is outta there at the end of the year.

No one’s pointing a finger at the guy who was really in charge of all the losing strategies. Yes, I’m talking about Turd Blossom himself, Karl Rove

And while rumors abound about both men — Mehlman being pretty much known to be gay and Rumsfeld’s head supposedly on the chopping block for at least a week before his “resignation” was “accepted” — no one’s pointing a finger at the guy who was really in charge of all the losing strategies. Yes, I’m talking about Turd Blossom himself, Karl Rove.

Karl has shown the pressure lately. After Florida Governor candidate, now Governor-elect, Charlie Crist failed to attend a rally with the President in his honor just before the election, Karl was feeling it. One moment of Rovian pique was even immortalized by Crist’s campaign workers at a victory party.

…dozens of campaign staff then arrived wearing black T-shirts that said “Ask George LeMieux.”

…Asked [earlier] by CNN why Crist wouldn’t appear with the president at an election eve rally in Pensacola, a miffed Rove snapped that the reporter should ask George LeMieux.

LeMieux was Crist’s campaign manager.

Mehlman was hand-picked and cultivated by Rove, so his failure and subsequent exit can’t be good news for Karl.

A protege of Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, Mehlman became RNC chairman after managing Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004, when the president won re-election and Republicans expanded their majorities in the House and the Senate…Before that campaign, he served as White House political director under Rove.

Bush’s comment to reporters post-election speaks volumes about his current feelings toward the man who more than likely took a fall for Bush in the Valerie Plame affair.

Bush also got in a dig at his trusted top political adviser, Karl Rove. Rove is widely credited with Bush’s presidential victories in 2000 and 2004 and GOP gains in the 2002 congressional elections. As recently as last week, Rove predicted Republicans would retain both House and Senate.

“I obviously was working harder in the campaign than he was,” said Bush…

Ha ha, funny. Unless you’re Karl Rove, and then there’s a big sweat stain spreading under both your arms. People contrast George with his little brother, Jeb, finding the elder sibling more affable, down to earth, etc. (Not me, of course, but people.) Jeb has always made it abundantly clear he’s a conniving, nasty, petulant asshole who will take you out if you cross him. But I think this trait, inherited from Mom’s side of the family, is present in all the offspring.

And Karl Rove should be putting his affairs in order.

Is George Bush Gay?

Jon Ponder

Victor Ashe

I’m not so sure President Bush is queer — and, believe me, we don’t want him on our team — but the Weazl has put together a rather convincing dossier:

President George W. Bush has sent Victor Ashe, the US Ambassador to Poland and a “special” friend since their cheerleader and cohabitation days at Yale University, “candy and flowers” via US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

And:

In what is unlikely to stem the controversy surrounding disgraced White House correspondent James Guckert [also known as Jeff Gannon, who worked as a prostitute under the name, “Bulldog’], the Secret Service has furnished logs of the writer’s access to the White House after requests by two Democratic congressmembers.

The documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House. Guckert made 202 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings.

I have to go on the record, however, to say that being a wimp is not a sign of gayness:

[The Memphis Flyer, in Tennessee,] noted the president’s lack of manliness in the 9/11 catastrophe. Bush was to stunned to react for about 9 minutes. Then he spent the rest of the day boring holes in the sky with Air Force One and hiding like a rabbit in a hole in the ground near Omaha, Nebraska.

It ain’t a walk in the park to know that half the world hates you, or to have a huge and powerful political party using your civil rights as a fundraising tool. It’s hard not to take it personally.

There’s more to it than learning not give a shit what the haters think. It takes guts to be gay. That’s why so many people stay in the closet.

Wouldn’t It Be Simpler to Drink a Shot?

Trish

Sometimes I see fellow editor Buck’s point about the emails from the Florida Democratic campaigns. This just in from governor’s candidate Jim Davis in regard to his debate tonight with Republican Charlie Crist:

Try playing this game, whether you’re attending a debate watch party, sitting around with your friends and family, or watching the debate by yourself at home. Grab a piece of paper and make a checkmark every time Charlie does one of the following:

* Each time Charlie calls for “more of the same,” “stay the course,” or any other reference to continuing the way things are going now
* Each time Charlie says “double the homestead exemption” – because it means Florida will have to wait four years for tax relief
* Each time Charlie mentions Jeb Bush
* Each time Charlie doesn’t answer the question (double it if Chris Matthews calls him on it)
* Each time Charlie gets visibly flustered or angry
* Each time Charlie expresses his love for Ronald Reagan
* Each time Charlie refers to himself as “the happy warrior”

At the end of the night, count all checkmarks and ask everyone to go online and contribute at least a dollar for each checkmark.

I think the chances of Charlie doing any of these things, now that he’s seen this email, are slim. If Davis really wanted to see Crist get “flustered or angry” he would have Matthews ask him why, as a gay man, he would be a Republican.