Rowan's Reflections

1. Bush repeals job protections for gays
You might recall that for years federal government employees have been protected from job discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Well, guess what? Even though President Bush promised he would not rescind those job protections while he was president, he just did! The president of
the United States lied. Now granted, this isn't as big a lie as going before Congress and lying to the entire nation about why we needed to go to war, and hundreds of American service members needed to die as a result. No, not that big a lie. But it ranks pretty high up there. President Bush is willing to sell us up the river and then some. He is controlled like a big dumb puppet by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and all the other anti-gay bigots of the religious right. It is high time that every single gay Republican spoke up and declared that he or she will not be voting for President Bush this fall.
- SF Chronicle:
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Em7b4Ehbab/
- Washington Post:
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Em6b4Ehbab/

2. Stephanie Herseth, Bigot for Congress
The dumbing down of discrimination has already begun. Last year, the anti-gay hate amendment to the Constitution was unthinkable. Today, we're to believe it's the kind of thing that even Democrats should be allowed to endorse - for the greater good of the party, of course. Well, sorry Charlie. I ain't buying it. Any politician who endorses the federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is toast. And that includes sell-out Democrats like Stephanie Herseth, who's running for the US Congress from South Dakota. Ms. Herseth was billed to me
last year as a good moderate pro-gay Democrat. Well, it seems that now Ms. Herseth feels she can't win without a bit of good old gay bashing. Herseth announced last week that she's endorsing the federal anti-gay hate amendment.And that means, don't give a dime to Stephanie Herseth. And if you'd like to go the extra mile, visit her Web site and send a few letters to the editors to the local papers in South Dakota and give them a talking about why we don't need another bigot in Congress. I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. Is it so outrageous for us to expect politicians of both parties to agree that all American citizens deserve the same basic civil rights - including the right to vote, the right to freedom of religion and the right to marry - and that you don't give up any of those very basic civil rights when you cross state lines? Imagine how these cowards would have acted during the fight to end slavery, ensure women the right to vote or to end segregation in the south.

You endorse this amendment and you are an enemy of all Americans who believe in liberty and justice for all. And we will not forgive or forget those who do.
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Em8b4Ehbab/

And feel free to send Ms. Herseth an email telling her how you feel about her having endorsed the biggest piece of legislative gay-bashing in US history:
mailt:stephanie@hersethforcongress.org

3. One thing is certain. Come May 17, when gay marriage becomes a reality in Massachusetts, prepare for all hell to break loose legislatively. The religious right thinks gay marriage may very well cause God to destroy America. It's the kind of thinking that makes you utterly freak out when gay marriage becomes a reality. And these guys have millions of supporters, millions of dollars, and they own President Bush.

Be very careful how comfortable you get in thinking we've won.

4. Mrs. Cheney's racy lesbian novel
Well, I wasn't going to write about this, even though I've known about it for years. But now that it's national news, why not. Yes, the Mrs. Cheney in question is Mrs. Vice President Cheney, mom of former-lesbian-activist and now lesbian-sell-out Mary Cheney. And yes, back in the 1980s she wrote a racy feminist novel with a racy lesbian subtext. I am so not making this up.

http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Em9b4Ehbab/

Apparently being gay isn't a problem to Mrs. Cheney when a few bucks are involved.

5. Alabama repealed inter-racial marriage ban in 2000
In view of the all the high-fallutin' talk from the anti-gay bigots
about the Biblical necessity of bashing gays in the Constitution, I
thought it might be worth reminding folks that it wasn't until November of 2000 that the state of Alabama finally got the cojones to repeal its state law banning inter-racial marriage. And even then, less than four years ago, 40% of Alabamians voted to keep the ban because, you know, apparently it's very important to prohibit blacks and whites from mixing blood.

So the next time southern members of Congress start lecturing us about marriage, ask them where they stand on inter-racial marriage bans. Make them come out clearly, loudly, and boldly in opposition to such laws, and make them decry as bigots anyone who would vote to support such a law today. Then see if they get re-elected in their own states.
Salon.com:
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Enab4Ehbab/

6. The one good thing about the religious right is that they're so damn hateful and bigoted that they just can't control themselves from exposing how nasty their hearts really are. Now don't forget, these are the folks who are behind the anti-gay hate amendment, and they're the folks who are working closest with the Bush administration on getting this amendment passed.
So what has the religious right being saying lately about us?
Pat Robertson:
"Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson says believers in America need to pray that the move to legalize same-sex marriages is stopped before the nation is forced to face severe judgment from God.... He notes that homosexual activity is included in Leviticus among a list of offenses against God that will cause a land to 'vomit out its inhabitants.'"
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Enbb4Ehbab/

And from James Dobson, even more vile filth:
"For more than 40 years, the homosexual activist movement has sought to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family.... Those goals include universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle, discrediting of Scriptures that condemn homosexuality, muzzling of the clergy and Christian media, granting of special privileges and rights in the law, overturning laws prohibiting pedophilia, indoctrinating children and future generations through public education, and securing all the legal benefits of marriage for any two or more people who claim to have homosexual tendencies.'

"How about group marriage, or marriage between relatives, or marriage between adults and children? How about marriage between a man and his donkey? Anything allegedly linked to 'civil rights' will be doable. The legal underpinnings for marriage will have been destroyed."
http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Encb4Ehbab/

7. Coretta Scott King decries the hate amendment
The anti-gay bigots of the religious right, who have a long history of defending the civil rights of blacks and woman and other minorities (not!), have been on a tear recently about how gay civil rights are not civil rights at all. Well, they just got their comeuppance. Coretta Scott King has come out and endorsed gay marriage and blasted the federal constitutional amendment.
According to USA Today, Mrs. King recently said:
"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union," she said. "A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages." http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Epyb4Ehbab/

Late-Breaking story about Mary Cheney from the Baltimore Sun. It appears that Mary "My lesbianism was never a part of politics" Cheney was selling photo ops two years ago with gay Republican donors for $500 dollars a pop! And now she's running daddy's campaign helping to make you and me and all of our friends second-class citizens. Atta-girl,
Mary. Jerry Falwell would be proud of you.

http://thelist.c.topica.com/maab6qTaa5Enfb4Ehbab/

PS Note the part in the article where Liz Cheney, the straight sister, says that WE'RE exploiting Mary's lesbianism. Right. Mary never exploited her lesbianism when she was selling photos as the lesbian poster girl for compassionate conservatism. Dad and George W never exploited Mary's lesbianism when they wooed those million gay votes 4 years ago using Mary to trick us. Oh no. We're exploiting Mary's lesbianism by holding her accountable for the lies she sold us about how compassionate her father and George Bush were on gay issues.

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - In a new twist in the battle over same-sex marriage roiling the United States, a county in Oregon has banned all marriages -- gay and heterosexual -- until the state decides who can and who cannot wed.

The last marriage licenses were handed out in Benton County at 4 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. EST) on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, officials in the county of 79,000 people will begin telling couples applying for licenses to go elsewhere until the gay marriage debate is settled.

"It may seem odd," Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell told Reuters in a telephone interview, but "we need to treat everyone in our county equally."

State Attorney General Hardy Myers said in a statement that he was "very pleased" with Benton County's decision. "It is my sincere hope that legal process will provide clarity for each of Oregon's counties."

The three County commissioners had originally decided to start handing out gay marriage licenses this week but on Monday reversed that decision amid a growing firestorm of lawsuits across the country, and decided instead to put a temporary halt to all marriages.

Rebekah Kassell, a spokeswoman for Basic Rights Oregon, a pro-gay marriage group, told Reuters; "It is certainly a different way for county commissioners to respect their constitutional obligation to apply the law equally to everyone.

"We appreciate that they are willing to say they are not going to participate in discrimination."

'PERPLEXED' BY DECISION

Tim Nashif, the spokesman for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, said; "Oregon not only has the only county in the nation issuing illegal (same-sex) marriage licenses, we probably have the only county in the nation refusing to issue marriage licenses at all."

"We are happy Benton County is not going to violate the law by issuing illegal marriage licenses, but we are perplexed as to why they would not issue legal licenses," he added.

Benton County, whose county seat is Corvallis, is home to Oregon State University and is seen as a bastion of liberalism.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) said it would file a lawsuit on Wednesday against Oregon or an unnamed state entity over the state's failure to register the more than 2,550 marriage licenses issued by Portland's Multnomah County to gay couples since March 3.

Multnomah County, the state's most populous, is the only jurisdiction in the United States that continues to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Local governments from San Francisco to New Paltz, New York, have halted the practice amid lawsuits and protests.

In New Mexico, a judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order to stop a Sandoval County clerk from issuing more marriage certificates to gay and lesbian couples.

Victoria Dunlap, the clerk for the county to the southwest of Santa Fe, issued 66 marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples on Feb. 20th before the state's attorney general issued a statement declaring the marriages invalid.

The temporary injunction will be in effect until a state district judge can hear the case on the subject. The case is scheduled to be heard on April 2nd

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - A school board in conservative Orange County refused to implement a state policy that protects transgender students, saying the measure is immoral and promotes transsexuality.

The Westminster district's five-member board voted 3-2 Thursday to reject the anti-discrimination policy during a meeting that drew hundreds of parents and teachers.

Westminster is the only one of California's 1,425 school districts to refuse to endorse the 1999 state law that gives boys who consider themselves girls and girls who regard themselves as boys the right to pursue discrimination complaints.

Donna Scott, a parent, said the board should obey the law.

"How dare you use my child as a human shield for your discrimination, your fear, your hatred," she said.

Board members Judy Ahrens, Blossie Marquez-Woodcock and Helena Rutkowski argue that adopting the state's definition of gender would be immoral and promote transsexuality.

Jack O'Connell, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, sent a letter to the district asking the three members to change their minds.

"If you refuse, I will take all available steps to compel your compliance," O'Connell wrote. "Do not victimize the very people you claim you are serving."

The district, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, serves 10,000 elementary and middle school students. More than $40 million of its $68 million budget comes from state and federal sources.

The state Department of Education (news - web sites) has threatened to pull millions of dollars if the district is not in compliance with state law by April 12.

That money could be cut off if the district is not in compliance with state law by April 12.

Other conservative school boards in Orange County have in recent years moved to ban a high school's gay-straight alliance club and tried to sue Mexico to recoup the cost of educating immigrant children