Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Read the full text of President Obama's State of the Union address
In his fifth prime-time State of the Union address, President Obama will seek to restore public confidence and trust in his presidency after a dispiriting year, pledging to use his White House authority with new force to advance an agenda that Congress has largely failed to support, according to prepared text of Obama's remarks released by the White House.
4 Shot, 12 Year-Old Boy Critically Injured in North Carolina Church Shooting
4 Shot, 12 Year-Old Boy Critically Injured in North Carolina Church Shooting
by Sky Palma
The search for a man who sprayed a church playground with gunfire this past Monday is underway in North Carolina. According to reports, four youths were struck, with one 12 year-old boy being gravely wounded.
The
shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m. Monday at Word Tabernacle
Church, as about two dozen neighborhood teens played basketball on
courts behind the sanctuary.
The
Rev. James Gailliard was in his office when he heard what he said to be
more than 15 gunshots. When he ran outside, he saw that among those hit
was 12-year-old Nyreek Horne, who was reportedly shot in the head.
"In
our community, we do hear gunshots from time to time. But what was
different this time was that it was so close and it was so many,"
Gailliard said. "I held him in my arms until the paramedics got there.
He was shot in the eye and the bullet went out the back of his brain. He
was struggling to breathe, but he was fighting."
Three males, ages 13, 17 and 19 were treated for their injuries and released. Horne remains hospitalized in critical condition.
According
to witnesses, the shooter ran away and was seen getting into a small,
light-colored SUV, although details on the suspect’s appearance were
vague.
Police
said it is too early to know whether the shooting was gang-related, but
Gailliard said there is a widespread suspicion in the community that
Monday's shooting was in retaliation for a recent drive-by killing.
According to the preacher, those involved are from different
neighborhoods engaged in competition for turf.
"Unfortunately,
in my time here I have funeralized a lot of young African-American
males who died in violent situations," the preacher said. "We put the
basketball goals up and took the fence down specifically so the
community could just walk on the premises and have a safe place to play.
That trust has been violated."
Fractured GOP Planning Unprecedented FIVE Separate Responses to SOTU Address
Fractured GOP Planning Unprecedented FIVE Separate Responses to SOTU Address
by Nick Goroff
The
fractures and infighting between various factions of the GOP will be on
full display to the public tonight in each of the five Republican
response speeches, scheduled around President Obama's State of The Union
Address. Senator Cruz will speak prior to the President's speech, in
what MSNBC is calling a "pre-buttal," with Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers giving the official Republican response after the address.
In
addition to these, Representative lleana Ros-Lehtinen will deliver the
party's Spanish language response, Senator Mike Lee will offer up the
official Tea Party line and Senator Rand Paul will simply be giving his
own address, where many a drinking game is expected to center on the
words "free market."
This diversified and generally scattered rebuttal strategy is but the latest embarrassment in what is an often comical, ongoing civil war
within the ranks of the conservative movement. With upstarts from all
factions, ranging from the generally mindless reactionary tea party, to
the decades long libertarian insurgency up through the ranks of the
religious right and Republican establishment, all jockeying for the
ideological (and personal) spotlight reflected from the President's
address, many are seeing this as the most blatant example of the GOP's
complete absence of leadership.
And
yet beyond the topical, inane aspect to having a Republican panel each
delivering their own special variety of conservative responses, the
matter of the utter politicizing of what is meant to be a stately,
national event, experiences by way of this circus a further denigration
of a public institution. In 2009, Republican Joe Wilson stunned the
nation when be broke decorum, yelling "you lie" as the President spoke.
In the following year, America endured its first dual response speeches
from conservatives in Congress, with both a Republican Party and Tea
Party address being issued in response as well.
The
eagerness with which some conservatives jump at the chance to offer a
rebuttal to the President, while not surprising, does not bode well as
the country begins the new year with memories of the gridlock and bitter
divisions of the last still fresh in its memories. Conservative and Tea
Party activists are already trotting out their regressive and
theocratic agendas and swearing by their own orthodoxies as the only
true measure of "what a true conservative is." With no effective jobs plans
coming out of the Republican house and the President now having to take
executive action to raise what minimum wages he can, topics such as
economic priorities and income inequality are expected to be the top topics of the night.
However
with the midterm elections rapidly approaching and the primary season
offering up a wide variety of orthodox fringe conservatives looking to
eat their own incumbents, the likelihood of compromise between the
parties seems sadly to be even more diminished than before.
h/t: MSNBC
Prediction: Here’s why Museveni will sign anti-gay bill
Prediction: Here’s why Museveni will sign anti-gay bill
by Colin Stewart
The
Rev. Canon Kapya Kaoma, an Episcopal priest and a project director at
Political Research Associates, wrote this commentary about the influence
of Russian homophobia on Africa and what to expect with regard to the
Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. A native of Zambia, Kaoma wrote the reports Colonizing African Values and Globalizing the Culture Wars.
Uganda President Museveni Will Likely Sign Anti-Homosexuality Law
While
international media praises Ugandan President Museveni for “blocking”
the Anti-Homosexuality bill—in reality he’s politically weak, trying to
appease both sides, and will likely sign the bill.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kapya John Kaoma (Photo courtesy of BU.edu)
My
tweet was a response to news stories claiming that Uganda President
Yoweri Museveni had blocked the “anti-gay bill,” which was passed in
Parliament on December 20, 2013 despite objections by Prime Minister
Amama Mbabazi over the lack of a quorum. Previously known as “Kill the
Gays” bill, the version passed in December had eliminated the death
penalty but maintained a punishment of life imprisonment for
“aggravated” homosexuality—namely, having sex with a person who is under
18 years old or disabled, or instances in which the “offender” is HIV positive .
The
penalty also holds for “serial offenders”— people who have been
previously convicted for the crime of homosexuality. As noted by the
Uganda Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the bill targets
the promotion of homosexual acts “ in public institutions
and other places through or with the support of any government entity
in Uganda or any other non-governmental organization inside or outside
the country.”
Image of Yoweri Museveni's letter (Click image to see the full letter)
As international leaders called on Museveni to veto the legislation, Yasiin Mugerwa of Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported
on January 17 that Museveni had blocked the bill. Mugerwa cited a
letter written by Museveni to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and other MPs from
December 28: “How can you pass law without the quorum of Parliament
after it has been pointed out? What sort of Parliament is this? How can
Parliament be the one to break the Constitution and the Law repeatedly?”
(see the full letter below)
International media outlets immediately echoed the Monitor
article, asserting that President Museveni had blocked or even vetoed
the bill—which was far from the truth—even after Pepe Julian Onziema,
Director of Programs at leading Ugandan LGBTQ advocacy organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) tweeted that the Monitor article was misleading.
Museveni
didn’t even officially receive the anti-gay bill until January 23,
2014, and has 30 days from then to respond. Museveni did not say
that he won’t sign the bill into law. Rather, he promised to take the
issue to his party’s caucus, which met on January 24, 2014. At the
meeting, the caucus wanted Museveni to sign the bill. But, according to the Daily Monitor, Museveni pushed back by demanding “scientific evidence” to establish whether or not gays are abnormal.
While some might consider this a promising development, there is still much reason for worry. I have met many scientists across the world who are homophobic and who would be likely to side with anti-gay activists if consulted (or paid). Moreover, the quorum issue has been overblown: Anti-LGBT MPs have many votes in Parliament, and the bill would still pass if re-introduced. In this regard, the quorum question is a dead end.
While some might consider this a promising development, there is still much reason for worry. I have met many scientists across the world who are homophobic and who would be likely to side with anti-gay activists if consulted (or paid). Moreover, the quorum issue has been overblown: Anti-LGBT MPs have many votes in Parliament, and the bill would still pass if re-introduced. In this regard, the quorum question is a dead end.
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni
Like
others concerned about human rights for all people, I read Museveni’s
letter with interest. But after reading it, I realized that Museveni is
hedging, clearly playing to both sides. As such, people can interpret
the letter according to their own views—as we are now clearly seeing.
For
example, Museveni’s letter advocated the criminalization of advocacy
(including organizations and individuals supportive of LGBT persons)
even as it sought to connect Uganda’s contemporary politics around LGBT rights
to traditional African culture. Museveni’s letter characterized gays as
abnormal and lesbians as sexually starved individuals (a statement that
could all too easy be manipulated to promote corrective rape), yet he
also pushed back against certain Christian conservative arguments, which
claim the Bible condemns same-sex relationships (i.e. “Adam and Eve,
not Adam and Steve”). Museveni called such arguments a “fallacy.”
Moreover, he cited African names for gays, transgender, and intersex
persons as proof of the existence of sexual minorities in Uganda long
before colonialism.
Ultimately,
Museveni’s letter sought to portray the President as defending the
traditional values of Uganda. In making this argument, he accepted the
existence of gays on African soil … with some major qualifications—they
are abnormal persons who should be treated accordingly.
At
least superficially, Museveni may appear more supportive of LGBT
persons. Yet his true position has changed little. He made a similar
argument during the installation of the new Archbishop of Anglican
Church of Uganda, Most. Rev.
Stanley Ntagali, archbishop of the Church of Uganda
, in Kampala, on December 17, 2012. Before Europeans reached Uganda, Museveni told the audience ,
“I knew of two kings and one chief who practiced homosexuality. They
were not persecuted, discriminated or killed. The chief actually did
very good work but homosexuality was not promoted. People would whisper
and ignore, the issue now is promotion as if it’s good, that we can’t
accept.” Museveni echoed this claim
in his letter but added that Uganda should stop those who “lure” young
people into homosexual acts: “We should legislate harshly against these
people with money, from within and without, who take advantage of the
desperation of our youth to lure them into these abnormal and deviant
behaviors.” Museveni went so far as to support a life sentence for those
who “[lure] normal youth” into homosexual acts—on this point, he wrote,
“I would agree with the Bill passed by Parliament.”
Even
as I recognize certain positive elements of Museveni’s letter, it is
critical to address his ongoing support for other aspects of the
anti-gay bill. Additionally, Museveni will certainly pander to religious
leaders, who are demanding that some form of the law be passed. Since
Museveni approves of a “life sentence” for those who “lure” young people
into homosexuality, the new bill, which will come from Parliament, will
likely crack down on advocacy efforts. The bill Museveni will end up
signing will also most likely outlaw same-sex marriages and adoption by
gay and lesbian couples. This modified legislation will be celebrated by
religious leaders in Uganda and put the country in line with Russia and
Nigeria, where similar laws have been passed with the pretense of
protecting the young people from “the promotion of homosexuality.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo courtesy of WIkimedia Commons)
These
transnational linkages exist—and the international community must wake
up and recognize the influence of Putin and Russia on efforts to
criminalize advocacy in African nations. Putin’s recent anti-LGBT
actions have provided African nations with momentum and increased
credibility as anti-gay laws move from the margins of global politics
into the mainstream. As Jeff Sharlet rightly noted , “Russian anti-gay laws give license to smaller nations to follow suit. It isn’t fringe anymore”
U.S. conservatives, who have exported (see here and here ) regressive, deeply homophobic ideologies across the globe, will celebrate the criminalization of advocacy as a victory. Scott Lively , Sharon Slater , Lou Engle ,
and many other U.S. conservatives have been pressing for similar bills
not only in the U.S., but also in Russia, Nigeria, Uganda, and other
countries.
Scott Lively (Photo courtesy of Towleroad.com)
They
have been asking nations to criminalize the promotion of homosexuality
and the “recruitment” of young people into homosexuality.
And
religious leaders are likely to line up in support for the outlawing of
advocacy—a measure they can market as relatively moderate and tame as
compared to the earlier iteration of the “Kill the Gays” bill. Such has
already been the case in Nigeria, where Cardinal John Onaiyekan, a
number of Roman Catholic bishops, and many evangelical leaders have
celebrated the passage of the Nigeria anti-gay bill. Yet we cannot
accept such attempts to re-brand. Silencing advocacy is inciting
genocide of our fellow human beings. Museveni’s letter is not a cause
for celebration.
For more information, see President Museveni Letter on Anti-Homosexuality Bill – December 2013.
This commentary also was published by Political Research Associates of Somerville, Mass., United States.
Related articles
- Report: Uganda president blocks anti-gay bill (76crimes.com)
- Uganda leader: If folks are born gay, I'll nix anti-gay bill (76crimes.com)
- Uganda president: I might not sign anti-gay bill (76crimes.com)
- Reports: Ugandan anti-gay bill not blocked, or was it? (76crimes.com)
- Even if Uganda's anti-gay bill dies, more worries ahead (76crimes.com)
- Signs of trouble for Uganda's anti-gay bill (76crimes.com)
- Uganda's Museveni Wants Scientific Proof Gays Are Born Not Created (lezgetreal.com)
US Congress secretly approves sending small arms to ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels
US Congress secretly approves sending small arms to ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels
by alethoRT | January 28, 2014
Congressional
lawmakers have quietly authorized sending small arms, an assorted
variety of rockets, and financial backing to so-called “moderate” rebels
fighting in Syria’s civil war, according to a new report.
American and European security officials told Reuters
that the US will provide anti-tank rockets, but nothing as deadly as
shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles (known as MANPADs), which can
be used to bring down military or civilian aircraft.
Legislators voted in closed-door meetings to fund the opposition forces through September 30,
the end of the US government’s fiscal year. The decision is an
about-face from congressional debates last year, in which the same
committees were reluctant to supply arms over concerns that American
weapons would wind up in the hands of radical Islamists fighting in the
region, the Al-Qaeda-backed Al-Nusra being the most well known.
Now,
though, those concerns appear to have lessened. Exactly when Congress
approved the funding is not known, yet the sources speculated that it
was signed in a classified section of a defense appropriations bill that
was approved in December.
“The
Syrian war is a stalemate,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and
current foreign policy advisor to US President Obama with the Brookings
Institution. “The rebels lack the organization and weapons to defeat
Assad; the regime lacks to loyal manpower to suppress the rebellion.
Both sides’ external allies…are ready to supply enough money and arms to
fuel the stalemate for the foreseeable future.”
Despite
the uncertainty remaining around the conflict, Western officials have
asserted in recent weeks that “moderate” rebels have strengthened their
positions in the south of Syria and have begun excluding Al-Qaeda
sympathizers. Extremists are known to be in control of rebel forces in
the north and east, however.
US
and British officials temporarily suspended “non-lethal aid” (a
category that includes communications equipment and transportation
vehicles) in December, although officials now say they hope to resume
providing assistance to the Supreme Military Council (SMC), which
oversees rebel forces favored by the West.
“We hope to be able to resume assistance to the SMC shortly, pending security and logistics considerations,” one source told Reuters. “But we have no announcement at this time.”
News
of the funding comes as the Syrian government and the external
opposition in Geneva have reached an agreement that would see
humanitarian aid enter the besieged city of Homs, and would allow women
and children to leave its war-ravaged areas.
What
makes the deal dubious, however, is that it’s not yet clear how it will
be implemented on the ground. Currently, the Syrian government is
promising - voiced on Sunday
by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad - that women and children can
leave Homs safely. Another question is how rebels inside the city
besieged by the army will react.
"If
the armed terrorists in Homs allow women and children to leave the old
city of Homs, we will allow them every access. Not only that, we will
provide them with shelter, medicines and all that is needed,” he said,
as cited by Reuters. "We are ready to allow any humanitarian aid to enter into the city through the arrangements made with the UN."
US
State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said that an evacuation is not
a legitimate option because of how dire the need for aid is.
“We
firmly believe that the Syrian regime must approve the convoys to
deliver badly needed humanitarian assistance into the Old City of Homs
now,” Vasquez said. “The situation is desperate and the people are
starving.”
The
results of a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland - where government
officials sat across the negotiating table from representatives of the
opposition on Monday
- is so far unclear. Each side pledged its willingness to continue
discussions, though progress so far has been nearly nonexistent.
United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters after the meeting Monday that even though the talks “haven’t produced much,” another session was scheduled for Tuesday.
“Once
again, I tell you we never expected any miracle, there are no miracles
here,” he said in a news conference. “My expectation from this
conference is that the unjust war will stop. But I know this is not
going to happen today or tomorrow or next week.”
Gay sex made legal in Northern Cyprus and now all over Europe [now we need to change attitudes!]
Gay sex made legal in Northern Cyprus and now all over Europe
Europe joins North America and Australia as the only continents with no laws criminalizing gay sex
Northern Cyprus has decriminalized gay sex, 16 years after its southern state.
The move by Northern Cyprus lawmakers means Europe is now the third continent in the world with no laws criminalizing gay sex.
Jonathan Cooper, Chief Executive of the Human Dignity Trust, said in a statement: 'This is a historic day for gay people in Europe and a major victory for human rights, equality and the Human Dignity Trust.
'Our case before the European Court required the law to be changed. Nowhere in Europe now still criminalizes gay people and we are proud to say that we have played a significant role in bringing this shameful chapter in European history to an end.
'Laws against private, consenting homosexual acts between adults criminalize someone’s very identity and have no place in the modern world. These pernicious anti-gay laws, which protect no one and cause deep distress and harm to gay and lesbian people, still exist in 82 legal jurisdictions. But that is one fewer than yesterday, and this we must celebrate.'
Paulo Côrte-Real, co-chair of Europe’s International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) executive Board, said: ‘We welcome today’s vote and can finally call Europe a continent completely free from laws criminalising homosexuality. In 1981, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in its historic judgment in Dudgeon v UK case that such laws are in breach of the European Human Rights Convention and must be abolished.
'It took Europe 33 years to completely free the continent from these unjust and discriminatory laws.’
While the southern part of Cyprus decriminalized gay sex in 1998, Northern Cyprus previously punished violators with up to five years in prison. Same-sex relations between women were exempt from the law.
The southern part of the island is under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, while Northern Cyprus is currently separate and only recognized by Turkey, not by the rest of the international community.
In October 2013, the Republic of Cyprus took on discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The move by Northern Cyprus lawmakers means Europe is now the third continent in the world with no laws criminalizing gay sex.
Jonathan Cooper, Chief Executive of the Human Dignity Trust, said in a statement: 'This is a historic day for gay people in Europe and a major victory for human rights, equality and the Human Dignity Trust.
'Our case before the European Court required the law to be changed. Nowhere in Europe now still criminalizes gay people and we are proud to say that we have played a significant role in bringing this shameful chapter in European history to an end.
'Laws against private, consenting homosexual acts between adults criminalize someone’s very identity and have no place in the modern world. These pernicious anti-gay laws, which protect no one and cause deep distress and harm to gay and lesbian people, still exist in 82 legal jurisdictions. But that is one fewer than yesterday, and this we must celebrate.'
Paulo Côrte-Real, co-chair of Europe’s International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) executive Board, said: ‘We welcome today’s vote and can finally call Europe a continent completely free from laws criminalising homosexuality. In 1981, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in its historic judgment in Dudgeon v UK case that such laws are in breach of the European Human Rights Convention and must be abolished.
'It took Europe 33 years to completely free the continent from these unjust and discriminatory laws.’
While the southern part of Cyprus decriminalized gay sex in 1998, Northern Cyprus previously punished violators with up to five years in prison. Same-sex relations between women were exempt from the law.
The southern part of the island is under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, while Northern Cyprus is currently separate and only recognized by Turkey, not by the rest of the international community.
In October 2013, the Republic of Cyprus took on discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In and Out of the Closet as a Pastor
In and Out of the Closet as a Pastor
I quit.
Or at least I thought I had...
The letter I’d written to the bishop explained, in no uncertain terms, that I no longer wanted to continue as a pastor in a denomination that didn’t welcome all people and was keeping the closet door locked on its LGBT pastors.
It had been a long time coming, of course. I’d never been one to jump off a cliff without thinking about it first. Throughout my seminary training. I followed the rules. Through psychological evaluations and committee reviews. I followed the rules. In conversations, at conventions, in interviews and interrogations. I followed the rules. And in my service to three Orange County, Calif., congregations, I followed all the rules: Gay is OK ... Just remain celibate ... And for God’s sake, don’t tell us — we really don’t want to know. It was a life sentence of isolated, closeted misery. Yes, sir. No, ma’am. Got it, thanks.
The funny thing is, it didn’t feel much like a sentence. It felt like a calling. Arriving at the pastor’s desk felt like the culmination of some kind of plan — an almost magical intersection of gift and talent and joy and sorrow and, most of all, need. Standing in that pulpit, wearing that collar, loving those people, it just felt right — a kind of “right” I’d never really known.
And it was not a massive sacrifice for me, anyway. I think that to sacrifice something, you must have had it to begin with. I never really did. Being gay had always been a fleeting idea that churned in my gut like sour milk, spreading its poison, working its destruction. Sexuality and identity each had their own closet in my soul, their doors opening in dark isolation only out of necessity — and without a model (or an opportunity) in sight, that celibacy thing was nothing new to me. It was my status quo.
Ah, but then lately things had been changing. Sometimes those closet doors were left ajar, and I was beginning to see ... To experience a more unified “me.” And there was that “right” feeling again.
Hell, I was leaving anyway. What did it matter? The application to advance my education in social work was a done deal, and the going-away party platter was already ordered. “Thanks for your service.” Only the bishop would be the wiser. There would be no division, no argument, no battle, no sides.
So when the response to my letter was “Let’s have breakfast,” I wondered.
“You know...” he said.
I did know. Under the rug was not foreign geography to me. I could go back to school, play it from the margins, work under the radar, and maybe ... Maybe. After all, “things were changing.” I doubted that they would, frankly. But why burn the bridge? There was still hope, wasn’t there? It was an argument compelling enough to allow myself to be swept one more time.
And then it happened. Things changed. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in its 2009 churchwide assembly, changed the rules. I could be me, whoever that was, and so could scores of others.
I wonder, sometimes, though. Did I do it right? Could I have chosen another path? Could I have been bolder, more aggressive, more courageous? Of course. But as Ronny Cammareri exclaims in his classic Moonstruck line, “I ain’t no frickin’ monument to justice.”
I’m just me.
STEVE FIECHTER is an ordained pastor on the roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is currently working with PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) in a support program for homeless veterans. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Ben-Andy Hein.
January 28 2014 6:00 AM ET
Or at least I thought I had...
The letter I’d written to the bishop explained, in no uncertain terms, that I no longer wanted to continue as a pastor in a denomination that didn’t welcome all people and was keeping the closet door locked on its LGBT pastors.
It had been a long time coming, of course. I’d never been one to jump off a cliff without thinking about it first. Throughout my seminary training. I followed the rules. Through psychological evaluations and committee reviews. I followed the rules. In conversations, at conventions, in interviews and interrogations. I followed the rules. And in my service to three Orange County, Calif., congregations, I followed all the rules: Gay is OK ... Just remain celibate ... And for God’s sake, don’t tell us — we really don’t want to know. It was a life sentence of isolated, closeted misery. Yes, sir. No, ma’am. Got it, thanks.
The funny thing is, it didn’t feel much like a sentence. It felt like a calling. Arriving at the pastor’s desk felt like the culmination of some kind of plan — an almost magical intersection of gift and talent and joy and sorrow and, most of all, need. Standing in that pulpit, wearing that collar, loving those people, it just felt right — a kind of “right” I’d never really known.
And it was not a massive sacrifice for me, anyway. I think that to sacrifice something, you must have had it to begin with. I never really did. Being gay had always been a fleeting idea that churned in my gut like sour milk, spreading its poison, working its destruction. Sexuality and identity each had their own closet in my soul, their doors opening in dark isolation only out of necessity — and without a model (or an opportunity) in sight, that celibacy thing was nothing new to me. It was my status quo.
Ah, but then lately things had been changing. Sometimes those closet doors were left ajar, and I was beginning to see ... To experience a more unified “me.” And there was that “right” feeling again.
Hell, I was leaving anyway. What did it matter? The application to advance my education in social work was a done deal, and the going-away party platter was already ordered. “Thanks for your service.” Only the bishop would be the wiser. There would be no division, no argument, no battle, no sides.
So when the response to my letter was “Let’s have breakfast,” I wondered.
“You know...” he said.
I did know. Under the rug was not foreign geography to me. I could go back to school, play it from the margins, work under the radar, and maybe ... Maybe. After all, “things were changing.” I doubted that they would, frankly. But why burn the bridge? There was still hope, wasn’t there? It was an argument compelling enough to allow myself to be swept one more time.
And then it happened. Things changed. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in its 2009 churchwide assembly, changed the rules. I could be me, whoever that was, and so could scores of others.
I wonder, sometimes, though. Did I do it right? Could I have chosen another path? Could I have been bolder, more aggressive, more courageous? Of course. But as Ronny Cammareri exclaims in his classic Moonstruck line, “I ain’t no frickin’ monument to justice.”
I’m just me.
STEVE FIECHTER is an ordained pastor on the roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is currently working with PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) in a support program for homeless veterans. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Ben-Andy Hein.
Ivory Coast: Mob attacks gay rights group office
Ivory Coast: Mob attacks gay rights group office
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
’Deeply Religious’ Gloria Gaynor Has Go-Go Boys Removed At WeHo Appearance [lets call it "brainless twit"]
Aging disco diva Gloria Gaynor caused a bit of a stir this week, for allegedly delaying a performance in a West Hollywood gay club to clear the room of any go-go dancers and keep all shirtless men in the audience moved out of her line of sight.
Uganda: 2 arrested for watching ‘Sex and the City’
Uganda: 2 arrested for watching ‘Sex and the City’
by Colin Stewart
Update from Spectrum Uganda on the latest police harassment in Kampala:
Steven
Dhont (center), Kenyan friend (left) and their attorney Francis Onyango
(right) talk outside the Kiira Road police station (Photo courtesy of
ChimpReports.com)
Steven
Dhont, a Belgian national, and a Kenyan friend who had come for a short
weekend visit heard a knock at the door at 12 a.m. Sunday night [the
night of Jan. 26-27] as they were watching a movie while in indoor
boxers and vest. As Steven opened the door, he [found] armed policemen
from Ntinda police station who ordered him and the friend to immediately
get out the way. They were dressed.
They
quickly responded and the police removed the movie they were watching,
"Sex in the City" and shut the door behind them and told them to board
the van to the police station, without any word or letter of arrest.
While
at the Ntinda police station, the police recorded statements and
decided to transfer the duo to Kiira Road police station. ...
As
a way of gathering more evidence, the police decided to subject the duo
to a medical check to investigate if there was any anal penetration
done.
Today
28th January, the duo was paraded before the media houses pictured them
for publication which we anticipate today or other national news to
come up.
While
in the hospital, Steven declined a medical test, claiming lack of trust
from police, since his lawyer was not around, not even his embassy, and
the police recorded it as a sabotage of evidence and investigations.
On
arrival of the lawyer, Mr. Francis Onyango, the police CID [Criminal
Investigations Directorate] ordered an immediate search of Steven's
house in order to acquire more information that could help them in the
case.
That's the case as per this afternoon, but the lawyer and team from Spectrum Uganda Initiatives and SMUG [Sexual Minorities Uganda] are in negotiations with the police to get the case solved as soon as possible.
The Ugandan tabloid Chimp Reports
claimed that the men were a couple and reportedly were "caught in the
act by police detectives." It added, "The couple is expected in court
on Tuesday to answer charges of engaging in sexual acts which are
against the order of nature."
The O-blog-dee advocacy blog commented:
All said and done, no matter the outcome, by virtue of the police parade and how the Ugandan press reports so subjectively and judgmentally, these men’s lives are now forever ruined in Uganda.What makes this even worse is that given this behavior by authorities, no one is safe from witch hunts. This fate could befall anyone – as long as someone has a grudge or as long as a politician wants to oppress an opponent, this tirade against homosexuality will be the weapon of choice.
Related articles
- Ugandan Police arrest two men for watching "gay porn" (sebaspace.wordpress.com)
- Ugandan Police Persecute by Public Parading Men Accused of Being Gay (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
- Even if Uganda's anti-gay bill dies, more worries ahead (76crimes.com)
- Uganda police make arrest, then seek evidence (76crimes.com)
- Briton held over gay sex video to be deported from Uganda (theguardian.com)
- Ugandan faces death threats after partner deported over gay sex video (theguardian.com)
College football player comes out - tells coaches: 'I like dudes. I have a boyfriend'
College football player comes out - tells coaches: 'I like dudes. I have a boyfriend'
Conner Mertens, a kicker for Willamette University
in Oregon, is believed to be first active college football player in US
to come out
Photo: Outsports
Conner Mertens made some LGBTI history this week.
The place kicker for Willamette University in Oregon is believed to be the first active college football player in the US to come out publicly, according to Outsports.com.
'I'm bisexual,' Mertens told his coach. 'I like dudes. I have a boyfriend. And next week, I'm going to tell the world.'
Mertens did an interview with Outsports, the leading site for LGBTI sports news, and also tweeted a letter to his hometown of Kennewick, Washington.
'You are not alone. You do not need to come out but you do need to know that you do not have to go at this by yourself,' he wrote in the letter. 'The aloneness you're feeling is temporary and it will get better.'
He also wrote: 'I made the decision that if I could prevent one person from feeling that self-hatred, loneliness, desperation and a thousand other emotions that I felt, I would. I will be damned if I let anyone tell you that you are wrong or weird or not normal.'
The athlete tells Outsports that he was depressed growing up and felt alone.
'I had a smile on my face all the time as a kid, but I was dying on the inside,' he said. 'In my hometown, you have to fit in or you'll be exiled. If somebody had come out that I looked up to in the town, I would have been a lot happier.'
Head coach Glen Fowles has been supportive of Mertens' decision.
'Coach didn't blink an eye,' said the kicker who is a redshirt freshman. 'He talked about how they don't build football players at Willamette, they build men, and that he was proud that I could tell him this about myself.'
The coach tells Outsports: 'You never expect that conversation to happen. Typically when people do things like this, it's to their family and closest friends. Heaven forbid someone should try to do it while they're a competitive athlete. They just don't do that very often.'
'But Conner has friends here and he feels comfortable telling us, and I think that speaks well of our program. He feels safe and well-liked and comfortable around us.'
The place kicker for Willamette University in Oregon is believed to be the first active college football player in the US to come out publicly, according to Outsports.com.
'I'm bisexual,' Mertens told his coach. 'I like dudes. I have a boyfriend. And next week, I'm going to tell the world.'
Mertens did an interview with Outsports, the leading site for LGBTI sports news, and also tweeted a letter to his hometown of Kennewick, Washington.
'You are not alone. You do not need to come out but you do need to know that you do not have to go at this by yourself,' he wrote in the letter. 'The aloneness you're feeling is temporary and it will get better.'
He also wrote: 'I made the decision that if I could prevent one person from feeling that self-hatred, loneliness, desperation and a thousand other emotions that I felt, I would. I will be damned if I let anyone tell you that you are wrong or weird or not normal.'
The athlete tells Outsports that he was depressed growing up and felt alone.
'I had a smile on my face all the time as a kid, but I was dying on the inside,' he said. 'In my hometown, you have to fit in or you'll be exiled. If somebody had come out that I looked up to in the town, I would have been a lot happier.'
Head coach Glen Fowles has been supportive of Mertens' decision.
'Coach didn't blink an eye,' said the kicker who is a redshirt freshman. 'He talked about how they don't build football players at Willamette, they build men, and that he was proud that I could tell him this about myself.'
The coach tells Outsports: 'You never expect that conversation to happen. Typically when people do things like this, it's to their family and closest friends. Heaven forbid someone should try to do it while they're a competitive athlete. They just don't do that very often.'
'But Conner has friends here and he feels comfortable telling us, and I think that speaks well of our program. He feels safe and well-liked and comfortable around us.'
States Consider Returning To Old-Fashioned Executions [ie firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers]
States Consider Returning To Old-Fashioned Executions
AP Photo / Trent Nelson
But to some elected officials, the drug shortages and recent legal challenges are beginning to make lethal injection seem too vulnerable to complications.
"This isn't an attempt to time-warp back into the 1850s or the wild, wild West or anything like that," said Missouri state Rep. Rick Brattin, who this month proposed making firing squads an option for executions. "It's just that I foresee a problem, and I'm trying to come up with a solution that will be the most humane yet most economical for our state."
Brattin, a Republican, said questions about the injection drugs are sure to end up in court, delaying executions and forcing states to examine alternatives. It's not fair, he said, for relatives of murder victims to wait years, even decades, to see justice served while lawmakers and judges debate execution methods.
Like Brattin, a Wyoming lawmaker this month offered a bill allowing the firing squad. Missouri's attorney general and a state lawmaker have raised the notion of rebuilding the state's gas chamber. And a Virginia lawmaker wants to make electrocution an option if lethal-injection drugs aren't available.
If adopted, those measures could return states to the more harrowing imagery of previous decades, when inmates were hanged, electrocuted or shot to death by marksmen.
States began moving to lethal injection in the 1980s in the belief that powerful sedatives and heart-stopping drugs would replace the violent spectacles with a more clinical affair while limiting, if not eliminating, an inmate's pain.
The total number of U.S. Executions has declined in recent years — from a peak of 98 in 1999 to 39 last year. Some states have turned away from the death penalty entirely. Many have cases tied up in court. And those that carry on with executions find them increasingly difficult to conduct because of the scarcity of drugs and doubts about how well they work.
In recent years, European drug makers have stopped selling the lethal chemicals to prisons because they do not want their products used to kill.
At least two recent executions are also raising concerns about the drugs' effectiveness. Last week, Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die by injection, gasping repeatedly as he lay on a gurney with his mouth opening and closing. And on Jan. 9, Oklahoma inmate Michael Lee Wilson's final words were, "I feel my whole body burning."
Missouri threw out its three-drug lethal injection procedure after it could no longer obtain the drugs. State officials altered the method in 2012 to use propofol, which was found in the system of pop star Michael Jackson after he died of an overdose in 2009.
The anti-death penalty European Union threatened to impose export limits on propofol if it were used in an execution, jeopardizing the supply of a common anesthetic needed by hospitals across the nation. In October, Gov. Jay Nixon stayed the execution of serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin and ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to find a new drug.
Days later, the state announced it had switched to a form of pentobarbital made by a compounding pharmacy. Like other states, Missouri has refused to divulge where the drug comes from or who makes it.
Missouri has carried out two executions using pentobarbital — Franklin in November and Allen Nicklasson in December. Neither inmate showed outward signs of suffering, but the secrecy of the process resulted in a lawsuit and a legislative inquiry.
Michael Campbell, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said some lawmakers simply don't believe convicted murderers deserve any mercy.
"Many of these politicians are trying to tap into a more populist theme that those who do terrible things deserve to have terrible things happen to them," Campbell said.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., cautioned that there could be a backlash.
"These ideas would jeopardize the death penalty because, I think, the public reaction would be revulsion, at least from many quarters," Dieter said.
Some states already provide alternatives to lethal injection. Condemned prisoners may choose the electric chair in eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. An inmate named Robert Gleason Jr. Was the most recent to die by electrocution, in Virginia in January 2013.
Arizona, Missouri and Wyoming allow for gas-chamber executions. Missouri no longer has a gas chamber, but Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, and Missouri state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a Republican, last year suggested possibility rebuilding one. So far, there is no bill to do so.
Delaware, New Hampshire and Washington state still allow inmates to choose hanging. The last hanging in the U.S. was Billy Bailey in Delaware in 1996. Two prisoners in Washington state have chosen to be hanged since the 1990s — Westley Allan Dodd in 1993 and Charles Rodman Campbell in 1994.
Firing squads typically consisting of five sharpshooters with rifles, one of which is loaded with a blank so the shooters do not know for sure who fired the fatal bullet. They have been used mostly for military executions.
Since the end of the Civil War, there have been three civilian firing squad executions in the U.S., all in Utah. Gary Gilmore uttered his famous final words, "Let's do it" on Jan. 18, 1977, before his execution, which ended what amounted to a 17-year national moratorium on the death penalty. Convicted killers John Albert Taylor in 1996 and Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010 were also put to death by firing squad.
Utah is phasing out its use, but the firing squad remains an option there for inmates sentenced prior to May 3, 2004.
Oklahoma maintains the firing squad as an option, but only if lethal injection and electrocution are deemed unconstitutional.
In Wyoming, Republican state Sen. Bruce Burns said death by firing squad would be far less expensive than building a gas chamber. Wyoming has only one inmate on death row, 68-year-old convicted killer Dale Wayne Eaton. The state has not executed anyone in 22 years.
Jackson Miller, a Republican in the Virginia House of Delegates, is sponsoring a bill that would allow for electrocution if lethal injection drugs are not available.
Miller said he would prefer that the state have easy access to the drugs needed for lethal injections. "But I also believe that the process of the justice system needs to be fulfilled."
Neo-Nazi Torturer Of LGBT Youth, Maxim Martsinkevich, Now In Custody In Russia
Neo-Nazi Torturer Of LGBT Youth, Maxim Martsinkevich, Now In Custody In Russia
Nigel Campbell | January 27, 2014
We reported last week that Maxim Martsinkevich, the leader of the Russian anti-gay Neo-Nazi group Occupy Pedophilia who lured and tortured LGBT teens in Russia, had been arrested in Cuba.
As of today, he's in custody in Russia following deportation by Cuban authorities.
A spokesperson for the Russian Federal Security services told LGBTQ Nation that Maxim Sergeyevich Martsinkevich, also known by his street nickname “Tesak” (or, the “Cleaver”) arrived at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo Airport after a direct flight from Havana, and was immediately detained by Russian law enforcement.
....Martsinkevich faces a sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison if convicted at trial.
He is being held on charges of committing a crime under Art. 282 of the Russian Criminal Code – incitement of hatred or enmity and human dignity with violence – in connection with videos that his anti-gay Russian group “Occupy Pedophilia” had posted online.
Three to five years seems very light considering the damage he's done.
(
"California Rep. Darrell Issa Is The Richest AND Most Corrupt Member Of Congress"
California Rep. Darrell Issa Is The Richest AND Most Corrupt Member Of Congress
'We would like the drug abusing Justin Bieber deported' [as is done with every criminal]
'We would like the drug abusing Justin Bieber deported': Singer has 40,000 petitioners that want President Obama to kick him out of US
By Heidi Parker|
- Justin Bieber may have a lot of
'Beliebers' crying sympathy for the singer on social media sites after
his DUI arrest in Miami in Thursday.
It takes 100,000 petitions before President Obama will even think about addressing the petition.
+6
Some just don't Beliebe: Justin Bieber, seen
here during his 2013 concert tour, has 40,000 people asking the White
House to deport him back to Canada
It also states: 'He is not only threatening the safety of our people, but he is also a terrible influence on our nation’s youth.
'We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society.'
+6
Is he a Belieber?: President Obama has been asked to take notice of the petition
+6
They need 60,000 more signatures: The White House won't address a petition until they have at least 100,000 people signed up
There has been outrage against Bieber after being hit with not just a DUI, but also a resisting arrest charge as well as been cited for driving without a valid driver's license.
His license, issues out of George, had expired.
+6
+6
So much has changed in five years: The star in 2014 (left) and in 2009 (right)
The teen seemed like an even bigger party boy when he packed up his entourage, along with model Chantel Jeffries, and headed to Panama for fun in the sun.
He was spotted on Sunday parasailing with the beauty who is signed to Wilhelmina models.
Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, who he was last spotted with in early January, has been seen looking sad in LA.
RadarOnline also reported on Monday that Lil Za had been kicked out of the Believe singer's Calabasas, California mansion after he was arrested there in mid January.
The rapper was taken in after reportedly being caught with drugs after police raided the
+6
He needs a new couch to sleep on: Lil Za has been asked to leave the Baby singer's house
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