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!

The APA Weighs in on "Ex-Gays"

The American Psychological Association issued the following statement:

For over three decades the consensus of the mental health community has been that homosexuality is not an illness and therefore not in need of a cure. The APA's concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversation therapy is that they are not supported by the science. There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Our further concern is that the positions espoused by NARTH and Focus on the Family create an environment in which prejudice and discrimination can flourish.

This was in response to the "ex-gays" protesting the APA for rejecting conversion therapy. NARTH, the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality has no scientific evidence that people can alter sexual orientation yet they are demanding that the APA change its current position which says that such unsubstantiated efforts can often be destructive and damaging to patients.

According to Truth Wins Out some of the methods these "Conversion groups" use include exorcisms, repossessing a client's Calvin Klein underwear because it is deemed "too gay," taking Prozac and drinking Gatorade in an effort to make men more masculine. I saw some guy beating a pillow with a tennis racket on CNN then cuddling a man in his lap as a way to change his orientation, it was hilarious!

First Came the Tar Baby...

Now, anti-gay Gov. Willard Romney is joking about the Civil War:

``Governor Romney was clearly joking when he referred to the Civil War as the `war of Northern aggression' to an audience in Charleston," said Eric Fehrnstrom, his spokesman, who was at the event. ``Everyone laughed, because they understood he was using it in a humorous context."

Fehrnstrom described a joke that Romney recently made when speaking at The Citadel, the military school in Charleston.

Romney talked of baseball player Johnny Damon's leaving the Red Sox to join the Yankees. Romney told them that he and the audience have common ground: They both hate Yankees.

``It was just a passing reference," Fehrnstrom said. ``Everywhere the governor speaks, he tells a joke."

But not to be left out, he still talked (joked?) about gay marriage, stem cells and abortion too. I'm still waiting for his "jokes" about blind people, little people and disabled people since everything seems to be a joke with him.

UPDATE: There's a letter to the Editor in the GLOBE (8/9/06) about Romney "goofing"on the Civil War:

GOVERNOR ROMNEY claims that his reference to the Civil War as the ``war of Northern aggression" was a joke (``Aide insists Romney just being civil," Page B1, City&Region, Aug. 8). It was red meat for neo-Confederates, but an insult to the memory of the 18,000 Massachusetts men who died defending the Union. It's also false history: It was South Carolina state and Confederate troops that fired on the Stars and Stripes at Fort Sumter in April 1861, initiating the war.

Romney would rightly consider it an insult to his Mormon faith if someone asked ``How many wives do you have, governor?" and then tried to pass it off as ``a joke." Even in politics, some things are never a joke.

Legal Marriage Rulings Illogical

Ellen Goodman in today's Boston GLOBE hits the nail on the head on the recent marriage rulings in New York and Washington:

NOW I got it. After hours spent poring over Washington state's Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on same-sex marriage, I've finally figured it out. The court wasn't just ruling against same-sex marriage. It was ruling in favor of ``procreationist marriage."

(snip)

Well if that's true, isn't it time for the legislatures in Washington and in New York, which issued a similar ruling against same-sex marriage this summer, to follow their own logic? If marriage is for procreation, shouldn't they refuse to wed anyone past menopause? Shouldn't they withhold a license, let alone blessings and benefits, from anyone who is infertile? What about those who choose to be childless? Nothing borrowed or blue for them. Indeed the state could offer young couples licenses with sunset clauses. After five years they have to put up (kids) or split up.

While I usually leave the legal analysis of court rulings to my husband even I could figure this one out. If they're allowing opposite sex couples who have no desire, whether by choice or biology, to get married there is no rational reason to ban same sex couples the same rights especially when many same sex couples have children.