HRC: Comments Comparing Prop 8 Protestors with Mumbai Terrorists Shows True Colors of Anti-Gay Movement

FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN:

Pat Boone’s Bizarre Rant Claims “Awful Similarity” Between “Jihadists” in Mumbai and Prop 8 Protestors; Attacks CA Gov Schwarzenegger for Encouraging Protests

12/9/2008

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization, responded today to the exclusive commentary posted on the extremist, right-wing website World Net Daily by anti-gay activist and former singer Pat Boone. Boone published a bizarre and disturbing commentary comparing the horrific tragedy in Mumbai, which took the lives of over 170 people, to the protests against Proposition 8 here in the U.S. In essence, equating the Mumbai tragedy with those protesting the passage of the discriminatory amendment in California that took marriage rights away from gay and lesbian couples to terrorists.

In the commentary titled “Hate is hate, in India or America,” which can be viewed at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82830, Boone writes, “let me ask you: Have you not seen the awful similarity between what happened in Mumbai and what’s happening right now in our cities?” Boone went on to state, “What troubles me so deeply, and should trouble all thinking Americans, is that there is a real, unbroken line between the jihadist savagery in Mumbai and the hedonistic, irresponsible, blindly selfish goals and tactics of our homegrown sexual jihadists.”

“Pat Boone wouldn’t normally warrant a second thought, even if his only claim to fame these days is his unabashed homophobia, but his disturbing commentary on this right-wing site can’t go unanswered,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His commentary marks a new low in anti-gay rhetoric. And yet it also demonstrates the depths of hatred from these demagogues toward the LGBT community. Most Americans would be shocked to see this level of vitriol coming from someone who presented himself as America’s sweetheart.”

Boone even lodged an attack on Governor Schwarzenegger for encouraging gay Americans to “never give up” in the quest for equality. Boone wrote, “You haven’t seen, on the evening news, prominent entertainers and even California Gov. Schwarzenegger, urging the demonstrators on, telling them they should “never give up” until they get their way?” Boone added, “Hate is hate, no matter where it erupts. And hate, unbridled, will eventually and inevitably boil into violence.”

“Bigots like Boone will never see how absurd their arguments are, but just like that other anti-gay icon from the 70s, Anita Bryant, Pat Boone’s screed actually helps our efforts for equality,” continued Solmonese. “In most places in America today it isn’t acceptable to be an outright bigot. Obviously, Pat Boone hasn’t got that memo.”

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The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

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Wisc. State Journal: Two moms are better than none

FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL:

A Wisconsin State Journal editorial

Wisconsin and the nation should reject the backward path Arkansas tripped down last month when it banned same-sex parenting.

At stake are the futures of thousands of children like Maria, 5, who is thriving in Madison with two moms rather than struggling to grow up on her own.

Denise Matyka, the executive director of a Madison nonprofit, adopted Maria from Russia in 2003. Matyka’s partner, Margaret McMurray, is now a legal co-parent.

Today their daughter is happy and loved. Maria was recently honored as a “super thinker” in kindergarten.

Wisconsin should thank same-sex parents for providing attention, encouragement, financial resources and permanent homes for needy children. The fact these parents are gay or lesbian shouldn’t matter. What should matter is what’s best for the children.

Arkansas voters on Nov. 4 banned anyone who is “cohabitating outside of a valid marriage” from being a foster parent or adopting children. The ban is aimed at same-sex parents who can’t legally marry even if they want to. And the ban will even prevent one half of a gay couple from adopting a child if the couple lives together.

The Arkansas ban will kick in Jan. 1 — even though 960 children in that state are waiting and wishing for someone to adopt them. Preventing responsible gay couples from adopting more of these children is a tragic mistake.

The Arkansas vote will only expand the state’s waiting list for adoptions and foster care, depriving more children of stable and loving homes. It also will forbid private adoptions by gay parents.

A Florida judge recently found, after listening to reams of expert testimony, that no legal or scientific reason exists for prohibiting anyone from adopting a child based on sexual orientation alone. The judge struck down as unconstitutional a strict Florida law that tried to prohibit gay people from adopting children.

Wisconsin has quietly allowed gay couples to foster and adopt children for years, although in many cases only one half of the couple can be named as the legal adoptive parent. The state also respects the laws of other states and countries if the adoption occurred there.

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Human Rights Campaign responds forcefully to untruthful NYT ad

From the Press Center at the HRC:

12/5/2008

Today, members of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion Council responded forcefully to a full-page ad in the New York Times that implies there is an organized attempt to foment mob intimidation and violence toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to its actions dehumanizing lesbian and gay people in the recent election campaign, particularly in California around passage of Proposition 8, which stripped gay families of the right to a civil marriage. The ad was sponsored by NoMobVeto.org, a project of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

When did the LDS Church become the victim? It’s hard to believe, but that is exactly what it is trying to convince the public of. It is continuing to spend an excess of dollars in an attempt to mislead the public and transform its image. But the truth is that this is the same church that conducted a national broadcast to every temple, calling on members to organize and write checks to the Prop 8 campaign. The same church that donated more than half of the $40 million behind Prop 8, even though California Mormons represent just 2 percent of the state’s population. Yes, it’s the same church.

What HRC’s Religion Council had to say:

• “Several signatories to the ad are generals in the culture wars,” said Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Church (Epsicopal), Pasadena, Calif. “They lied about gay people in the campaign, and now they are lying again when they say we are in favor of mob intimidation and violence. I personally talked legitimately angry demonstrators in California out of such action and every credible LGBT organization called for peaceful resistance to the Prop 8 travesty. Many of the leaders cited in this ad preach hate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, then look the other way when LGBT people are the victims of hate crimes. This ad is an act of individual and corporate hypocrisy.”

• Bishop John Selders of Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford, Conn. commented, “As an African-American, I’ve heard this before. A few frustrated members of a minority group respond in anger to a new indignity and the oppressor calls them anarchists. Satan, sometimes called the Father of Lies, is at work when powerful people seek to dehumanize those who are less powerful.”

• Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre of Iliff School of Theology in Denver agreed, “I am always struck that those in power, those who manipulate the truth to maintain oppressive structures, present themselves to the public as the ones being persecuted. Make no mistake, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a powerful organization with an agenda of imposing a narrow religious view upon the rest of America. As we Hispanics say, ‘que vergüenza’ (what a shameful act).”

• “Calls for tolerance of certain religious viewpoints rings hollow in a world where religion often stands by tolerating violence perpetrated on God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children,” was Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson’s reply. Dr. Swenson is a Presbyterian minister and psychotherapist in Atlanta.

• Rev. Dr. Ken Stone of Chicago Theological Seminary said, “While I agree that violence and anti-religious bigotry need to be combated, we must also demand an end to the violence undertaken by those religious institutions that not only encourage but also fund bigotry against lesbians and gay men. Where will the Becket Fund be when we call for endorsements of hate crimes and employment protection legislation for LGBT people?”

• Here’s what Rev. Dr. Mary A. Tolbert of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Pacific School of Religion had to say: “The ‘No Mob Veto’ ad would be more convincing as a statement of concern for civil debate over the well-organized and well-funded participation of the LDS church in the passage of Prop 8 had it not itself ended with a clear threat of intimidation toward anyone criticizing that church’s role in the election. As the Christian gospels demonstrate in Jesus’ action of overturning the tables of money-lenders in the temple, sometimes speaking the truth to entrenched and wealthy religious leaders requires a dramatic stroke. To protest the enormous financial involvement of a religious body in stripping equal rights from California LGBT people, their families, and their children is in no way anti-religious bigotry; it is instead, like the example of Jesus in the temple, an attempt to speak the truth to those rooted in power and wealth whose actions serve to deprive other human beings of the equal respect and dignity all of God’s children deserve.”

• Rev. Rebecca Voelkel of the Institute for Welcoming Resources of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force summed up: “As a Christian, I was taught not to ‘bear false witness.’ One of the deepest tragedies of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign in California was its bearing false witness– more plainly stated, its lies– about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This ad is one more example. In response to the passage of Proposition 8, faithful, honorable, patriotic Americans from every walk of life and of many sexual orientations and gender identities gathered to say no to lies and yes to love, truth and the American way. To name these overwhelmingly peaceful gatherings as mobs dishonors me, my family, members of my church and so many others who participated in them. As a Christian, my religious tradition also admonishes me to speak the truth in love. Therefore, I prayerfully ask those who have run this ad and others like it, to stop your false witness. Instead, and especially in these times, our country and our world need all of us, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, pagans and all people of faith, to work on behalf of the dignity of all human beings.”

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HRC’s “Equally Speaking” Transcript: 12/3/08

Via the Human Rights Campaign Newsroom:

The following is a transcript of HRC’s morning news webcast “Equally Speaking.” To view the current videos visit the main Equally Speaking page.

12/3/2008

Good morning, and thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking, your morning dose of LGBT news from the Human Rights Campaign for Wednesday, December 3rd. I’m Brad Mayer.

And I’m Frank November. First up, news from HRC.

Earlier this week, HRC announced that it was joining forces with federal employee groups to urge the Office of Personnel Management to support domestic partner benefits for federal civilian employees. The announcement is timed with the federal government’s “open season,” when federal employees and retirees are allowed to make changes to their health benefit plans. Domestic partners of federal civil servants are not extended health, dental, vision and flexible spending benefits.

Now to news from England, where a lesbian soldier has been awarded over three hundred and eighty thousand dollars in a sexual harassment lawsuit. Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher was the subject of long-term harassment from a sergeant who wanted her to have sex with him. The payout was the largest ever imposed by a workers’ rights board in Britain, though the amount was half of what Fletcher sought.

Binghamton, New York town council members are considering comprehensive anti-discrimination laws that would include provisions for sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity. Members of the transgender community and their allies spoke out at a town council meeting earlier this week, encouraging town officials to pass the law, which would apply to employment, housing and public accommodations. It would also protect against discrimination based on height and weight, age, race, religion, and national origin.

And on Monday in Kalamazoo, Michigan, members of the city commission made it illegal to discriminate in housing, public accommodations and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The measure was similar to one that has already been adopted by fifteen other Michigan cities. The unanimous vote was lauded by LGBT advocates, who said the time has come for more cities to pass similar laws.

In other news, a former police officer in Missouri was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder in the death of a gay college student with whom he was having an affair. Twenty eight year old Steven Rios, a married father, was convicted of killing Jesse Valencia last June. Rios was reportedly concerned that their affair would be made public. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Finally this morning, Cyndi Lauper’s world tour, which was set to end in Caracas, Venezuela, has been cut short. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has reportedly canceled the concert because of Lauper’s support of LGBT rights. In a statement, Chavez said that he feared political protests due to Lauper’s appearance. Lauper, a participant in last spring’s True Colors tour and a friend of HRC, was touring on behalf of her latest album, Bring Ya to The Brink.

That’s the news from us today. Thanks for tuning in to Equally Speaking.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow morning.

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NOTICE: This posting is meant as a courtesy to the LGBT community at large to direct individuals to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender items of interest. We do not post full articles, so if you wish to read an entire story you should follow the link to its original author/publisher. We in no way, stated or unstated, claim to be the authors of any content posted here unless we say so explicitly. All content should be considered intellectual property of the original publisher, and should not be redistributed without full back-links and proper citations.

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