Romney Wastes the Court's Time

By now everyone has heard the news about the Massachusetts SJC refusing to force the legislators to vote on the gay marriage issue. As usual, Governor Willard "Did you hear the one about Massachusetts" Romney is spinning this as a victory because the legislature got a scolding:

Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Governor Mitt Romney, hailed the ruling as vindication for the plaintiffs even though the court dismissed the suit.

"We are very pleased that the court has confirmed once and for all that the Legislature has a constitutional duty to vote on the marriage amendment and that any failure to do so would be a violation of their oaths of office," Fehrnstrom said.

The story that no one is talking about is how the Governor and his band of merry men filed a frivolous lawsuit knowing full well that the SJC couldn't do anything. I guess he just loves wasting the justices time:

Fehrnstrom said that Romney and the other plaintiffs knew the lawsuit would be difficult because there was no legal mechanism to force the legislators to vote despite the Constitution.

But they just figured they would waste the taxpayers money and the Court's time on this stupid lawsuit. (Some of them are doing it to the federal court too)

Gays Can't Shoot Straight?

Sometimes you think you've seen it all, but then you read today's top story in the Boston Globe:

Military considers recruiting foreigners

I guess this means that gays and lesbians have now moved below illegal immigrants on the political totem pole of life. To think that the Pentagon is more willing to put non-Americans in the military than it's own citizens is absurd.

The Pentagon should propose removal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy before it starts recruiting non-Americans. No discussion ever goes on about how our troops are serving (with the allies decreasing daily but that's another story) alongside other nation's troops who allow gay and lesbian service people, and it hasn't been a problem.

Recruiting Gay and Lesbians will not solve the armed services recruitment crisis but it is a step in the right direction. There are countless LGBT Americans who would like to serve openly and proudly but are not allowed.

A MassResistance Watch History Moment:

Alan Turing, the man who is believed to be the one who broke the Nazi Enigma Code and also the father of artificial intelligence. Oh, yeah, Alan Turing was gay. He ended up taking his own life after being persecuted as a security risk because he was gay.

Merry Christmas!

so you don't have to look at Marie Parente anymore! (The people have voted)

Anti-Gay Legislator Wants Extra Padding

Another story out yesterday was about some state employees who wanted more money for their pensions:

Outgoing Milford state Rep. Marie Parente is among a number of prominent retired state officials who have quietly requested boosts in their state pensions.

The officials are making the move after former University of Massachusetts President William Bulger won a legal battle to increase his pension, the Globe reports in a front-page story today.

"I feel I earned my retirement," said Parente, a 26-year member of the House who is seeking a pension boost of about $8,000 to about $60,000.

Yeah Ms. Parente, you earned it, like when you were sitting with your family in the gallery during the last Constitutional Convention? And what did you earn this additional $8,000 for?

Parente said money she received for travel, office expenses, and the value of a State House parking space should be included in her pension, which would boost it by about $8,000 to an expected $60,000.

Wow, I never thought traveling from Milford was that expensive nor did I think that paying someone to park AFTER they left their job was standard practice. Marie, maybe the people of Massachusetts should vote on YOUR pension?

The Other Idiot In Worcester

With all the talk about the President of the Massachusetts Catholic Citizenship assaulting a defenseless woman everyone is overlooking the other speakers at the anti-gay rally. Because in addition to the physical assault by Larry Cirignano, it appears that one of the other anti-gay speakers is losing his memory:

As the final speaker of the afternoon, Mr. Flynn said same-sex marriage opponents had not wanted to take the matter into court, but were left with no other options when the Legislature voted to recess its Constitutional Convention last month rather than vote on whether to put the proposed amendment on the November 2008 ballot.

“My heavens,” he said of the vote to recess. “Folks, I have never heard or seen anything like this in the history of Massachusetts.”

Uh, Mr. Flynn, have you forgotten about when the voters got enough signatures to put a woman's right to choose in the Constitution in 1990 and people like you got the legislature to adjourn before taking a vote? I didn't think so, you were only the mayor of Boston at the time. Maybe those years are a blur?

BTW, Mr. Mayor do you approve of Larry Cirignano's physical assault on a woman?

Anti-Gay Marriage Male Attacks Marriage Equality Female

You knew it would come to this. Larry Cirignano, the leader of the Catholic Citizenship group physically attacked a woman who was carrying a sign asking for no discrimination in the Constitution yesterday in Worcester. The Worcester Telegram reports:

Sarah Loy, 27, of Worcester was holding a sign in defense of same-sex marriage amid a sea of green “Let the People Vote” signs when Larry Cirignano of Canton, who heads the Catholic Citizenship group, ran into the crowd, grabbed her by both shoulders and told her, “You need to get out. You need to get out of here right now.” Mr. Cirignano then pushed her to the ground, her head slamming against the concrete sidewalk.

And then in true fashion, he continued acting like the true coward he is:

As Ms. Loy lay motionless on the ground, crying, Mr. Cirignano ran back behind the lectern, where moments before he had opened the afternoon rally by leading a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

These people hate gay people and their supporters so much that they resort to violence. If you want to see a picture of the guy that attacked a woman go here. I bet the Cardinal is so proud.

Update: Here is the information for the Catholic Citizenship. I think we need to ask them if this is how Larry treats all women.

Catholic Citizenship

198 Tremont Street Suite 450

Boston, MA 02116-4705

Tel. 617-755-7668 Fax 617-507-8263

Email:info@catholicvote.org

Tremont Temple Baptist Church Has Been a Place for Hate

I had read over at Queer Today about an event that Governor-elect Patrick is having for high school students on January 4th. Unbelievably, the event was being held at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church, the same Tremont Temple that held the homophobic Liberty Sunday and Love Won Out Events.

I was so astounded by this news that I called the Patrick/Murray campaign headquarters and YES, they were planning to hold it there. However, the person organizing the event called me back to say that they were not aware of the past issues at the Tremont Temple and had gotten another venue for the Youth event.

Thanks to Queer Today for alerting us (and them) of this action.

Our Northern Neighbors Are Moving On!

In Canada the House of Commons voted down the "traditional" meaning of marriage by a margin of 175 to 123.

The widely-anticipated result should be the final word on the issue, with both the Conservative and Liberal parties allowing a free vote. The Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party voted against the motion.

So you would think that is the end of it, but no. There, just like here, the anti-gay activists will not let it die.

Memo to Massachusetts Legislators: while Kris Mineau and his ilk are now saying that it's about the "constitutional process" and not gay marriage, don't believe them. They won't stop trying even if it goes to the voters and they vote it down. These anti-gay activists will not be happy until they get their way.

So back to Canada:

But opponents of gay and lesbian marriage said on Wednesday that rejection of the motion would not end their bid to have the legislation overturned.

“Oh no, absolutely not,” Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, told the Globe when asked whether his group will abandon the fight if the motion was defeated.

“We are going to continue to lobby members of Parliament, to raise up grassroots and to engage in the democratic process.”

I guess their oblivious to the fact that the majority of people in Canada are fine with same sex marriage and are ready to move on, just like Massachusetts.

Ooh, I can't wait for the next installment of Massresistance: The Radio Show! Maybe they'll have on Out of Touch ordained Presbyterian minister Tristian Emmanuel from Canada. He's always good for a hoot because Amy and Brian are always trying to equate what happens in Canada with what is going to happen here so I'm sure he'll have some good stories to tell. Now, I'm still waiting for universal Health care and a good economy.

The Lil' Bastard

Yep, Mary Cheney, daughter of the Vice President is pregnant and since she can't get married her child will be a bastard. The baby is expected in the spring and the Vice President and his wife are:

...looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth grandchild

While Mary considers herself married to Heather, she is sure to have numerous battles in her home state since Virgina just passed the worse anti-gay marriage amendment possible. The amendment bans recognition of any type of relationship and will most likely limit Heather from any kind of parental responsibility.
As AmericanBlog reports:

Virginia had already set up new Jim Crow laws targeting gays two years ago. Those laws may vitiate any legal agreement between the two, period, about anything. The law ensures that Mary's partner has no legal rights whatsoever in their child, or in what happens to Mary (or vice versa), such as if one partner has to go the hospital, the other can't visit. The law may even nullify any wills that Mary and Heather write regarding each other, and it may make it impossible for gay people to go to court to resolve any difference about anything - the courts can't recognize gay unions, so they can't make any decisions that would imply recognition (custody, hospital visitation, wills, etc.) It's beyond ironic that Virginia's new law, one of the most hateful, bigoted laws on the books, is now targeting the vice president's own daughter and soon-to-be new grandchild.

Mary, you and Heather can always move to Massachusetts where we treat all loving couples the same.

A Challenge Grant for Challenged People

If you happen to mosey over to Massresistance aka Article 8 aka Parent's Right Coalition aka etc... you'll see that they're in fundraising mode again:

=== 3. MassResistance offered $30,000 matching challenge grant - can we do it by Dec. 31? ===
One of the attendees of the MassResistance banquet has offered us a $30,000 matching grant! To get the money, we must match it with individual donations of $100 or more!The good news is that we're now over a third of the way there!! Yes, just by word of mouth we've raised $10,295 toward that goal! But we can't let up. (And we really should raise even more than that - a lot more!)

Please help us reach this goal!! It's people like you who keep this going.

www.parentsrightscoalition.org/massresistance_donations.htm

I happened to get deja vu when I was reading it and then I looked back into my posts and found this from last year:

I guess the "anonymous" donor couldn't ante up the $50,000 this year. They also seemed to have lowered the amount of the donations that will contribute to the "Challenge Grant" from $250 to $100. I guess their supporters are feeling the pinch.



Some people are also wondering if there even is an "anonymous" donor since Massresistance/Article 8 never names him or her. Don't you think they would want to be recognized for all the "good work" they're doing?


BTW, you don't hear much talk from them about "Removing the Judges" anymore. They only have less than one month left for their boy Emile Goguen to reprise his ridiculous claim.


Could that be the reason they changed their name from Article 8? I guess they were just losers from the beginning.

Willard Romney Sat On A Wall...

There is an excellent article in the Boston Globe today about our absentee governor and his use of illegal immigrants to do his lawn, the company also does his son Taggart's lawn about a mile away. When the absentee governor was asked in Florida about it, what do you think his response was? Was is:

• I have no dealings with companies that hire illegal immigrants?
• The people I hire are all documented.
• Which lawn?
• My wife takes care of that.
• Oh, the lawn company is good church abiding people, I know, because he goes to my church.

No, his response was:

Aw, geez

What? Governor, you're walking away, you didn't answer the question! (Must be getting coached on how to answer questions by Tom Delay's spokesman already) Well several hours later his spokesman, the guy who Romney was trying to give a state pension to did:

Several hours later, his spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, provided the Globe with a statement saying that the governor knows nothing about the immigration status of the landscaping workers, and that his dealings were with Saenz, who is a legal immigrant from Colombia.

Fehrnstrom said that Romney would look into the matter further.

Ah yes, Willard "Did you here the one about Massachusetts" Romney would look into the matter further. Do you think he will open up the State House gates to hold a press conference on the matter? Do you think he'll call his living props Kris Mineau and Ray Flynn to stand at his side?

The Absentee Governor of Massachusetts got caught and walked away. However, the article does say that he has nice lawn though.

Buenos Dias!

South Africa Has Same Sex Marriage

South Africa became the first country in Africa to legalize same sex marriages:

"(The) acting president ... has signed into law the Civil Union Act, 2006," the president's office said in a statement.

The legislation came into operation on Thursday, and allows for civil unions to be solemnized by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership.

Marriage Equality is on the march!

Citizen Romney's New Suit

Citizen Romney's suit is being heard today by a single justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. For all of you keeping score, yes, the absentee Governor of Massachusetts filed the suit in his capacity as a citizen of the Commonwealth and NOT the governor. Yet he held a rally for the suit as Governor, interesting.

The other co-signers of the suit are a who's who of anti-gay activists in the State and some of the 30 original signers of the petition*:

• C. Joseph Doyle,* the confirmed bachelor and regular "guest" on Massresistance: The Radio Show, signer
• Raymond "I'm not a bigot" Flynn*
• Richard F. Guerriero*
• Bronwyn E. Loring*, she signed the letter out of concern for her granddaughters (Is she afraid they won't be enough straight men left for them to get married?) and seems to be a bit obsessed with gay sex. She also founded the North Shore Christian Network.
• Robert S. Miranda*, also know as Roberto who links Sept 11th to Boston to Marriage Equality. Oh, and marriage equality is the work of the devil.
• Philip D. Moran*
• Joseph R. Nolan*, former Supreme Judicial Court Justice who Romney wanted to be special prosecutor in 2004 to stop the same sex marriages from happening.
• Jossie E. Owens*
• Richard W. Richardson*, who was/is with the spokesman for the Black Ministerial Alliance
• Mitt Romney (now why didn't he use his legal name and is he in the State today?)
• Philip Travis*, who is retiring from the legislature because he feels it has lost its moral courage. This from the man who was caught soliciting financial contributions for an Indian tribe in his district from several banks, at the same time controversial banking legislation was before the committee.

Catholic Church Tries to Extort Government

In the UK that is. The Archbishop of Birmingham, Rev Vincent Nichols, warns the government:

Archbishop Nichols said that the proposed regulations, designed to ensure equal treatment for gays, could mean the end of the Church's co-operation with the Government in providing a range of welfare services.

It amazes me that the Catholic Church would still try to flex is flabby arm of power to put down gay and lesbian people. God knows that helping the poor is less important than those terrible gays proclaiming love and loyalty for life.

Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative minister, said that the proposals spelled the "end of freedom of conscience in our country".

"They create a hierarchy of rights and whenever a homosexual right comes up against any other right the homosexual right prevails," she said, adding that the Government "seems to have no clue practising a religion means more than going to church".

That's right, it means standing up and proclaiming that certain people should be discriminated against and do not deserve that same rights as others!

What would Jesus do, help the poor and needy or stand up against gay people?

For Some It Will Never End...

All this week absentee Massachusetts Governor Willard Romney has been touting the "Let the People Vote" mantra whenever and where ever he can. He even staged a photo op last Sunday and used the Vote on Marriage people as a backdrop for his presidential ambitions. He and Kris Mineau (pronounced minnow like the little fish) are even trying to turn this into a constitutional vote thingy and not an actual vote on same sex marriage.

But lets step back a minute. The signature gathering for an amendment is only to get it to the legislature NOT actually to put it on the ballot and what if it actually went to the ballot and was voted down, what then? Well, the head of the Mass Family Institute, Kris Mineau says that he would abide by the whatever the voters agreed to, but would he....

Last week on Massresistance: The Radio Show, they had on failed State Senate candidate Sandi Martinez*. Brian asked her about a comment Kris Mineau made on TV when he said it would be over if the voters voted the amendment down, her response (you can listen to it on Massresistance's website here, it's about 13 minutes into the show):

Well, if the people vote on it, I think again it would depend on what the voter turnout was, it would depend on a lot of things. I mean some people are going to say, ok the voters have spoken and that's it, other people aren't going to be silenced until, ya know, they feel that everything possible that can be done has been done. And from I have been seeing in other states is that the majority of the people do not support homosexual marriage and I don't believe that we would lose.

She had been talking about a meeting she went to to prepare for the anti-gay rally that was held last week.

Essentially, they will never stop even if the people vote it down which is precisely the reason why the legislature should end this now. Is this really all the people in Massachusetts want to hear about for the next two years? It's pretty pathetic when the Governor of Massachusetts puts more energy into advocating for discrimination than he did to help the poor and needy in the State.

By the way Governor, aren't you doing the same thing you are accusing the legislature of, trying to subvert the constitution, by going to the SJC?

*In the general election Sandra Marinez lost to Susan Fargo by a margin of 64 to 36%.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have lots of things to be thankful (and hopeful) for:

• That no one was seriously hurt in that blast in Danvers
• That Deval Patrick will be the next Governor of Massachusetts
• That Governor Mitt Romney will only be governor for about 42 days (and probably only in the state for 5 of those days)
• For those 109 Legislators who voted to recess until January 2nd and raised the ire of the absentee governor.
• That our troops in Iraq will be coming home sooner rather than later
• Massresistance: The Radio Show because next to American Idol it's one of the finest forms of entertainment today.
• That we live in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Feel free to add your own!

You've Got Pictures!

Chris over at Take Mass Action has some wonderful pictures and video from yesterday's rally. You shouldn't miss it!

BUH BYE Guv!

Well, Massachusetts' absentee governor held his presidential campaign rally, er, anti-gay marriage rally today in front of the State House. (From the looks of it, I wonder if tax payer money was used to put together this heinous show of discrimination?) All the news stories so far have said "hundreds" of people showed up on both sides. Me thinks they didn't get the turnout they were hoping for. Even Cardinal O'Malley and Ex-Boston Mayor Ray Flynn got about a thousand in 2004 for their hate fest.

I think it's funny that Romney, who has about a 30% approval rating in this state is trying to "lead the masses". He didn't do it four years ago and he can't do it today.

Yes, Governor, soon you will be history. I'm sure you won't be forgetting that two weeks ago Massachusetts voters overwhelming chose a Pro-Marriage equality candidate for the corner office. Your hand picked Lt. Governor floundered terribly. The Republican party you said you were going to built in the state has sunk to lows not seen since the Civil war. (Does anyone remember Ron Crews who ran the Mass Family Institute ran for state wide office, lost miserably and left the state?)

Yes, Governor, the people HAVE voted and you lost. BUH BYE!

Governor Romney's Photo Op.

Well, look who's in town on Sunday:

In a move to publicly pressure lawmakers who have so far ignored him, Gov. Mitt Romney plans to appear at a Statehouse rally on Sunday to demand the Legislature vote on a proposed ballot question that would end gay marriage in Massachusetts.

It appears that every time Governor Willard makes an appearance in Massachusetts it has something to do with same sex marriage. God know he's not appearing to announce that more jobs are coming into the Commonwealth or that violence in the State is dramatically down. Who are you kidding, everyone knows that this will be a photo opportunity for the absentee Governor. Brings to mind Governor George Wallace blocking the school doors from African American children.

Of course he's now repeating the new mantra of the anti-gay marriage supporters:

"No matter how you may feel about the marriage issue, people have a right to participate in their own government."

Uh, Governor, you might have been out of town, but an election was held last week and your Lt. Governor, Sherry Healey lost. Deval Patrick, the man who said during at least one televised debate that the Mass SJC "got it right" when they ruled for marriage equality, trounced her. Do you remember? Were you around that day? I know you were around in the evening because I saw the presidental campaign speech you gave that night, I mean the introduction you gave to the Lt. Governor when she conceded. Remember?

Anyhow, I can't wait for the photo op, oops, I mean rally. I'm sure you'll get a lot of people, especially if you bus them in right from the churches and nursing homes.

Inside the Statehouse

Here are some wonderful pictures of the victory celebration in Nurse's Hall. Just look at the joyful faces (click on a picture of get a larger view):

Pictures from the Con Con

Here are some pictures from the Constitutional Convention. (Hat tip to Iandb1 at the DemocraticUnderground.com) Click on a picture to get a closer look:

Here are a few pictures of Article 8/Massresistance head Brian Camenker "entering the Lion's Den" to take some photos for their website:

Here is one from the other side of the street where the anti-gay protestors stood. There were really quite a small group. There are more to come from inside the statehouse.

It was Unanimous!

What a glorious week this has been. Every day seems to get better and better. In the up coming days I will be posting some pictures of the past week, you may even see yourself in some of them.

My husband and I were lucky enough to be in the gallery yesterday during the Constitutional Convention when they were voting on same sex marriage. Most of the speakers literally brought tears to my eyes.

Then there were the speakers that were advocating for discrimination in the constitution (I was sorry for them). However this time they were trying a new tactic. Instead of saying how they didn't want same sex marriage, they couched it in a "well we should do the process thing and let the people vote." Amazing. These people didn't even have the nerve to stand up for their beliefs.
One of the anti-gay Reps, Rep. Phil Travers, must have forgotten that he and Emile Goguen submitted the anti-marriage bill (which Article 8/Massresistance take credit for) they were voting on because he called it unconstitutional and said that no one should vote for it. I wonder why he didn't think that when he first submitted it (which WAS after the Goodridge decision)? Needless to say the whole legislature defeated it unanimously. Here's Massresistance's take on it:

Shockingly, today we learned that there's not a single honorable, courageous legislator in Massachusetts. Item #19 on the calendar, the pure definition of marriage with a ban on civil unions (just before the weaker VoteOnMarriage amendment, #20) was voted down 196-0, just before the ConCon adjourned. Now what is wrong with #19? Our group filed it as a bill (H653), in an effort to strengthen the definition of marriage in our statutes. (Gov. Romney recommended this very course in his famous Wall Street Journal op-ed of February 2004!) The bill's co-sponsors were Rep. Goguen and Rep. Travis.

Granted, homosexual activist Sen. Barrios turned #19 from a bill into an amendment. (Though he never said a thing about that in his slimey speech.) But it could never have passed today anyhow (needing 50%+), so the pro-family legislators could safely have voted for it -- but still didn't. Unbelievable.

Reps. Goguen, Loscocco, Parente, DeMacedo, Sens. Brown, Hedlund: What happened to all of you? What twisted strategy were you following? The wording of #19 is exactly the same as the marriage amendment you supported in 2002! So why the change? Not a single legislator in Massachusetts is "brave" enough to confirm marriage is between a man and a woman, and civil unions should be banned! And that the Goodridge ruling is illegitimate; and that current same-sex "marriages" are illegal and should not be protected!

Of course, I don't understand why they call Sen. Barrios' speech"slimey" since he did exactly what they wanted, he just pushed their bill forward. They should be happy that the whole legislature finally got to vote on their bill. Did I say it was unanimously defeated?

I agree with Massresistance, I don't understand why the anti-gay reps (who were either voted out or are retiring) didn't vote for this amendment. It was exactly what they wanted. In the purest sense of the law, the whole legislature was given a choice, vote for marriage as the union of one man and one woman or not. They voted a resounding NO.

Oh How the Mighty Fall!

For the life of me I can't understand this whole Rev. Haggard problem. Here's the timeline:

• Wednesday of last week, a male escort, Mike Jones, announces that he had a three year sexual relationship with Rev. Haggard who called himself "Art".
• Rev. Haggard, head of the New Life Church and president of the National Association of Evangelicals denied even knowing Mike Jones.
• Haggard steps down from both posts pending an investigation.
• On Friday, Haggard denied having sex with Mike Jones but admits to buying "meth" and getting a massage from him in an interview in his car with his wife in the passenger seat and his kids in the back seat.
• On Sunday, a letter is read to the New Life Church's congregation's where Rev. Ted Haggard admits to "sexual immorality" He has resigned from the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired from the New Life Church.

Now here's the thing, if there was such a thing as an "ex-gay" don't you think that the leader of a megachurch, who supposedly has "God's ear" would have been able to break free of his gay tendencies? This man, Reverend Ted Arthur Haggard, was married with 5 kids yet he still snuck out to "hook up" with a male prostitute all the while preaching that being gay is bad.

This "Christian" thought that it was better to admit to buying drugs and lying to thousands of people than to admit to having a relationship with another man.

If God didn't want anyone to be gay, don't you think he would have at least made the leader of a megachurch and president of a National Evangelical organization straight? (My husband says God has a sense of humor)

The Ex-Gay Watch website has the letter that was read to the congregation. In it, Rev. Haggard says he tried to change but couldn't:

Through the years, I’ve sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn’t want to hurt or disappoint them.

The most telling thing about the whole letter is that Rev. Haggard cannot name what his "sexual problem" is. Additionally, Ex-Gay Watch notes:

Unfortunately, Haggard's failure to name the failed forms of assistance leaves other people vulnerable to the same ineffective and costly treatments.

Ex-gay therapies, PFOX, Exodus and so many others are just a sham and cannot change someone's sexual orientation, Rev. Haggard proved that! I mean come on folks, if he can't reverse his sexual orientation through prayer and accepting Jesus as his personal savior who can? I think God is having a good laugh.

Vote Your Conscience

I must admit that the Massresistance Radio show today was probably the most interesting out of all the shows so far. This only is because of the last guest they had on their show, Pastor Kevin Thompson. Pastor Thompson proudly posts of his appearance on the show:

I will be appearing on Mass Resistance radio this weekend. The program is hosted by Brian Camenker and Amy Contrada. They invited me to come on and talk about voting your conscience.

Pastor Thompson is one of the first people I've heard who is actually intellectually honest. I don't agree with his opinions but I respect the fact that he is not voting for someone because they are the "lesser of two evils" and instead is holding to his beliefs. I find Pastor Thompson more intellectually honest than the Cardinal O'Malley because of Cardinal O'Malley's stance on the Massachusetts anti-gay marriage amendment.

Haggard Resigns

All the media outlets are reporting that Haggard has resigned from his position as leader of the New Life Church:

“We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard,” a statement from the church said. “Our investigation and Pastor Haggard’s public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.”

Let me repeat that again "SEXUALLY IMMORAL CONDUCT". Apparently, Rev. Haggard is FOR gay sex but against gay marriage since he was one of the most vocal proponents of Colorado's anti-gay marriage amendment.

Rev. Haggard should look at the bright side, next year he can be the keynote speaker at Massresistance's annual fundraising dinner ("Ex-gay" Stephen Bennett is already speaking this year).

Doogie's Gay (oops!)

Yep! I first read it on Take Mass Action and it's been all over the news sites on the internet. Neil Patrick is a happy gay man:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Neil Patrick Harris is gay and wants to quell any rumors to the contrary.

He wants to make sure that no one assumes he's straight, I love it! I saw Neil in Assassins in New York a few years back. He's been doing more theatre these past few years (he also played the Emcee in Cabaret) and of course he played an "Ex-gay" on Will and Grace.

In case you missed it, one of the cast members, T. R. Knight, who plays Dr. George O'Malley on the hit show Grey's Anatomy also recently came out:

"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there," Knight tells PEOPLE in a statement. "While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

How many days/weeks/months do you think will pass until Rev. Haggard does an interview and says "yes, I am a Gay Evangelical?

Update on the Haggard Story

ABC news is reporting that Haggard has admitted to buying drugs from the male prostitute not having sex.

"I bought it for myself but never used it," the Rev. Ted Haggard said today to a reporter for KISS who interviewed him as he was sitting in his car with his wife outside his Colorado Springs, cola., home. "I was tempted, but I never used it."

Oh but it gets better...

Haggard said he got a massage from the man, 49-year-old Mike Jones, after receiving a recommendation from a Denver hotel, but said he never had sex with him.

RRRRight, you got a massage from a male prostitute and you never had sex. wink, wink...

I didn't know that Rev. Haggard had the ear of the President of the United States.

Ok, if you're keeping count (and I know I'm going to miss some here) the Republicans have:

• Gay Male Prostitute posing as "journalist" but with access to the President of the United States.
• The Republican Congressman Mark Foley gay page Scandal
• Senator Rick "man on dog" Santorum's Chief of Staff is gay
• The Republican Party accepting donations from the Gay Porn Industry.
• And now one of the Heads of a HUGE religious group in the US has stepped down over a drug and gay sex scandal.

I hope all the "value voters" are paying attention.

Another Hypocrite

Well, well, well, the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of the drive for same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man:

The Rev. Ted Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."

The investigation came after a 49-year-old man told a Denver radio station that Haggard paid him to have sex.

Ok, now how many people, who didn't have anything to hide, would have "stepped aside" because of "accusations"? Don't ya cha love these people who are living almost the same life they are condemning?

Mike Jones, 49, told The Associated Press that Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month for three years. His allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM in Denver.

Jones said that he had advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and that a man who called himself Art contacted him. Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard.

He said that he last had sex with Haggard in August and that he did not warn him before making his allegations this week.

Jones said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash, though he declined to make any of it available to the AP.

"There's some stuff on there (the voice mails) that's pretty damning," he said.

So much for "leaving the lifestyle" behind, he he.

Had Enought Yet?

Nationally:

They're attacking Michael J. Fox because of his illness.

They've attacked an African American candidate for being African American.

They're now using Gay Marriage to "reignite" their troops for the election.

Locally:

Kerry Healey puts out a racist ad, claims it's not about race (but some in the Boston community believe it is racist)

The Mass "Family" Association also use the New Jersey decision to ask their members to vote Republican (you have to get their emails they don't do it where they can get caught in public)

"It will not be enough for all our supporters to vote. We need everyone to spread the word to their friends, family and neighbors. We need everyone to make sure that their pastor reminds all his congregants that it is their Christian duty to vote. Values voters were instrumental in returning President Bush to office in 2004, with the most obvious result being two pro-family justices being appointed to the Supreme Court."

Meanwhile:

• More soldiers are dying in Iraq. October has been the bloodiest month this year.
• The President no longer wants to use the words "Stay the Course" even though
  that is what we are doing (I guess not saying it out loud will make it sound better)
• The economy is going down the toilet, Massachusetts is losing jobs by the hour.
• Americans are getting profiled and searched while riding the subway.
• Companies responsible for the BIG DIG problems are now the ones we're relying on to inspect the problems they've caused after a fatal accident.
• Since the Goodridge decision in Massachusetts, more people are getting covered by their partner's healthcare, more people are allowed to make medical decisions for their loved ones.
• Oh yeah, no heterosexual marriage has been negatively impacted by two gay people getting married.

Again, I ask you: Have you had enought yet?

I have a Mother-in-law too!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a ceremony for the new global AIDS Coordinator Dr. Mark Dybul. If you recall, during the ceremony Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to Dr. Dybul's partner's mother as Dr. Dybul's mother-in-law. Simple enough right? Or so you would think....

It seems that since that lovely swearing in ceremony the "Religious" Right has been going crazy. The Agapepress has written about it almost every other day:

At the recent swearing-in ceremony of Dr. Mark Dybul -- an open homosexual -- as the nation's global AIDS coordinator, Secretary Rice referred to the mother of Dybul's homosexual partner as his "mother-in-law." Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council (FRC), among others, reacted to the secretary's remarks shortly thereafter, calling them "profoundly offensive" in light of the Bush administration's lukewarm endorsement of a federal marriage protection amendment.

World Nut Daily asked the President's Press Secretary about it last Friday:

The White House on Friday offered no detailed explanation when asked by Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent, about "how does this adhere to the president's belief in policy that marriage is between one man and one woman?"

"The Secretary said what she said, and she was showing due deference to the people involved," was the response from Tony Snow, Bush's spokesman.

While current reports show that over 600,000 Iraqis are dead from the war and October has been one of the bloodiest months ever for American troops, all these people are concerned with is the use of the term "mother-in-law"!

The use of the "mother-in-law" term normally reserved for legally married heterosexual families rankled Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council.

Only in your small mind Peter. To me the term "Pro-family" usually refers to someone who actually cares about the family (not just certain select families) but that doesn't stop you or the other anti-gay organizations from using it.

Do you think the reason they keep using the term "pro-family" whenever they describe themselves is because no one believes them?

Massresistance Radio Show SHOCKER!

David Parker was NOT on the show. I can't believe it! Ok, maybe I can believe it, you see, David "Mad Dad" Parker was one of the speakers at last week's hatefest "Liberty Sunday" and "Liberty Sunday" was held in Massachusetts because it was billed as:

Massachusetts is the only state that has legalized gay marriage, but eight states will vote in November on amendments banning gay marriage.

Now, Massresistance/Article 8 et al are still reciting the "same sex marriage is not legal here" mantra (it's how they started their show today) so I guess they weren't happy with Liberty Sunday. On the show this morning they also continued their attack on Governor Mitt "Did ya here the one about Massachusetts" Romney.

The show was the usual borefest. They had some unknown people running office somewhere in Massachusetts (I'm sure these people's potential constituents can't even receive the radio signal). Somehow they got to talking about Santa Claus and gay sex. I don't really know how they got on this topic but my husband reminded me that if Santa Claus is gay he is GOING to have to start working out.

All in all it's an hour I will never get back. Luckily I was multi-tasking: writing a check out to Brian Linsky (he's great!), finishing my Halloween costume and thanking my husband for buying Activia yougurt, it's delicious!

The Road Not Taken

Brian McGrory of the Boston Globe writes a piece about the speech that Willard Romney should have given on Sunday night at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church. Here's a snippet:

I am, for the record, opposed to gay marriage. I believe, as should be clear to anyone and everyone listening and watching tonight, that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that every child should have a mother and a father.

But I've been reminded of a few things in the 2 1/2 years since the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts legalized gay marriage.

I've been reminded that experience, real life experience, should influence ideology. I've been reminded that fears aren't always a precursor to reality. I've been reminded that the human spirit not only endures amid times of significant change, but it thrives.

More than anything else, I've learned over these 2 1/2 years that my marriage to Ann has not been affected one iota by the legalization of gay marriage. My sons' marriages are no less strong and loving. The marriages of my neighbors and of my friends have not suffered because men are allowed to marry men and women are allowed to marry women.

It's worth a read.

This article reminded me of something I would also like to make a note of that I found ironic when it happened. One of Romney's sons was married early in 2004 (I don't know if it was Tag or Biff or whatever their names are) I remember because the GLOBE did a story on the younger Romney's marriage. I recall wondering if he and his bride-to-be were getting married quickly before history making May 17, 2004 date. I thought this because the story stated that the younger Romney had only met his new wife the year before. By that time I had already known my future husband longer than the younger Romney knew his future bride only he could get married whenever he wanted, I had to wait at least until 2004.

Back to Brian McGrory's story, his ending of the "fake" Romney speech is precious:

Our fight is a long and important one. We need to pick the battles that matter most.

Yeah, imagine. A politician who's honest. A politician who doesn't pander.

Supreme Court Will Not Review Boy Scout's Case

In what can only be called a major blow to anti-gay activists, the United States Supreme Court has refused to hear a case brought forth by the Boy Scouts who claimed discrimination:

The justices on Monday let stand a unanimous California Supreme Court ruling that the city of Berkeley may treat the Berkeley Sea Scouts differently from other nonprofits because the Scouts bar atheists and gays.

You see, the Berkeley Sea Scouts used to get a free public boat slip to use at their leisure. However, the City of Berkeley said that because they discriminate against gays and atheists they had to start paying for the slip. The Boy Scouts claimed this was violating the group's free speech and freedom of association rights and didn't want to pay so they sued.

The California Supreme Court said "local governments are under no obligation to extend benefits to organizations that discriminate." and the US Supreme Court agreed.

The Sea Scouts blame Berkeley elected officials who disapprove of the Boy Scouts' membership policies. Yeah, the policy that allows them to discriminate!

Berkeley would have given the Sea Scouts a free slip if they broke ties with the Boy Scouts or disavowed the policy against gays and atheists. You can guess what was more important to them.

In full disclosure, I must confess that I am an Eagle Scout, however, when I was in the Boy Scouts there was no honor in discrimination.

Lordy! More Gays in the GOP!

While I was in the City of Brotherly Love this morning, I happened to pick up USA Today and saw this little tidbit:
It's from an article on how the GOP plays it both ways. They bash gays and lesbians for political gain during the elections but then put gay and lesbians in very prominent places in their administration. In the above picture, Secretary of State Rice swears in the new global AIDS coordinator Mark Dybul. As first lady Laura Bush looked on, Rice singled out his partner, Jason Claire, (who was holding the bible Dybul was swearing in on) and Claire's mother. Rice referred to her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."

In fact it seems like the higher ups in all the Republican offices are gay! Someone just outted Florida's Republican candidate for governor too! Who knew the Republican party was gaier than the first row at a Barbra Streisand concert!

Touché Margery

Margery Eagan of the Boston Herald has a good column on the Mark Foley scandal. She writes about the scapegoating of gay men by the conservative "spin doctors" and details some interesting issues that haven't been addressed by the MSM:

Yet yesterday, as church bells tolled across Amish country in memory of five young girls who were shot to death by a man who apparently intended to sexually assault them in their one-room schoolhouse - two weeks after another man shot and raped girls in a Colorado schoolhouse - no one was making any sweeping statements about the predatory instincts of straight men.

Nor should they.

There are more or less regular straight men and more or less regular gay men. When either variety starts hitting on underage children - male or female - they cease to be regular.

Touché Margery!

It's a terrible shame how they are trying to portray this as another "gay scandal" (they tried to do it with the Catholic Church too and failed terribly) when it is a problem with DEMENTED MEN period. Because of their smoke and mirrors "gay show" they are overlooking the problems that are going on all over the country and not dealing with it effectively.

How many more Dateline segments are going to show married heterosexual men showing up at a house to have sex with a minor? We need to stop the gay witch hunts and start dealing with the real problem, adult predators, regardless of sexual orientation.

There's a New Blog in Town...

and it's called MassResistanceRadioWatch and will cover the weekly MassResistance Radio show:

Every Wednesday, I will provide a recap of the low points of the Mass Resistance Infomercial so you can spend your weekends doing more enjoyable activities. I will also provide background about Ami, Brian and the cast of reprobates that appear on the "show" each week.

I've got to give the Aguy a lot of credit for taking this on. Listening to the show is incredibly painful and very un-thought provoking. I hope his IQ doesn't suffer! But he does get to look forward to hearing the confirmed bachelor C.J. Doyle and "Mad Dad" David Parker who are two of the most frequent guests of the show.

You Leave the Country and The GOP goes NUTS!

Wow, you leave the country for a week and so much happens! (My husband and I finally took our long delayed honeymoon and we really couldn't get much information about the US on the only English speaking channel we received.) We did have access to the internet for a few days so I did get to read about and post briefly about the RI marriage decision and Republican Mark Foley's inappropriate emails.

• Who knew that Lt. Gov. Sherry Healey, oops, I mean Kerry Healey, would not be able to stand on her own merits (does he have any?) and would go so negative so quickly. Before we left she was running ads that said she was tough on crime yet it seems that gun violence and overall crime has increased since she's been in office.
• It appears that the Republican leadership knew about Mark Foley's inappropriate emails a LONG time ago yet they did nothing to protect the underage youth he was sending emails to.
• The mother of openly gay general manager of the MBTA Daniel A. Grabauskas, Patricia Grabauskas-Caruso, used her son's name in a fund raising letter for gubernatorial nominee Sherry Healey's running mate Reed Hillman. The Florida resident wrote that her son was a good friend of Hillman and strongly supports him. Of course the Healey campaign says that the letter was "an honest mistake".
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in an interview on Fox News, suggested that current House GOP leaders reacted cautiously to initial reports of Foley's e-mails for fear of being perceived as gay-bashing. Funny, they had no problem verbally bashing gay families when they were trying to put discrimination into the US Constitution! It's obvious that they are now using the "gay bashing" defense because they were caught in a cover up. The issue is about failing to protect underage children from predators.

And some good news:

Wendy Becker and Mary Norton, after 18 years and two children, were finally wed on October 8th in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

BTW, the news about the U.S. which dominated the airwaves in Europe was not about Mark Foley's emails but rather about the Republican coverup of the emails and, of course, the Iraq war. It was a sad reminder that more soldiers have been killed in Iraq than the number the people who died on September 11th, especially since Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11th tragedy.

Daily Show: Gays in the Military

Tangled Up in Bleu

Hat tip to Allan for this clip from the Daily Show.

I recopied the comments that were listed on the last video clip since that clip was discontinued.

The Real Men of the GOP!

What is this? The party of ¨morality¨ has been caught protecting one of its own a la the Catholic Church. It seems the GOP Rep Mark Foley from Florida was caught (most likely months ago but was shielded):

The Florida Republican resigned Friday amid scrutiny of his e-mail and instant-message contacts with pages. The six-term Florida congressman was co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and a prominent backer of legislation to crack down on online predators and criminalize child pornography on the Internet.

AND, it is alleged that the GOP leadership of the House KNEW about what he had done and didn´t turn him over to authorities until ABC asked the Rep about some emails! Where´s the outrage? Where the Focus on the Family, the American Family Association? Massresistance has constantly asked where the real men are in the Republican party, here they are, these apparently ARE the real men of the GOP.

Congratulations Wendy and Mary!

Because they can now have their partnership legally recognized! This is such terrific news. Of course, the Mass Family Institute has already started their campaign of fear with emails but that won´t put a dent into the wonderful news about Rhode Island. The corks are POPPING!

It is also wonderful news that Att. General Reilly will not appeal this ruling stating that it is ¨a waste of time and money.¨

Cheers Everyone!

Don't Call Her Tranny!

One of the people I met at the Out & Equal Workplace Summit was Joanne Herman. I've been reading her columns regulary in the Advocate and was pleasantly surprised to get the chance to meet her at the Friday night Award's dinner. Her columns on transgender issues (Transgender 101 Series) have been quite interesting and educational.

Unfortunately, Joanne's columns are coming to an end since she only had a commitment for 12 articles (she just posted number 12). It would truly be a shame to lose this wonderful writer and I hope that the Advocate picks her up for at least 52 more!

Herman is the first transgender member of the boards of The Point Foundation, the national LGBT scholarship fund, and of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the New England-based LGBT legal rights organization that filed and argued the court case that brought same-sex marriage to Massachusetts. She is also a member of the advisory board of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

If you enjoy her columns I suggest you contact the Advocate and let them know!

Rewriting History

Massresistance/Article 8/Parent's Rights Coalition is trying to rewrite history once again. In their lastest email they are trying to stay relevant even though that ship left port years ago. The email has their analysis of the primary election. Here is their analysis with my comments:

There were some great wins, and some disappointing losses.

However, the victories they list only appeared to be anti-gay incumbents (and a few anti-gay candidates who also ran against anti-gay candidates): Rep. Joyce Spilotis, Rep. John Fresolo, John Magovern (whose actual name is Robert Magovern but we didn't expect Massresistance to even get their candidate's name correct), David Singer (who ran against another anti-gay candidate) and Bob Thomas (who also ran against all anti-gay candidates). Strangely, they only list 3 defeats they list as "tough races": Rep. Marie Parente (who lost 41% to 59%), Sean Grant (40% to 60%) and Rob Marquis (16% to the winner who got 38%).

** The homosexual lobby's campaign NEVER mentioned their issue at all -- in their mailings, literature, or anywhere.

Hmm...check out my post from a couple of days ago, did you see Massresistance or Article 8 anywhere on the postcard they sent out? Who's being deceptive and secret?

** Pro-family candidates were also reluctant to talk about the same-sex marriage issue.

Why is that? Did they know that they would lose by an even bigger margin? Could it be that Massachusetts voters are WAY over this issue?

** Rep. Marie Parente's tough loss was NOT a result of the gay lobby's intervention!

Yeah, right! Can you imagine what they would have written if Parente had won? It probably would be the lead story on their monotone radio show on Saturday. "Oh man, Parente really showed those homo activists" And I thought it was VERY difficult to beat an incumbent! Read Brian Camenker's Letter to the Editor in the Boston Globe. (addition:) In the letter, Brian fails to state that he is the head of the anit-gay Parent's Rights Coalition, Massresistance and Article 8. Had they won a majority of the races I'm sure they would be singing a different tune.

** Challenger Sean Grant's loss to ultra-pro-gay Rep. Mark Falzone showed how desperate they get.

Yet in their "analysis" they say that Sean Grant didn't expose them (Equal Marriage supporters) or point out the differences between him and Mark Falzone. Sounds like like Sean Grant was a poor candidate if he couldn't even get his message out, correct that, it's the "homo activists" fault.

What have we learned? We believe that the homosexual lobby can be beaten even when they throw a huge amount of money at an election -- as long as the people find out the truth about where the candidates stand, and where the big money's coming from! (Remember the Joyce Spiliotis race last year? -- A huge win against the big money!) Secrecy and deception is their best weapon. The truth is our best defense!

First of all, the Joyce Spiliotis race was two years ago, not one. Second of all, THIS IS ALL THEY LEARNED? Secrecy and deception is our best weapon?! Who was being secret or deceptive? If you went to the MassEquality website anyone could have seen who they were supporting. Truth IS our best defense, that's why so many anti-gay candidates didn't make it. I suggest Massresistance start using it.

Oh, yeah. All their write-ins lost too. If you recall the last election, (correction and hat tip to Chris)Tom Sanicandro, ran a sticker campaign and won over another anti-gay Representative. Tom has no opponent this time. It sounds like his district is happy with the work he's done. Our candidates are well rounded and not just 1 note (anti-gay) candidates.

All the Results Are Almost In!

And it looks like the candidates that Massresistance (or is it the Parent's Rights Coalition? They use so many different names!) endorsed didn't fare too well. The following is from Massresistance's analysis of the primary races in Massachusetts:

For the Senate (6 races):

None of Massresistance's favorites, who had someone running against them, won.

For the House (23 races):

Only 4 of Massresistance's favorites made it to the November 7th election.

Interesting enough, Sean Grant, who Massresistance/Article 8/Parent's Rights Coalition sent out anti-gay postcards for, lost to Mark Falzone who got 60% of the vote. Chalk it up to another politician who was "helped" by Brian Camenker's group. Can we also attribute Rep. Parente's loss to them too?

Additionally, Tim Murray, the mayor from Worcester, won a stunning victory even though he released this statement during the Mr. Hetero contest in Worcester earlier this year:

A statement released by Mayor Timothy P. Murray said the city he knows respects diversity, but also free speech. At the same time, "we must also vigorously exercise our own right to speak out and speak up and say we don't condone or support events which unfairly and unjustly target a group of people because of their sexual orientation," the statement said.

Good choice Massachusetts! We prefer people who are against discrimination! Here's hoping Massresistance supports more candidates in the Nov. 7th election!

A Skunk By Any Other Name Still Stinks

Massresistance/Article 8/Parent's Right Coalition is at it again and Chris over at Take Mass Action has caught them red handed. Massresistance/Article 8 et al sent out a mailer to Saugus voters in favor of candidate Sean Grant (click on the picture for a larger view):

However, they put the Parent's Rights Coalition name on the mailer instead of Massresistance or Article 8. I think Take Mass Action is dead on with his guess as to why they didn't use the Massresistance name:

I wonder why they decided to use the name "Parents Rights Coalition" on the mail piece attacking Representative Falzone. Is it because they know MassResistance is not taken seriously and is considered a fringe group by Massachusetts voters? Is that why they didn't want their name on the mail piece?

This from the same people that are accusing the candidates for Governor of not wanting to be seen in BayWindows.

This photo is all you need to know about Democrat Governor candidates Chris Gabrieli and Deval Patrick! Which is probably why they don't want you to see it... It appeared briefly on Bay Windows' online frontpage, with an article short on details of what the two men said at the GLBT forum held at Harvard Law School on Sept. 12.(Candidate Tom Reilly was unable to make the forum.) Then the article and photo disappeared from Bay Windows' online edition during the day today. Another article in Bay Windows, under "Pressing the Flesh," gives some more details of the discussion. (We guess that one of those campaigns demanded the photo and front pager be taken down immediately!

Of course the candidates were in a public forum and any news outlet could have covered it, besides the fact that none of the candidates for Governor have ever hid the fact they support GLBT civil rights. However we are supposed to believe the duo at Massresistance who hide in the darkness and who go on the radio and still refuse to give their full names. Yeah, they're trustworthy.

Putting the Chic in Chicago

Hi All, I haven't posted in a week because I was at the Out and Equal Workplace Summit held at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, Il. Let me just say that it was another wonderful experience. There were over 1500 people there representing a load of different public and private companies (Who knew Walmart was so progressive?)

I took lots of notes and I hope to share some of my experience with you all. I also met some fabulous and interesting people from all over the country. The whole event could be described as a diversity dream or homophobic's nightmare.

To top it off, the City of Chicago (who recently hosted the Gay Games) welcomed the conference with open arms. I had never been to Chicago so I never knew how beautiful the city is and how friendly the people are.

The Workplace Summit is being held in Washington D.C. next year. I highly recommend attending!

Get Your Fat-Free Snacks Ready

An "Ex-gay" TV show is debuting on September 18th on two christian networks (Christian Television Network & Sky Angel Satellite Network) and is being hosted by a former prostitute and self-confessed thief. The Advocate reports:

The show, produced by Mastering Life Ministries, will be hosted by former prostitute David Kyle Foster and Alan Chambers, a onetime criminal and current president of the "ex-gay" group Exodus International, according to a press release issued by Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, a nonprofit that counters so-called conversion therapy. Joining Foster and Chambers as part of the show will be singer Sy Rogers and "ex-lesbian" activist Christine Sneeringer.

I'm hoping we'll be able to catch this show. It's got to be more entertaining than Massresistance's radio show. Read Truth Wins Out's press release.

The Propaganda Wheels Are Turning

Massresistance is up to its old tricks. Like Chris from Take Mass Action said in one of the comments to a post on this blog:

The thing to remember here is that the day after the primary election Brian and Amy are going to be claiming victory over the "homosexual lobby". They will send out emails boasting that their anti-equality incumbents like Spiliotis, Parente, and Kujawski all beat their pro-gay opponents. They will call these races their victories; when in fact, the pro-gay candidates in these races don't stand a chance.

MassResistance has already started by saying that MassEquality is going door to door for the candidate challenging Rep Spiliotis - this is untrue. But by saying this, MassResistance will claim that they were able to beat the "homosexual lobby" in these races. The truth is that the gay lobby isn't even getting involved in these races.

Yes, they are setting themselves up to be the "David against the Goliath" when it comes to the Massachusetts political scene. But that's not all...

Massresistance is now doing it with this lawsuit that David Parker et al have against practically everyone in the Town of Lexington. They were ranting about a lawsuit even before it was filed. Lately they've been posting the "Lastest" scoop about the Lexington School Officials' 57 page motion to dismiss. Oh and do they rant and rave:

"Orwellian" is the only word we could think of to describe this. Is this actually happening in the United States of America? They re-define the process of pushing homosexuality on young children and attempting to normalize it in their young minds, despite the strong objections of their parents, in a kind of Alice-in-Wonderland language that brings to mind something like a North Korean re-education camp.

and also:

It is due around Labor day(a formal rebuttal from Parker's lawyers). After that, the next step is for federal Judge Mark Wolf to decide whether to (a) dismiss the case -- and thus the Parkers (and parents across the country) would lose everything -- or (b) allow it to stand trial. This is an incredibly important decision, obviously. We think it will come reasonably quickly after Labor Day. Our bet is that the trial will be allowed to take place, but that's just an intelligent guess. We have a lot of confidence in Denner & Associates, Parker's legal team, that they can successfully carry this through, if it's allowed to go to trial. Pretty scary stuff.

Of course it is VERY unlikely that the judge will dismiss the case. I believe a Motion to Dismiss is practically always submitted by the defendants to the court as part of the legal process but the threshold of getting a judge to dismiss a case is very high. I don't know all the legal mumbo jumbo but I think in ruling on a motion to dismiss, courts must accept as true all "material allegations of the complaint and construe the complaint in favor of the complaining party (Parkers et al)." Additionally, "courts have a predilection for allowing civil rights cases to proceed until a record is available to either support or negate the facts alleged. "

Needless to say the lawsuit will probably go forward because the court will want to hear all the facts displayed. I'm guessing that Massresistance will try and spin the court's decision as a victory against "homosexuality in schools" if the court does deny the Lexington school officials' motion to dismiss. We'll also see if Massresistance posts the real reasons for the denial but don't hold your breath!

Will History Repeat Itself?

Take Mass Action has good coverage of Massresistance's latest email and their analysis of the political races in Massachusetts.

The best part of the post is where Chris talks about the election victory of Carl Sciortino and how Article 8/Massresistance contributed to his victory:

For 14 hours straight I stood in front of a polling place in Medford. The Ciampa campaign workers were handing out Ciampa stickers to voters. They were telling voters to place the sticker on the ballot to re-elect Ciampa and mentioning that "Carl is a fag". At one point a Ciampa poll worker started yelling at me. He called me a fag and asked me, "does Carl give it to you in the ass?" All of this took place in front of ordinary people going in to vote. It was the most contentious election day of my life.

I was handing out a pamphlet for Carl and telling people that they didn't need to use the stickers to vote for the Democrat because he was already on the ballot. The truth is that many people said to me that they had planned on voting for Vinnie Ciampa until they got the MassResistance mailing. Voters found the mailing offensive and hateful.

Offensive and hateful, hmmm...isn't that what Brian and Amy are always accusing others of being when they disagree with them.

It's Back to School With Massresistance

Things I've learned from listening to Massresistance's radio show:

• When same sex couples want equal marriage rights it's called "special rights" but when heterosexual couples receive benefits from the government's recognition of their sexual preferences it's "natural".
• They don't know the definition of diversity but can define transgender perfectly.
• While the whole country is talking about the Republicans losing their majority status in the Congress because of their ties to President Bush, a write-in Republican canidate who stands by everything the President has done (tax cuts, Iraq, etc...) and is challenging U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is the "hottest" race in the country.
• Amy reads Bay Windows even on vacation.
• One of the canidates vying for Rep. Phil Travis's seat in the Massachusetts legislature believes in "Personal Freedom" except when it comes to same sex marriage.
• Children in elementary school shouldn't be taught that you can get HIV by picking up used needles on the ground.
• It's clear who wears the pants among the hosts of the show.
• If you play "Massresistance: The Drinking Game" and take a drink every time Brian utters the phrase "Oh Man", you'll be drunk in about 10 minutes. (and seriously, that's the only way to get through that show)

Christian Coalition Leader Molests Underage Girls

I guess I must have missed this in Massresistance's latest update:

The longtime leader of the Oregon Christian Coalition and staunch opponent of gay rights admits in a newly released police report that he sexually touched three underage girls years ago, despite denials of such behavior to a newspaper.

Funny they didn't even talk about it on the radio show that bills itself as "stories you won't hear in the media".

Though, I'm a bit confused because Amy said this past weekend on the show that "Words didn't have any meaning" in Massachusetts yet it appears that the denials made by this Oregon Christian Leader had no meaning at all. I guess they would have only reported it if it was underage boys instead of underage girls.

In their lastest post they talk about the male staffer in Dorchester who was charged with the statutory rape of young girl. Interesting enough, the only parts of the story Massresistance highlighted are:

"he then offered her $40 to have anal sex"

"a lot of pain."

"He had been in charge of a Baker House program for preadolescent boys."

Go figure! They must have been too busy reading Bay Windows to notice the story about the Christian Coalition leader.

Love Really DOES Make a Family

Massresistance is back to bashing gay families. In the lastest post which reeks of jealousy, they rant, raves and basically foam at the mouth about a same sex couple which was named "Parents of the Year":

What better way to hasten their utopian society than place as many children as they can get their hands on with "families" headed by GLBT same-sex couples? Who
cares if heterosexual couples have played by the rules and waited years on end with no adoptive placement?

Uh, NO. Our idea of a utopian society is where children AND families are safe from abuse, physically, emotionally AND verbally no matter if those families are headed by same sex couples, opposite sex couples or single parents households. The post neglects to mention that same sex couples usually take children that are not wanted by heterosexual couples.

If you read the real story you find out that the child was taken from a drug addicted mother was born 3 months premature and weighed 2 1/2 pounds when he was born. (Do they ever tell you the full story?)

The story of these men bring to mind the story of my aunt and uncle (in full disclosure, they are my aunt and uncle by marriage) This amazing couple adopts children that are not wanted. They were foster parents for a child born from a crack addicted mother, yes, the child was a crack baby that needed a lot of care. After they had the child for awhile my aunt and uncle were contacted again because the drugged addicted mother had another child (read another crack baby) and they wanted to know if they could care for another needed child. They said yes. These children are now going up in a wonderful loving home.

So when I hear about these men, who took a child no one wanted and are raising him in a loving family I applaud them because I know its not easy. What is easy is to point the finger and say:

Well, there are lots of heterosexual couples in their 20s and 30s dying to adopt a little child. But they are routinely passed over.

but offer no facts or examples just rhetoric.

A Busy Week

Man oh man, there's so much stuff happening that this post could go on for days (inside joke for those readers who also listen to Massresistance on the radio)

• A "Star" professor at the University of Wisconsin is leaving for the gay friendlier University of Pennsylvania because of the anti-gay amendment going to the voters in Nov.
• Walmart becomes a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
• South Africa's cabinet gives nod to gay marriage
• Republican members of the California legislature attack bills allowing gay couples the ability to file joint taxes. One calls homosexuality "sexually deviant behavior."
• Peter LaBarbera is leaving his post as the Illinois Family Institute's executive director to become a full-time anti-gay activist. He focusing solely on issues of homosexuality.

Revue Your History with Varla Jean

This is the video which first appeared on the Gay cable channel Logo when it premiered last year. If you get a chance it is hilarious!

Varla Jean Merman is the superfabulous creation of Jeffery Roberson. Her newest show is Anatomically Incorrect and if you want to see it you have to hurry to Provincetown since its only playing two more weekends.

Update: After talking with Varla's manager, Mark, I learned that Varla is performing in Ptown until Sept 23rd so you still have 4 more week to see the reigning Queen of Provincetown!

Pension Protection Act of 2006 and Fairness for Same Sex Couples

President Bush signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 this past week. It is being held as the most extensive revision of the nation's pension law in three decades. This Act is great news for gay and lesbian couples:

Two little-noticed features of the law was praised by gay rights groups. Under the law, a person's retirement benefits could transfer to domestic partners or other beneficiaries such as sibling or parent. And workers could draw on retirement funds for medical or financial emergencies involving domestic partners or other beneficiaries.

The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, said it was the first time federal legislation has on a broad basis treated same-sex couples similarly to married couples. "Today marks an important day for fairness under the law in America," said its president, Joe Solmonese.

Therefore gay couples will no longer be hit with the tax penalty when a retirement account is automatically withdrawn when one's partner dies. He or she can now roll it over to their own retirement account.

More GOP Mis-Statements

Wow, it's only been hours since I posted about the Sen. Allen making a racist remark and now it appears that the Republican canidate for Governor, Bob Beauprez, in Colorado has chosen as his running mate a woman, Mesa County commissioner Janet Rowland, who referred to same sex marriage as beastiality. The Democratic canidate for Governor demanded the Republican drop Rowland from the ticket. But:

Beauprez campaign manager John Marshall said Rowland regretted the remark and has apologized.

"We all say things we don't mean sometimes,'' Marshall said. ''That's what happened.''

Ah, she said something she didn't mean, well do you think it's a step up from saying something you didn't know was a racial epithet? (oh, I guess I was wrong when I said that they weren't still targeting gay people)

What's going on here?

First it was GOP Governor Willard Romney making a tar baby remark and now we have GOP Senator George Allen making another racial remark?

Of course, like Romney, Sen. Allen claims he didn't know it was a racial term.

The Washington Post is reporting that Sen. Allen's past in which he loved the confederate flag and kept a noose in his office is coming back to haunt him. Oh, Sen. Allen, like Romney, is also considering a run for president in 2008.

Americablog is also picking up what the Washington Post didn't:

Nice of the Washington Post to, yet again, ignore the fact that Macaca isn't just a genus of monkey - in French it's also a slur for dark-skinned people of North Africa, and George Allen's French-speaking French mother just happened to come from North Africa. No, that's not relevant to the story, but the genus of Macaca in Latin is. Uh huh.

It appears that since all the anti-gay amendments have been approved they're now onto people of color. How many times are we going to hear them apologize that they didn't know what they said was wrong? Wow, what a slate of officers we have in contention for the presidency, I can't wait!