The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Welcome back to post-racial America friends, where some people believe that electing a black man as POTUS erases all vestiges of racism from American culture.
Sometimes there is justice in the world, and in some ways it takes a sad form in the context of the big picture. If The Valley Club had members and leadership who thought about the cruelty they showed to the minority children from The Creative Steps Day Camp, the facility wouldn't be in this position.
Yesterday, Valley president John Duesler announced that the club's board of directors had voted 5-1 to file this week for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
For months, it had been rumored that Valley would not survive the costs associated with legal proceedings and lawsuits filed on behalf of young campers from Creative Steps Day Camp, a city summer camp whose members are minorities.
Campers' families alleged that their children's pool privileges had been revoked because the club's overwhelmingly white members didn't want children of color at the small, suburban club.
Ronnie Polaneczky of the Philadelphia Daily News has the entire e-mail from Valley Club president John Duesler to club members, sent out this week. A snippet that still shows a startling lack of insight about the initial problem that led the club to this place:
"[W]e have also emailed you, last year's members, and have understandably received a collective shrug of the shoulders...we are all tired and beaten down and just sickened by how our club has been improperly portrayed. After speaking to many members, my sense is that mostly everyone wants to move on."
...Please know that this Board has done everything in its power to find a reasonable solution to, not just the declining memberships, but the legal remedies too. Yet, as with so many things that we face in life today, much of our challenges ame down to a matter of money! Money! Money! While our club has great heart and character, money is a resource of which we have been perpetually short.
"We do wish all of you the best, and we look forward to seeing you again within our community of families and friends.
This incident is another healthy reminder that self-segregation, in case illegal self-segregation, exists in many places outside of the South. (IMHO, the most color-aroused place I've ever lived is NYC, there were social norms and political history that fostered clear habitation boundaries that are just now breaking down because of the general unaffordability of housing.)
Remember the Freudian slip to the media by John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club when the initial excuses began?
"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion ... and the atmosphere of the club."
Below the fold, the details in the Human Relations Commission report that left no doubt that this club had quite a retro mentality about race relations and pool purity.
Kalamazoo voters approved an expanded anti-discrimination ordinance Tuesday, but the process for filing a complaint alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is still a work in progress.
...Now city officials are working on developing a process for people to file discrimination grievances and have them investigated.
Kalamazoo City Attorney Clyde Robinson said he is not anticipating a brisk business as a result of the ordinance, pointing to the experience of several other Michigan communities that have adopted similar laws.
But the paperwork, staffing and expense tied to administering Kalamazoo's new law are still unknown...
Form boxes to fill out for documentation:
The document should include "names, dates, witnesses and other factual matters relevant to the claim," according to the new city ordinance.
So, the work on the Kalamazoo Ordinance isn't complete is in place to file the appropriate form is developed to file the appropriate documentation to document alleged discrimination.
This is playing with 'conscience', even while your feet are in the stirrups. It's utter bullsh*t. This case goes back to 2001 (I blogged about it here), when a lesbian couple, Guadalupe Benitez and her partner, Joanne Clark, wanted to have a child and went to the North Coast Women's Care Medical Groupi n Encinitas, CA for artificial insemination.
North Coast Women's Care Medical Group refused to provide intrauterine insemination services to Guadalupe Benitez, citing two reasons -- 1) she's not married (though she has a partner and they are in a domestic partnership in a state that recognizes them), and 2) she's a lesbian. This, the clinic said, violated the religious beliefs of the practictioners.
This is back in the news again as ABC revisits the discrimination same-sex couples receive when the "religious beliefs" clause trumps health services.
"In general, religious beliefs or gender orientation should not interfere with the rights of an individual to reproduce," said Dr. Sherman Silber, director of the Infertility Center of St. Louis at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. "If a doctor doesn't want to care for a patient, the doctor has a right to decide who he or she is and isn't going to take care of. But that conflicts with the discrimination issue."
...A patient has the right to receive the best care possible from their chosen physician, said Dr. Siva Subramanian, professor of pediatrics and obstetrics at Georgetown University Hospital. But a physician has the right to personal beliefs and morals that may influence what they are willing to do medically.
Subramanian pointed out, however, that a physician's beliefs may conflict with state and federal laws governing medical practice -- laws that a licensed physician has agreed to comply with.
In all cases, a physician should make relevant personal beliefs known to patients during the first meeting, Subramanian said. And in cases where personal beliefs conflict with the law, physicians should be prepared to accept the consequences of standing by their beliefs.
By the way, in the case of Benitez and Clark, they were forced to go to North Coast because her insurance didn't cover any other facility -- add another case for health care reform to the pile, so turning them away at the start, an option open to doctors to avoid the conflict, would have been a civil rights violation.
"It would not have been legal to turn her away at the first visit," Pizer said. "This was compounded and made much worse by the doctors' repeated promises that [Guadalupe] would receive the treatment she needed. It was a long series of broken promises. You cannot have somebody you are taking care of and in the middle of it, not give infertility treatment unless you told the patient clearly and specifically before you take them on as a patient that their [treatment] will not go beyond a certain point," Subramanian said. "As long as you've got a license, you have an obligation and that supersedes moral grounds."
From my POV, if you cannot reconcile your faith and professional practice, you need to find another line of work. And if you want to really make it clear for prospective customers so as not to waste everyone's time, put a sign of the fish on your door and let it all hang out.
"[Miami] is an anti-gay city in an anti-gay state." -- Jackson Memorial Hospital official to Janice Langbehn, who was not allowed to see her dying partner. And the court agreed.
In the home state of Charlie Crist, where the law does little for the Sunshine State's LGBT residents, a horrific court rejection that only highlights the extent to which gay and lesbian couples are treated in the most inhumane way --one that heterosexual couples will never experience -- during their most vulnerable moments. The case is Langbehn v. Jackson Memorial Hospital. (Lambda Legal):
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida today rejected Lambda Legal's lawsuit filed against Jackson Memorial Hospital on behalf of Janice Langbehn, the Estate of Lisa Pond and their three adopted children who were kept apart by hospital staff for eight hours as Lisa slipped into a coma and died.
"The court's decision paints a tragically stark picture of how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families really are during times of crisis," said Beth Littrell, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. "We hope that because of Janice's courage to seek justice for her family in this case that more people better understand the costs of antigay discrimination. This should never happen to anyone."
While on a family cruise leaving from Miami, Lisa Pond, a healthy 39 year-old, suddenly collapsed. She was rushed to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital with her partner Janice and three children following close behind. There, the hospital refused to accept information from Janice about her partner's medical history. Janice was informed that she was in an antigay city and state, and she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as Lisa's partner or family.
A doctor finally spoke with Janice telling her that there was no chance of recovery. Other than one five minute visit that was arranged by a Catholic priest at Janice's request to perform last rites, and despite the doctor's acknowledgement that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither Janice - who provided the hospital with a medical Power of Attorney document - nor their children were allowed to see Lisa until nearly eight hours after their arrival. Soon after Lisa's death, Janice tried to get her death certificate in order to get life insurance and Social Security benefits for their children. She was denied both by the State of Florida and the Dade County Medical Examiner.
Today's ruling comes after the Public Health Trust of the Miami Dade County, the governing body of Jackson Memorial Hospital, filed a motion to dismiss the case. The court ruled that the hospital has neither an obligation to allow their patients' visitors nor any obligation whatsoever to provide their patients' families, healthcare surrogates, or visitors with access to patients in their trauma unit. The court has given the Langbehn-Pond family until October 16 to review the ruling and consider all legal options.
You see that - even though the hospital was presented with a legal document giving her medical POA, she could neither see her dying partner nor obtain a flipping death certificate!? This is sick on so many levels. The issue here is that even with the right legal documentation, once the battle in the hospital begins between homophobic officials and the partner, time wasted on trying to obtain basic rights you are entitled to allows the patient's life to fritter away over this bullsh*t. If the doctor said there was no medical reason for her not to see her partner, then that should have been the end of it.
justice denied, justice delayed since hearing a little after 1pm (9.29.09) my time today that Judge Jordan (Federal Judge in Florida) sided with the hospital (Jackson Memorial Hospital - Ryder Trauma Center)
my world has crumbled, my heart was stabbed just like watching Lisa collapsing all over again on the Rfamily cruise on 2/18/07
words of encouragement have poured in from friends, family and others to say "hang in there - the fight is just starting".
and then our son David - saying "mom that's messed up - if we were here in Group Health we could have been with other mom but because we were in Florida we couldn't - how is that fair - shouldn't the laws me the same in all the states" he is only 14 and has some learning delays - what does that say about our society, our laws, and how we wrong others every day if my 14 year old son can see it's "not fair"
I honestly don't know how I pick myself up and put on a brave face for public speaking that has always been very trying and hard for me even before this decision - now it will be augmented with an asterisk that says but she failed in court
I know there are people who disagreed that I should never have filed the lawsuit to begin with, that to let the dead lay in rest. I couldn't - I never could - I always picked at those wounds on my arms or face hoping for a different outcome. Speaking out about the inequality we faced was no difference.
This is tragic, enraging and disgusting because there was no reason for this to happen. Florida needs to stop this rank discrimination -- and it doesn't even have to do it by affirming gay families, btw. At least in NC, the law on the books is that a patient can designate anyone to be their primary point of contact. Of course if the patient is not conscious, then you do have to rely on legal paperwork. However, I've never experienced any problems here, in fact it's been the opposite, neither of us have ever been asked for documentation or questioned at all. I will say that hospitals need to update all of their forms to allow a box for "partner" or "significant other."
The cruelty could be resolved by the state's legislature changing the law -- is there any chance this will happen?
(By the way, brace yourself if you venture into the comments of the linked news article. It's another reality check about post-racial America...)
After all the protestation that the club wasn't run by bigots, the state found the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania was run by bigots. The report is damning and I have some screenshots in the post.
You'll recall that the Creative Steps Day Camp paid $1900 to swim in the camp's pool during the summer and when they showed up, this was the reaction.
"When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."
..."There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion ... and the atmosphere of the club," John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.
That didn't go over well, and it only got worse when the next defense is that there weren't enough lifeguards assigned to watch that large a group of kids. Unfortunately that was a big whopper of a lie, because in the report findings, there is example after example of parties that size or larger with few restrictions, certainly none of them turned away. Also, the Human Relations Commission report stated the Valley Club had 155 paid membership in 2009 and 179 in 2008, none held by an African-American. A few screenshots to peruse of the reactions of some Valley Clubbers:
Nice. And this:
Valley Club tried in 2009 to expand its membership by recruiting in areas outside its township - Lower Moreland, which has a 0.8 percent black population - mailouts were "mainly directed at areas with overwhelmingly Caucasian populations" including Rhawnhurst, Fox Chase and Churchville.
The more-diverse townships of Cheltenham and Abington, like other nearby areas with "significant African-American populations," the report says, were passed over.
What a surprise! So this was the fine levied...
The commission ordered the club to pay a $50,000 civil penalty for the club's discrimation again one child, whose parents filed the complaint with the commission.
The report also orders Valley Club to pay other damages, including reimbursing the parent who filed the complaint for all related expenses. If there is no settlement made between the parent, the club and the commission, either party can request a public hearing before the commission and can after that be challenged in court.
The $50,000 civil penalty is to be paid to state government, under terms of the finding.
The Miami Herald's Steve Rothaus reports on the discrimination lawsuit and subsequent firing of WPLG-ABC's Charles Perez, who alleges that the station
demoted him to weekend anchor/reporter "because of their discomfort over the increasingly high profile of my sexual orientation."
The station's POV:
Station executives recently told Miami Herald columnist Joan Fleischman their decision was driven by economics.
WPLG Vice President and News Director Bill Pohovey denied Perez's claims: ``This is an outrageous accusation," Pohovey said Monday in a statement to The Herald. ``As a gay man myself, I can safely say the Station does not discriminate against gay people. Charles' claim that the Station discriminates against gay people is untrue and offensive."
The red flag in this story is the appearance of station's discomfort with Perez's increasingly messy private life. The MIami-Dade anchor's name has been in the local news because of abuse charges against his former partner Dennis Ricardo Peña, whom Perez filed a injunction against for protection against domestic violence for being ''stalked, harassed and threatened'' by Peña. There are also charges and counter charges about whether Perez's email was hacked and confidential information disclosed that the anchor felt could damage his professional rep.
You won't believe what else was released. It's below the fold.
Racial-discrimination lawsuits against a private Montgomery County swimming club over its revoked contract with a Philadelphia day camp could cost enough to threaten the Valley Club's existence.
Attorneys, club members, and tax records indicated that a pair of federal-court lawsuits - one filed, one promised - could cost the club more money than it has and possibly leave board members liable for civil-rights verdicts.
"The only asset we have is the land, which housing developers have been trying to buy for years," said Bonnie Bacich, a Valley Club member for 30 years.
"The outrage of having to go through this, with an African American president in 2009 - we don't take this kind of stuff lightly in America anymore," said Montgomery County civil-rights lawyer Brian Wiley, who is not involved in the case lawsuit.
Wiley said fighting the issue in court could prove a fiscal challenge to the tax-exempt, nonprofit club, which listed $210,193 in assets in its most recent federal filing. "That club's got to settle that case," he said.
The best solution for this matter is for the club to go belly up and have some rich black person -- how about Bill Cosby, who hails from Philly -- buy up the land and open up a club where anyone can take a dip in the purity pool.
But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and gender. By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion for simply kneeling down to pray. By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights.
On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America.
NOTE FROM PAM: Former Co-Chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the 2008 campaign, Stampp Corbin, contributed this essay on discrimination that is spot on -- it discusses the numerous subtle ways that we are "othered" every day in a heterocentric society that have a great impact on our lives.
Counting all forms of discrimination against LGBTs by Stampp Corbin
The original definition of the word discrimination was a harmless one. It's meant to have the ability to detect fine distinctions, like a wine connoisseur can detect citrus and oak in different bottles of chardonnay. Today the word discrimination is used to describe treatment based upon a class or category, rather than individual merit or simply put, prejudice. Discrimination comes in all forms, from the overt to the subtle.
When it comes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, discrimination against us is often some of the most subtle. Much of it is so subtle; most Americans don't even know it exists. How are members of the LGBT community discriminated against? Let me count the ways.
First, there is our inability to be open and honest about our relationships at work. Whether it is in the military or at the local family restaurant, some in the LGBT community are closeted at work because they can be fired in many states just for being a member of the LGBT community. Yet, our straight co-workers can extol their divorces and third marriage to reckless abandon. A gay man talking about his 12 year relationship with his partner, not good.
Let me count the ways. In some states where gays and lesbians have domestic partnership or civil union health care benefits, those benefits are taxed as ordinary income. That means a gay spouse pays $1,000 to the government for the same $3,000 worth of benefits that are given to a straight spouse with no taxation. When it comes to the military, "traditional" families are given many benefits when their loved one is deployed. LGBT families get none of these benefits. In fact, many LGBT partners are informed of their loved one's death not by the military, but by the soldier's family. Thanks for making the ultimate sacrifice. We would have kicked you out anyway had we known you were gay or lesbian.
Let me count the ways. If my brother and I were killed in an automobile accident and my brother left an estate of $1 million, his wife would receive his entire estate tax free. My partner Scott would be forced to pay an estate tax of about 30 percent because the federal government does not consider us related. So Scott pays $300,000 to Uncle Sam, my brother's wife would pay nothing. That is discriminatory.
When it comes to social security, my sister-in-law would be the beneficiary of my brother's social security, my partner Scott would get absolutely nothing. So the LGBT community is contributing to the stability of the social security system by letting all the money we have contributed go back into the system at our death, instead of to our loved ones. Sound fair to you?
Then there are those pesky hospital situations. Scott and I had to hire an attorney to ensure that he has the power to make medical decisions for me. No problem for my sister-in-law, this ability is automatic with her marriage certificate. What's worse is my sister-in-law simply has to state to the doctor or nurse, "I am his wife." No asking for proof, it is accepted. Scott says "I am his partner," the response often is "Do you have a living will stating so, and do you have a copy for our records?" Isn't discrimination grand?
Let me count the ways. How about the member of the LGBT community that falls in love with someone from another country. Does their partner get to immigrate to the U.S.? Absolutely not. A straight couple, the spouse is welcomed with open arms. In fact, mail order brides still exist and they get automatic citizenship. LGBT partners, get in line; you may get citizenship in seven to ten years. All men are created equal...except lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender.
So now you know. The LGBT community is discriminated against in everyday life. There are over 1,100 rights that married couples get from the federal government that Scott and I are denied. So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to be part of the problem or the solution?
What, you mean we were seen as a danger to the government by Dear Leader's peeps!? Get me a fainting couch...(Wash Blade):
Applicants for Justice Department internships and honors programs may have been rejected based on their membership in LGBT groups during the Bush administration, the Blade has learned.
Numerous applicants were denied entry to the department's Honors Program and the summer intern program starting in 2006 because of their previous work in what were deemed to be liberal organizations, according to an internal Justice Department report issued last year. The practice occurred while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales led the department.
..."The findings of this Department of Justice investigation are disturbing," said Sean Cahill, a Gay Men's Health Crisis director. "If anything, the opportunities for interns to work on immigration law at Gay Men's Health Crisis, and provide legal services to immigrants living with HIV, makes one more qualified, not less, to serve in the Department of Justice."
Also on the sh*t list were any people affiliated with immigration issues -- that means two-for-two for Immigration Equality!
"While few gay rights groups are included on the DOJ's blacklist, immigrant advocacy groups make up 25 percent of the list," she said. "The rights of non-citizens are the canary in our constitutional coal mine, and LGBT people, both immigrants and non-immigrants, know that immigrant rights must be zealously defended for everyone's sake."
...Rachel Tiven, Immigration Equality's executive director, said in a statement that her organization was "proud to be the only national LGBT organization included in the Bush Justice Department's list of dangerous organizations" and that "opponents of equality and justice are right to fear us."
Not surprisingly, 82% of folks with ties to liberal orgs had their resumes hit the circular file while only 13% of people with conservative backgrounds were crossed off the list.
UPDATE2: Hearing underway! GLAD's twitter coverage here.
UPDATE: Watch videos of MTPC's pre-hearing presser from this morning here. Follow GLAD's twitter cover of the proceedings here.In advance of Tuesday's legislative hearings on "An Act Relative To Gender-Based Discrimination And Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687), MassNOW, Jane Doe, MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence, MA Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and others held a press conference at the State House in Boston. The video is below the fold.
It is incredibly heartening to see not just LGBT organizations, but women's organizations standing up for the rights of and embracing all women.
Reminder: if you live in MA, it's not too late to call your state legislators and tell them why it is vital that they support H. 1728/S. 1687! The judiciary committee hearing is on Tuesday, July 14th at 2:30 pm at the State House in Boston. If you want to testify, it is advisable to arrive an hour or two early to sign up.
Update: Anyone feeling lazy about acting in support of this bill, a reminder of how dedicated the opposition is rests below the fold.Your help is needed now to pass transgender non-discrimination legislation in Massachusetts. Our friends at GLAD explain how you can help.
Next Tuesday, July 14, "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687) will be heard by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
This bill will explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.
Please join us at the State House in Boston next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. as we stand together with parents, employees, victims of violence and allies in the passing of this bill and the right for all Massachusetts citizens to work, go to school and live without fear. If you have not already done so, contact your legislators today and share your own story about why you support this bill.
A large show of support at the hearing on Tuesday will demonstrate to legislators that Massachusetts is ready to join the twelve other U.S. states, including Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, that protect all citizens equally under the law.
UPDATE: The text of the memo is available here, and is also printed below the fold.Well here it is. In his comments Obama said he support the Domestic Partners Benefits & Obligations Act which, if passed, would give federal employees full spousal benefits. Tammy Baldwin is an author of that bill, and was present at the event today.
Obama also said he would work with Congress to repeal DOMA, but of course gave no indication that this was going to happen in our lifetimes. He used vague words such as "in the months and years ahead". He failed to say anything even vaguely resembling "I'm going to be pounding on Reid & Pelosi's desks until we get those abominations DADT & DOMA repealed!!!"
THE PRESIDENT: Well, today I'm proud to issue a presidential memorandum that paves the way for long-overdue progress in our nation's pursuit of equality.
Many of our government's hard-working, dedicated, and patriotic public servants have long been denied basic rights that their colleagues enjoy for one simple reason -- the people that they love are of the same sex.
Currently, for example, LGBT federal employees can't always use sick leave to care for their domestic partners or their partners' children. Their partners aren't covered under long-term care insurance. Partners of American Foreign Service officers abroad aren't treated the same way when it comes to the use of medical facilities or visitation rights in case of an emergency.
These are just some of the wrongs that we intend to right today.
In consultation with Secretary of State Clinton, as well as OPM Director John Berry, my administration has completed a long and thorough review to identify a number of areas where we can extend federal benefits to the same-sex partners of Foreign Service and executive branch government employees.
I'm requesting that Secretary Clinton and Director Berry do so where possible under existing law -- and that the heads of all executive departments and agencies conduct reviews to determine where they may do the same.
Hundreds of Fortune 500 companies already offer such benefits not only because it's the right thing to do, but because they recognize that it helps them compete for and retain the best possible talent -- and we need top talent serving their country right now more than ever.
Now, under current law, we cannot provide same-sex couples with the full range of benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
"That's why I'm proud to announce my support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, crucial legislation that will guarantee these rights for all federal employees.
I want to thank Representative Tammy Baldwin, who is behind me somewhere -- there she is, right there -- for her tireless leadership on this bill and in the broader struggle for equality. I want to thank Senator Joe Lieberman -- Joe is here -- as well as Susan Collins for championing this bill in the Senate; and Representative Barney Frank for his leadership on this and so many other issues -- in fact, this is his second trip to the White House today. (Laughter.)
It's a day that marks a historic step towards the changes we seek, but I think we all have to acknowledge this is only one step. Among the steps we have not yet taken is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. I believe it's discriminatory, I think it interferes with states' rights, and we will work with Congress to overturn it.
We've got more work to do to ensure that government treats all its citizens equally; to fight injustice and intolerance in all its forms; and to bring about that more perfect union. I'm committed to these efforts, and I pledge to work tirelessly on behalf of these issues in the months and years to come.
Thank you very much everybody, and with that I am going to sign this executive order.
(The memorandum is signed.) (Applause.)
END 6:08 P.M. EDT
Also present were OPM Director John Berry, Fred Hochberg, the president of the Export-Import Bank of United States, Rea Carey, executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Equality, Leonard Hirsch, the president of the Federal GLOBE, Lorilyn "Candy" Holmes, a career federal employee, and Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Well Blenders, are you satisfied? John Aravosis isn't. here's his evisceration of Obama's civil rights performance to date.
This afternoon at 5:45 EST, Obama will present The Memo to expand minor benefits for LGBT federal employees. The pre-memo fact sheet is an exercise in low expectations. It tells us that Obama is not going to make change by changing any laws. In fact, the fact sheet states twice that Obama has been scrounging for crumbs for us with the stipulation that they are already...
within the confines of existing laws and statutes
It remains to be seen if he takes the opportunity to push legislation so that he has more to offer us "within the confines" of the law.
You can watch live on C-SPAN.** If you hear of other live viewing or listening locations before it starts, please drop them in the comments.
**Not working for me. Anyone else have luck elsewhere?
UPDATE2: While we wait for details or video, here is some priceless reaction from the fundies Obama thinks he's winning over by hating on Teh Gayz.
Conservative Christians: Obama's Gay Benefits Order Approximates Marriage
Conservative Christian groups criticizing the president's memorandum extending certain benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees are alleging that the president is approximating the benefits of marriage - that he's basically creating "marriage light."...Here's a statement today from Concerned Women for America President Wendy Wright:
"Barack Obama's order...attempts to elevate relationships outside of marriage as if they are the same as marriage...Federal funds should not be a political tool to elevate partner arrangements to be treated similar to marriage."
UPDATE: Press Secretary Gibbs re: Obama's support for the DoJ brief (courtesy ABC News)
TAPPER: Does the president stand by the legal brief that the Justice Department filed last week that argued in favor the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act?
GIBBS: Well, as you know, that the Justice Department is charged with upholding the law of the land, even though the president believes that that law should be repealed.
TAPPER: I understand that, but a lot of legal experts say that the brief didn't have to be as comprehensive and make all the arguments that it made, such as comparing same-sex unions to incestuous ones, in one controversial paragraph...
GIBBS: Well...
TAPPER: ...that's upset a lot of the president's supporters. Does the president stand by the content, the arguments made in that brief?
GIBBS: Well, again, it's the president's Justice Department. And, again, we have the role of upholding the law of the land while the president has stated and will work with Congress to change that law.
If you take your laptop and grab a cup a joe at one of the many The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations, don't bother trying to log onto the Blend. I received an email from Phillip with Unite The Fight.
I contribute periodically at Pam's House Blend. My internet went down the last couple days and had to go to the Coffee Bean to work, using their free wi-fi. Both days your site and Towleroad among others were blocked for "sexuality." See attached.:
So this news and commentary site has been deemed by the proprietors to be porno or some other inappropriate sexua content to let their patrons surf to on its free wifi service. Phillip posted about it and wrote OpenDNS and Coffee Bean about its "technical discrimination."
Sure, this shouldn't be anything new to us - we experience "technical" discrimination all the time when we try to visit newsworthy sites issuing stories on LGBT issues, while at work or at the library, simply because the word "gay", "lesbian", the dreaded "homosexual" and other similar key words are detected. As a result, we're immediately blocked for the reason, as described above by OpenDNS, the wi-fi source for Coffee Bean, of "sexuality."
Naturally, I wrote a rather angry email telling them they need to do a better job determining what is porn or "adult" and from what is a news or editorial blog. If I typed in "heterosexual", would the sites pulled up be blocked?
I doubt it.
...Received a response from OpenDNS regarding the Coffee Bean wi-fi:
We only provide network admins with the tools to block content on their networks, we as a company do not block anyone for any reason. If this user (i.e.business) chooses to block a particular type of content on their network, we cannot interfere.
You however, as a consumer, have every right to boycott their business for the way they choose to block content on their networks.
If you have any other questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask - we are more than happy to help!
Interesting. And I want to be clear. I never mentioned a boycott. That was them. Waiting to hear from Coffee Bean themselves.
On behalf of Coffee Bean & Team Leaf's Tim Casey, I'm providing a response directly to you regarding the blocked website issue that occurred on the company's server. It has now been resolved, but we feel you need an explanation of how this happened.
"At approximately 3:00pm on Thursday we were notified by a customer using our complementary wi-fi service that two specific sites catering to the LGBT community were blocked from access. Those sites included Pam's House Blend and Towleroad. After learning of the issue, our technical team researched the situation and took immediate steps to unblock the sites that were brought to our attention. It is not, and has never been, the policy of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to block Internet content or websites from our customers or members of the LGBT community. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf subscribes to an OpenDNS platform that incorporates a peer review component which allows users to flag particular sites they deem inappropriate. In this case, a small amount of flags triggered the system and the sites in question were blocked automatically. No web-content filter is perfect, but we are grateful to the customers who quickly brought this to our attention for resolution. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf supports diversity on all levels and values the community members of the areas we operate in. Our goal in offering free wi-fi service is to open communication and exchange of information, not to block information," stated Tim Casey, Vice President of Marketing & Operations, International Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, LLC.
Please call me on either of the numbers listed below to discuss this further and so that I can answer any additional questions you might have.
Best,
Bill
BILL HARRISON Fifteen Minutes Public Relations
8436 W. Third St. | Suite 650 | Los Angeles Ca 90048
This is unbelievable. When we talk about eliminating discrimination based on gender expression this is EXACTLY what kind of bullsh*t we're talking about. This women's prison made the assumption that, regardless of orientation, there was a need to segregate women who don't look feminine enough to avoid sexual contact or relationships in lockup.
For more than a year, Virginia's largest women's prison rounded up inmates who had loose-fitting clothes, short hair or otherwise masculine looks, sending them to a unit officers derisively dubbed the "butch wing," prisoners and guards say.
Dozens were moved in an attempt to split up relationships and curb illegal sexual activity at the 1,200-inmate Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, though some straight women were sent to the wing strictly because of their appearance, the inmates and corrections officers said.
Civil rights advocates called the moves unconstitutional punishment for "looking gay." The warden denied that any housing decisions were made based on looks or sexual orientation, and said doing so would be discriminatory. The practice was stopped recently after the Associated Press began questioning it, according to several inmates and one current employee.
Two current guards and one of their former co-workers said targeting masculine-looking inmates was a deliberate strategy by a building manager. Numerous inmates said in letters and interviews that they felt humiliated and stigmatized when guards took them to the separate wing - also referred to by prisoners and guards as the "little boys wing," "locker room wing" or "studs wing."
Let's see, so I suppose the lipstick lesbians among the incarcerated would remain in gen pop because these guards obviously couldn't ascertain whether sexual activity was going on between those gals, right? Good god, the ignorance of these "professionals" is astonishing.
Triolo and Trina O'Neal were two of the first inmates sent to 5D in the fall of 2007.
"I have been gay all my life and never have I once felt as degraded, humiliated or questioned my own sexuality, the way I look, etc., until all of this happened," O'Neal, 33, who is serving time for forgery and drug charges, wrote to the AP.
Teacher Joseph Quigley of Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, who is also gay, found himself at a termination hearing recently. School Board Superintendent Karl Springer's recommended the termination of Quigley, who has been with the school district since 1994, because "he wasn't following plans for improvement and didn't obey administrative directives."
Quigley's attorneys say otherwise:
"The attempt to fire Mr. Quigley, a career teacher with a stellar record, appears to be driven by some administrators after he advocated for better protections for gay and lesbian students. The legal counsel for OKCPS has relied on trumped up and exaggerated charges to make the case for his dismissal. In fact, Mr. Quigley was the subject of harassment and false charges merely because of his advocacy for gay and lesbian students and/or the fact that he is gay."
MetroStar News, an Oklahoma LGBT newspaper, reports that Quigley received consistent high marks on his evaluations for a decade -- that clearly doesn't indicate someone was unhappy with his performance in the classroom.
What did Quigley "do wrong" in the eyes of the school? Perhaps this sheds some light on the matter:
He stated that the administration "singled him out, applied a double standard, micromanaged him and has instituted a relentless scorched earth policy to get rid of him." He also pointed out that it wasn't until after 2007 that his evaluations showed him to be substandard, when Ms. Walling became his evaluator. It was clarified that his evaluations suddenly went down after 2006 , after Joe advocated the inclusion of "sexual orientation" among the groups listed in the Student Handbook to be protected from harassment and bullying.
Here we go. More advocates for the beating of LGBT youth, because, of course, in Oklahoma they deserve it -- and the advocate, needs to suffer consequences as well. Quigley and his attorneys are considering taking his case to the federal court.
What's really sad is that Oklahoma is in a race to top of the wingnuttery charts. It was the only state that had no Blue counties in this past election, and voters in that state managed to turn Oklahoma even more Republican. Its LGBT and reality-based citizens pay the price; this should be a reality check to LGBTs out there who are in deep Blue states with a host of civil rights and the luxury to focus on marriage equality. People in deep Red states are in the bullseye of the bigots with limited support from allies, national orgs (and elected officials practically MIA).
And the church wonders why its numbers are shrinking? Deacon Keith Fournier's screed @ Catholic Online, "Should Disordered Appetites be Civil Rights?", only reinforces the belief that the moral and logical center is missing from the domain of pedophile-enabling Prada Papa Ratzi's domain. He pulls out all the old saws, quoting the Pope's nonsense, using the "parts don't fit" argument...then pulls out a comparison of equal rights committed same-sex relationships to affirming eating disorders.
The Catholic Church will not change its position on the nature of marriage because it cannot. Truth is not up for grabs.
Among the clearest summaries of the teaching of our Church on this matter was set forth by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XI) in the "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons" promulgated in 1986. Here are just a few of the clearly stated insights: "The Church, obedient to the Lord who founded her and gave to her the sacramental life, celebrates the divine plan of the loving and live-giving union of men and women in the sacrament of marriage. It is only in the marital relationship that the use of the sexual faculty can be morally good. A person engaging in homosexual behavior therefore acts immorally."
"To choose someone of the same sex for one's sexual activity is to annul the rich symbolism and meaning, not to mention the goals, of the Creator's sexual design. Homosexual activity is not a complementary union, able to transmit life; and so it thwarts the call to a life of that form of self-giving which the Gospel says is the essence of Christian living. This does not mean that homosexual persons are not often generous and giving of themselves; but when they engage in homosexual activity they confirm within themselves a disordered sexual inclination which is essentially self-indulgent".
...Some maintain that same sex attraction is a genetic predisposition. This is disputed. Even if it were the case, that does not give homosexual activity any more of a claim to being given a special civil rights status. Should we really give disordered appetites civil rights status under the law? Let's consider an absurd example. I have struggled most of my life with fighting obesity. I am on the "winning end" lately, but just give me another Holiday! A very good argument can be made that obesity also has a genetic predisposition. However, I will fight it my whole life because it is unhealthy. It is a disordered appetite. Should we as a Nation decide that fat people have a civil right to be fat? Should those who insist that they resist that "genetic predisposition" to overeat be called Fata-phobic?
Disordered appetites - and the actions engaged in by those who give into them - simply should not be called civil rights. Certainly, those who succumb to them should be treated with the human dignity that they deserve and not be discriminated against. However, that is because they are human not because of their behavior! Homosexual sexual acts are simply homosexual sexual acts. Our bodies do not lie, they speak the language written within their constitution and confirmed in the Natural Law which binds us all.
Now since I belong to these two groups he brings up -- fat and gay -- I ask this question, does being overweight/obese mean you have fewer civil rights than a thin person? We're not talking about actuarial tables, pre-existing conditions or cost of health care here -- those are certainly debatable topics (and policies are being affected by the debate). We're talking about a man who is actually saying that being gay (or overweight) itself is grounds to be considered "less than." I doubt he's the only one who believes this, and it's a pathological cultural problem on both calls.
You would think a basic right -- for partners to be able to have access to one another in the hospital during a medical emergency isn't a problem in California, of all places, but it allegedly is in this case. (The Examiner):
[Kristin] Orbin and her partner of 3½ years, Teresa Rowe, 30, who live in Northern California, were in Fresno for Meet in the Middle 4 Equality, an event protesting the California Supreme Court's ruling upholding Proposition 8.
After marching 14 miles in Central Valley heat, Orbin (who is epileptic) collapsed and suffered three grand mal seizures. A doctor at a first aid center had difficulty finding her pulse, so he called 911.
Orbin said the discrimination started as soon as the paramedics arrived.
"By that time, I was awake and aware of what was happening. They wanted nothing to do with Teresa and she had to practically fight them to be allowed to ride in the ambulance. Once we got to the hospital, they wheeled me into a hallway and left me, refusing to allow Teresa to be with me."
Orbin said the paramedic told the nurse on duty that she had collapsed after marching 14 miles for civil rights, and the nurse gave her a dirty look and said "ooooh." She continued, "I asked if Teresa could come back with me, but the nurse told me I was in a no visitor zone. When I asked her why everyone else had visitors, she said 'those people are different'."
Interestingly, the doctor appeared to know that this situation was wrong and attempted to rectify the problem.
"When the doctor arrived, I asked him if Teresa could join me," Orbin said. "He asked me why she wasn't already with me, and I told him the nursing staff told me I was in a no visitor zone. The doctor gave me an odd look and said, 'I will take care of that'. He left the room, and a few minutes later Teresa came in, but she said she was told by the front desk that she could only stay for a few minutes."
That also was resolved when the doctor must have intervened again and Rowe was told she could stay with Orbin until discharge. Read the rest.
For me it's disconcerting because here in NC, both Kate and I have had to make trips to the emergency room (and even required admission) and not one time was our relationship and roles even questioned by hospital personnel. For that I am thankful, because incidents like the one this California couple experienced show you that even when there may be the law on your side, there's no guarantee that individual bigotry of "medical professionals" might stand between you and prompt, adequate health care, emergency or not.
Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
The morning of November 5th, 2008, was bittersweet. I awoke that morning, after Barack Obama's historic, with a sense of hope diminished by a nagging despair following the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which attempted to snatch away the equality that that the state Supreme Court granted to same-sex couples just months ago. The Obama campaign slogan, "Yes we can," was transformed into "Yes we did," by revelers in the streets of D.C. and in other locations across the country and around the world. I couldn't honestly join in the celebration without also reminding myself that "No, we didn't."
Welcome back to post-racial America friends, where some people believe that electing a black man as POTUS erases all vestiges of racism from American culture.
Ronnie Polaneczky of the Philadelphia Daily News 
justice denied, justice delayed since hearing a little after 1pm (9.29.09) my time today that Judge Jordan (Federal Judge in Florida) sided with the hospital (Jackson Memorial Hospital - Ryder Trauma Center)
After all the protestation that the club wasn't run by bigots, the state found the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 
Counting all forms of discrimination against LGBTs
Your help is needed now to pass transgender non-discrimination legislation in Massachusetts. Our friends at 
Next Tuesday, July 14, "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes" (H. 1728/S. 1687) will be heard by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
This afternoon at 5:45 EST, Obama will present The Memo to expand minor benefits for LGBT federal employees. The pre-memo 
Just a sampling of recent Blend stories about Sally Kern's state:
