Posts by Michael Jones
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When Health Class Becomes Homophobic Lecturing
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The Truth About Gay Service in Foreign Militaries
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Homophobia and the Miami Beach Police Department
A War on Conversion Therapy
Published February 09, 2010 @ 12:10PM PT
Last week, an undercover activist in England exposed some fairly shocking revelations about British mental health professionals gaming the health care system in order to get the government to pay for conversion therapy for LGBT people. Fed up with conversion therapy and therapists who practice it, the activist, Patrick Strudwick, is now on a mission to root out conversion therapy wherever it exists, and report therapists who practice it to their professional ethics boards.
Strudwick has launched a group on Facebook, the Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce, where he's drumming up support for a campaign to find health professionals who try and cure gay people, and bring them down.
"We believe that the practice by therapists, psychiatrists and religious leaders of attempting to change a person's sexual orientation is damaging, offensive, immoral, unethical and ineffective," the Taskforce says.
Wonder if the Montgomery County Public School District is paying attention?
Boy Scouts of America Turns 100, Still Discriminates
Published February 09, 2010 @ 08:39AM PT
So much for that old adage "with age comes wisdom." The Boy Scouts of America celebrates 100 years this year. But despite hitting its centennial birthday, the organization is digging its heels into the ground on the issue of whether gay folks can play a part in the organization.
Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Boy Scouts could bar gay folks from serving as Scout leaders. Ten years later, the Boy Scouts are again playing the homophobia card, telling two lesbian moms from Vermont that they can't be Scout leaders for their son.
That has some Congressional leaders blazing mad, including Vermont's at-large member of the U.S. House, Rep. Peter Welch. He was among the legislators that fired off a letter to the Boy Scouts of America, urging them to reconsider their harsh stance on banning gay people from serving as Scout leaders.
"As deeply troubling as the exclusionary policy is, the message that the policy sends is perhaps most damaging," said the letter. "The Boy Scouts are teaching America's youth at impressionable ages that lesbians and gays are to be excluded because they are different, and not 'morally straight' as per the Boy Scouts' official stated position."
Indeed, the Boy Scouts of America has spent the better part of its first 100 years training young folks to become active members of a "more conscientious, responsible, and productive society." So why does homophobia and discrimination have to play a part in that mission?
Of Gay Judges and Gay Stock Car Announcers
Published February 09, 2010 @ 06:18AM PT
Who's in the mood to bust some glass ceilings this morning?
First comes word out of Senator Chuck Schumer's office that the Empire State's senior senator is going to recommend the first openly gay man for a position on the federal bench. The man, Daniel Alter, has been recommended by Sen. Schumer to fill a vacancy on the bench in the Southern District of New York. Though it's far from a done deal, Presidents typically listen to the Senators when it comes time for the nomination process. If that pattern remains true, the U.S. Senate could be debating its first federal-level judicial nomination surrounding a gay nominee.
That has Sen. Chuck Schumer on Cloud Nine.
“Daniel Alter couldn’t be a more perfect choice. He is a brilliant attorney who possesses the knowledge, balanced views and temperament required of a federal judge,” Schumer said. "I’m proud to nominate Daniel Alter. Period. But I am equally proud to nominate him because he is a history-maker who will be the first openly gay male judge in American history.”
Quite the history-making title to put on you business cards.
Some Anti-Gay Crumpets With Your Tea
Published February 08, 2010 @ 11:49AM PT
This past weekend marked the first ever National Tea Party Convention. It's a movement born out of alleged frustration with how much money the federal government is spending. But as their roster of speakers shows, the Tea Party Movement is also just an extension of the radical religious right. They may boo and hiss at big government when it comes to your pocketbook, but boy, do they sure love big government when it comes to policing America's bedrooms.
Perhaps the most notable anti-gay celebrity speaking at the Tea Party Convention was former Alabama Judge Roy Moore. He became famous last decade for refusing to remove a statue of the Ten Commandments from his courthouse, despite being ordered to by federal officials. In the time since that dust up, Gov. Moore has gone on a crusade, one might say, toward what he sees as a perversion of American values. And boy, does Moore really not like the steps that President Barack Obama has taken toward advancing LGBT equality.
"[Obama] has ignored our history and our heritage, arrogantly declaring to the world that we are no longer a Christian nation," Moore declared in his Tea Party gig. "He has elevated immorality to a new level, setting aside the entire month of June to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pride. He now threatens to change our law to allow homosexuality in our military."
Word has it that President Obama is also considering changing the name of June to, simply, "Debauchery." At least in Roy Moore's head.
End Text Messaging While Driving, Not Gay Marriage
Published February 08, 2010 @ 07:25AM PT
Wow, if voters in Iowa ever meant to send a message about same-sex marriage, this is it. Because of budget cuts, the Iowa state legislature is cutting their normal session by 20 days, limiting the amount of time they'll have to deal with the pressing issues facing the Hawkeye State.
Anti-gay folks in Iowa have been chomping at the bit to have the legislature pass a measure that would create a statewide ballot initiative on whether same-sex marriage should remain legal. Call it the Prop 8 or the Question 1 of the Midwest. But Iowa voters? They just don't want legislators wasting their time on such frivolous -- not to mention homophobic -- measures.
A new poll from the Des Moines Register shows that among six issues that could come before the legislature this session, a repeal of same-sex marriage is dead last, with nearly two-thirds of the state saying let's let gay marriage become settled law in the state. The most important issue, according to voters? Adopting a measure to ban text messaging while driving.
Still, despite overwhelming evidence that Iowa voters just don't want legislators wasting their time on criminalizing gay marriage, a handful of anti-gay Republicans are looking to force a ballot measure through. They'll need help from about seven Democrats in order to make it happen.
Photo credit: D3 San Francisco
Why CBS Was Still Wrong to Air the Focus Ad
Published February 08, 2010 @ 06:30AM PT
The Super Bowl advertising controversy over Focus on the Family -- or, as many might like to call it, the gift that kept on giving to the blogosphere -- is finally history. Millions are waking up this morning playing Monday-morning quarterback, wondering if progressives overreacted to the advertisement, given how cuddly, cute and tame it came across on national television. Was this the Puppy Bowl, or the Tim Tebow advertisement?
Was the advertisement the extreme anti-choice message that some folks feared? No, it wasn't. But the content of the advertisement was never entirely the sole issue here. The controversy was sparked mostly by the double standard that CBS created in order to air the ad, rewriting their own internal advertising policies in order to accommodate Focus on the Family. In years past, CBS refused advocacy advertisements from MoveOn, as well as the United Church of Christ.
As far as advertisements go, the United Church of Christ ad rejected a few years back was equally as tame as the Focus on the Family advertisement last night. But beyond that, the issue here has always been about the organization behind the advertisement. Last night, 100 million viewers were told at the end of the Focus on the Family commercial to go visit their Web site. And while Tim and Pam Tebow might not have had anything controversial to say during their 30 seconds last night, the Focus on the Family Web site doesn't waste any time in getting their homophobia on.
The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Tipping Point
Published February 07, 2010 @ 12:40PM PT
This past week has probably seen more "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" coverage than at any other point in the policy's 17-year history. From Admiral Mike Mullen to General Colin Powell, from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Senator Joe Lieberman, a chorus of political figures and military leaders have called for an end to the discriminatory policy that boots openly gay and lesbian soldiers out of the military, and prevents many more from entering.
And now tomorrow, a new poll of 3,000 active duty troops will show that support for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is at an all-time low inside the ranks of the military. Combined, it all begs the question: have we reached the tipping point on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?"
In physics terms, a tipping point means that an object has moved irreversibly from one state to another. For "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," has debate moved so far to the side of repeal that there's no turning back?
Frank Rich seems to think so. He writes in the New York Times today that opponents of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military had no idea what to do this week, given the onslaught of repeal sentiment from military leaders. How do you argue, Rich asks, against the heartfelt language used by Adm. Mike Mullen during his testimony before the U.S. Senate, where Mullen plain-spokingly said that forcing soldiers to lie compromises the integrity of the U.S. military?
