Hey Eugene! Nice Going!

So the Right Rev. Gene Robinson is going to do the first prayer for the inauguration activities!? As so many of the blogs--right and left--are asking: is this because of the uproar of the Rick Warren choice? After all, it doesn't seem that Robinson knew anything about his selection prior to the Warren furor, with Robinson also saying he was disappointed by the choice.

This morning's dailykos.com had the best line of the day: since Robinson prays first, God hears Robinson's prayer over Warren. And there is a group raising money for every second that Warren prays for LGBTQ concerns/issues:

Meanwhile we're thrilled that Rev. Gene Robinson is kicking off the inaugural festivities on Sunday, meaning that his blessing trumps all the others because it's the first one God will hear. At the same time, we're still planning to protest Rick Warren's two minutes of infamy by supporting the grassroots Rick-A-Thon:

The purpose of the Rick-A-Thon is to turn Rick Warren’s anti-equality stance into positive change for LGBT people. Every second that Warren stands at the podium, he will be raising money to advance LGBT civil rights.

Let's join the Rick-A-Thon!

Pace!

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Gender Benders

I am watching a "Discovery" channel special on Thomas Beattie, the man who was a pregnant man. We also saw a performance of "The Young Ladies of..." by Taylor Mac, a New York performing artist who helps us question what it means to test boundaries of what is normal, what are the borders, what it means to be a man, a woman. Thomas is wearing a shirt on him that says "Define Normal." Taylor Mac asked the same question: what does it mean to be a man or woman? He was dressed in some ways as a woman but is clearly a man.

This leads to questions like the following: what is a man? A woman? Marriage? Family?

Courage is what I see these two people and their families exhibiting.

Pace! B

Persistence Works: Obama Must Address Warren

In today's column in the News and Observer, Peder Zane writes about Warren's presence in the inauguration. Peder Zane understands that most Americans are still against gay marriage (2/3s according to the latest Newsweek poll), as is Warren. Zane then writes this: "If Warren is an anti-gay bigot, then so are most Americans. Unfortunately, that's the case."

Zane rightly understands that we who are LGBTQ people live with discrimination daily. He also believes that Obama has an opportunity to address such discrimination and bigotry.

He ends the article with this affirmation:

Being discriminated against, however, is like being pregnant: Either you are or you aren't. Can we expect people to quietly accept legalized inequality? Would you?

Officially, Obama says he supports civil unions but does not support gay marriage. Considering his other progressive policies, I find it hard to believe that position is anything other than a political expedient.

Given the nation's myriad problems, tackling the divisive issue of same-sex marriage immediately would be counterproductive. If Obama wants to deliver on his message of change and hope, he must eventually find a way to summon our better angels so that we can overcome this prejudice. History will little note his invitation to Warren, but it will long remember how he handles this moral issue.

Please click here for more.

Pace!

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Rep. Barney Frank: Coverboy

On The Advocate, the New York Times Magazine, and with an inside story in the latest New Yorker (article by Jeffrey Toobin), I keep on running into Rep. Barney Frank. He's been on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc.

In other words, he is making the rounds.

He is outspoken about his place in the Congress; his coming out in the late '80s; his own "prediction" about the progress society will be making in over-turning DADT, non-discrimination of LGBTQ people in jobs, and a hate-crime bill. All that is missing is civil unions!

I remember Barney Frank speaking out in 2004 at Duke University, where he made a dramatic appeal for us to vote and not merely hold rallies. According to Frank, while rallies are great fun and emotionally intoxicating, they do little to change things. Frank wanted us to know and remember that what matters most are the votes in Congress. What matters in a democracy is the vote.

This also involves money. Watching the Prop. 8 campaign in CA, it was clear that money was important in the act of getting-out-the-vote machine, with the pro-Prop. 8 folks having much more money. Money does not necessarily buy an election, but makes it easier. Just ask the Obama folks.

In a discussion with others in the Presby. Church (USA) at a gathering of More Light Presbyterians, the issue of money came up: who has more money at their disposal in the upcoming amendment votes among Presbyteries: the conservative voices or the progressive voices? The conservative side of the debate has far more money, and a better machine in getting news out to its members than do the liberal/progressive side.

Care to bet who will win?

Money and voting: in a democracy, they go together like butter on bread.

This is the lesson for the day.

Pace!

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Stop in the Name of (Equal) Love!

To borrow the old Temptations' song seemed a good way to begin this blog.

There is a UCC (United Church of Christ) congregation in Ashland, OR who are doing what they do at First UCC Church of Asheville, NC: they are not marrying anyone--straight or gay--until everyone who wants to be wed can be married. This is all under the banner of "equal rights for all."

Power to them.

OR is close to okaying civil unions for LGBQT couples. NJ is close to marriage for LGBTQ couples, with other state in the New England area looking seriously at this possibility. Imagine the entire corner of one part of this country being pro-LGBTQ marriage, followed by the entire West Coast. Soon, well, you know, domino affect coming in from both sides of the country.

Click here for more.

Pace!

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Harvey Milk High School

Two decades ago, Harvey Milk High School opened in Greenwich Village, NY. It has been and continues to be a sanctuary, a large "safe zone" for LGBTQ students and staff, along with straight allies. The need for such a high school is itself an indictment on many public and private schools, where being LGBTQ and out-straight allies may make someone a target of harassment. There was this moving statistic in the article from this morning's News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) that attracted my attention:

Last year the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network unveiled its "National School Climate Survey." Of the 6,200 gay middle and high school students surveyed, about 90 percent had been harassed and 60 percent said they felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation.

Hannah Devane, 17, a student at Harvey Milk, said mainstream schools failed her. She felt alienated and became so depressed, Devane said, she didn't get out of bed in the mornings. She stopped attending classes.

When Devane was 13, she heard about the Harvey Milk school in the news, and decided to ask her counselor to help her transfer.

"Coming here changed my life," she said. "Now I'm an A student."

My high school son has told me that, repeatedly in his classes, students are allowed to make derogatory comments re: LGBTQ people, e.g., fag or "that's so gay," but are only reprimanded when making racist or sexist comments by teachers.

And this is in a progressive part of NC!?

Click here for more.

It is time to change.

Pace!

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Mayor Sam Adams: Congrats!

Having been named the "gay minister" by the Chapel Hill News in covering various blogs in my part of the state of NC re: my mulling over running for an open seat on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School board, I was struck by the news of Sam Adams (45 y.o.) being sworn in as Portland, OR mayor at 12:01 A.M. on Thursday morning.

Mayor Sam--billed as the Gay Mayor on towleroad.com--is now the first mayor of such a large metropolitan area who is openly gay. He brings with him a wealth of experience, knowledge, and energy for the position, having served as an assistant to a former Mayor, Vera Katz.

Click here for more.

Congrats, Mayor Sam!

Pace!

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