Ricky does not discriminate against homosexuals in his hiring decisions. And now he's the 170th member of Congress who have signed a statement affirming that.
I guess official Santorum spokesfag Robert Traynham can breathe a sigh of relief ....his job as self-loathing traitor is secure!
In a statement issued by GenderPAC, the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, executive director Riki Wiliams said, "We welcome Sen. Santorum's signature affirming the need for basic equality in his own hiring practices. It puts him in good company with 169 other Members of Congress who have signed this statement."
Hmmmm. Remember this?
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."
-- First-class public homophobe Rick Santorum (R-PA) on the Lawrence v. Texas case
Ricky supporting the Green Party. Ricky saying homos deserve equal treatment in the workplace. What's next? Ricky enrolling the mini-Santorums in the Penn Hills public schools and cutting his own grass?
Last month, we reported that Bob Casey's campaign had cashed the $2000 donation from Dan Savage, funded by the sale of Savage's ITMFA paraphenalia. We also reported that Savage had tacitly endorsed Casey as the real choice to Rick Santorum, telling us to swallow hard and accept him.
Well, Dan is having to follow his own advice. Because the Casey campaign returned his donation.
Jake Perry, finance director for Bob Casey, just called to tell me that Bob Casey is returning my check.
Here?s Jake: ?We appreciate your willingness to support Bob, but my higher ups? people above me? they think that we may wind up spending more, you know, money then the contribution is worth. But we appreciate your willingness to support us.?
Uh? you?re welcome, I guess.
The Casey folks seem to think that if Santorumites spots the Savage name, it will distract from real issues and force Casey to defend himself. Huh. There's a nice dose of the pragmatism Dan mentioned.
The Savage response?
So I?m going to have to swallow hard and support Bob Casey whether he wants me to or not. So Bob Casey doesn?t want to take my dirty money?or doesn?t want to be seen taking my dirty money. So what? I still want Casey to see him beat the lube-and-fecal-matter-splattered pants off Rick Santorum this November. So I?m sending the $2100 Casey spurned to Philadelphians Against Santorum.
So Savage's rightful place is working against Santorum, not on behalf of Bob Casey. The Casey people are happy to have his money in a behind the scenes PAC way and probably ecstatic that he's encouraging his overwhelmingly pro-choice readers to support Casey.
There's no way to justify this as anything other than cowardice. Pragmatic cowardice, but nonetheless part of the ongoing decline of the political process as anything other than an exercise in non-leadership and pandering. Things we women and homosexuals are sadly used to experiencing. Casey comes off lucky because we all know that Santorum probably would use this contribution to further distract voters from real issues.
I suppose we should be grateful Casey hasn't appeared on the 700 Club ....
I think my brain is still on Chicago time. Here are some interesting tidbits for your LGBTQ news ....
First, intrepid Post-Gazette columnist and all around ace-homosupportive dude Tony Norman contemplates Mel Gibson's homophobia in a little online chat vis a vis the PG. Homophobe, anti-semite -- surprised? Guess which one he's going to "repent" to save his career? Let's just agree that his hairdresser shouldn't expect a mea culpa anytime soon ...
Yes, Mel is terribly sexist. He's definitely homophobic. Remember an interview he gave to Playboy roughly 10 years ago or so in which he went on and on about being mistaken for "gay" simply because he's an actor? What hogwash! He went out of his way to say "Hey, I don't walk like them. I don't have a limp wrist like those guys and I'm macho." When told he was hurting the feelings of his gay fans, he responded with a profanity or two or three. It was pure Mel. I don't know if he was overcompensating, but he was definitely expressing some less than charitable feelings for a whole segment of movie ticket buyers.
Moving west to the Ohio/Kentucky border, the Creation Museum just received a $1 million donation. Creation museum, you ask? Yes, lezzies and queers, you and your beloved will soon take a guided tour through biblical history. (h/t Pam's House Blend)
The Creation Museum is a 55,000-square-foot center that will take future visitors on a walk through the history of the Bible. They will be treated to animatronic dinosaurs, a planetarium (nearly finished), a special effects theater, 55 videos and high-tech, family-friendly exhibits that will show that the Bible, including its creation account, is the true history of the world. It will also present the gospel in many parts of the museum.
Be sure to visit the Mel Gibson snack bar. Rumor has it that they will have a live-action reeducation camp panorama so visitors can witness firsthand the salvation of the homosexuals who renounce their filthy ways. There will also be plenty of nearby hotels for those who feel compelled to exorcise/exercise those filthy ways.
Moving on .... the spokesman for the National Republica Senatorial Committee is <gasp> - a flaming queer! Mike Rogers has the whole scoop on Brian Walters and his self-loathing attacks on Pittsburgh's very own Steel-City Stonewall Democrats.
And, finally, San Diego police have arrested three men in connection with a gay bashing incident involving a group of gay men leaving the local Pride celebration this past weekend. The attackers wielded a baseball bat and knives, injuring one man so seriously that he made need facial reconstruction surgery. Average age of the assailants? 15.
Shakespeare's Sister has a great post up on recent violence against the LGBTQ community and the ensuing lack of coverage in the mainstream media (h/t Pam's House Blend)
It seems that the MSM is more intent on manufacturing "epidemics" that affect the average yinzer than covering actual violence being intentionally perpetuated on a specific class of persons.
How little it takes to whip up the media into an exploitative frenzy, all in the name of ?protecting? us. How little it takes to move our Congress to pay attention to an issue and pass legislation to ?protect? us. (Which is, of course, ever an excuse to limit our rights, but they nonetheless claim it?s about ?protection.?) One or two incidents, or, sometimes, just an imaginary scenario of what might happen. That?s all it takes.
But in the course of two months, there have been at least six vicious attacks on the LGBT community, and the media is silent. And Congress, well, they were pushing for an amendment to deny equal rights to same-sex couples. Their focus was ?protecting the sanctity of marriage.? They?re more concerned with protecting an institution, an abstract concept, than protecting people.
When churches throughout the South were being burned, it was national news. When a hate crime at Seattle?s Jewish Federation claimed the life of someone the other day, it was national news. And it should have been, in both cases. But an epidemic of hatred against the LGBT community in this country is not garnering the same attention?even as Congress pursues discriminatory legislation and courts are ruling against challengers to marriage inequality.
Think there?s a correlation?
The anti-gay hysteria that?s leading to an epidemic of hate crimes against the LGBT community is constantly being inflamed by the GOP?s use of gay rights as a wedge issue, their use of anti-gay rhetoric, their exploitation of anti-gay sentiment. And even with people being attacked and their homes being burned, the Dems can?t be arsed to take a bloody principled stand. And the media doesn?t care. They?ve finally got a real epidemic on their hands and it?s utter silence.
Does our local media care? The PG gives us a reasonable amount of gay positive stories on a range of social, political, religious, cultural issues etc. Talk show hosts John McIntire on KDKA and Lynn Cullen on WPTT give ample coverage to LGBTQ community issues.
But the PG rarely covers national issues or pulls these items from the AP (if they make it there). It does seem like we get caught up in the gay marriage or gay ordination issues and lose track of the very real violence we face on a day to day level. And no one locally has taken a critical look at the impact of the GOP fueled anti-gay hysteria. I wonder if the media sat down and talked with Betty Hill at Persad or Jim Fischerkeller with the GLBT phone line or the Pittsburgh Transgender Support Group or the Thomas Merton Center or GLSEN, if there is a hint of consequences from the ongoing anti-LGBTQ assault vis a vis the rethuglicans?
I just returned from a weekend in Chicago which required a long drive through Ohio and Indiana. How sad that I have to censor myself in an Ohio rest stop because the homophobia emanating from that state makes me wary of a confrontation if someone discerns that Ledcat and I are a couple. Do you know what that feels like, to have to make sure I don't accidentally say "honey" or don't touch her in a way that betrays our relationship? While I doubt we'll get jumped in the restrooms, who wants to be called a fucking dyke or worse on their vacation? It makes Pittsburgh look positively progressive in comparison (before the Irish mafia takeover).
I go out of town for one lousy weekend leaving MacYapper and a Political Junkie in charge of alternative blogging. I come home and find that Super Bob traded in his "I've got cancer" sympathy points to fire all the women and leave the city in the capable hands of a white male Irish thug ....WTF?
Its going to take me days to catch up on all these twists and turns ....
We are heading out the door this morning early so I only have time to post a few links.
Apparently, you have the right to get married if you can squirt out babies. So watch out non-breeding heterosexuals ... if you don't start generating some new cannon fodder for the war machine and/or the allegiance of right-wing-bigots, your marriages could be next ...
And even more from Pam including reaction from the fundie wingnuts who are frothing at the mouth and writhing in ecstasy over this slapdown of marriage equality. Here she reiterates the point the our Democratic leadership is FAILING us on these issues. Voting against a marriage amendment is not enough --- they need to actually LEAD.
When you don't take a strong position on this issue (one way or another), people in the middle who may be considering voting Dem notice and speculate anyway. It's easy to be against a federal amendment, but what is a candidate's position on all these state marriage amendments and now, the future legislative efforts to gain marriage equality as these cases in WA and NY have resulted in punts?
Excellent question. No answer forthcoming as there are probably too many 700 Club appearances to plan and fundie wingnut asses to lick ...
The Mayor of Philadelphia is giving the regional Boy Scout council two choices.: Either they stop discriminating against gays or they begin paying fair market rent on their city owned headquarters.
The City of Liberty Council is the third largest in the nation, serving 87,000 boys in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware counties. They have been using a city owned building since 1928, paying only for building upkeep.
The City is playing hard ball because the Scouts refuse to comply with the fair-practices ordinance which forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation among other protected classes.
Cradle of Liberty Council spokesman Jeff Jubelirer had more pointed views.
"With an epidemic of gun violence taking the lives of Philadelphia's children every day," Jubelirer said, "it is ironic the administration chose this time to destroy programming that services 40,000 children in the city."
That's an interesting perspective which completely ignores the fact that the City has tries to negotiate with the Boy Scouts for the past three years. There's no room for negotiation. The Boy Scout organization wants to be free to discriminate against homosexuals while receiving all the governmental funding it can swallow. Never mind the thousands of young men whose lives are impacted by their homo-bigot stance -- the young gay men, the boys with gay parents or siblings or grandparents or other loved ones, the heterosexual scouts who are taught by example to discriminate. Never mind those kids. Or their families. Or their dreams.
There's no room for negotiation. The Boy Scouts won't revise their creed of hate and the City isn't making an exception. Are political nuances at play? Sure. They always are, but that doesn't take away from the larger issue.
Our good friends at the American Family Association of Pennsylvania have chimed right in with their Christian-flavored bigotry:
?The boys involved in the Scouts are caught in a tug-of-war with those who seek to change society through homosexual activism and choose to be blind to the facts of the dangers of this lifestyle,? [AFA Chair Diane] Gramley concluded
Ah, yes, the homosexual activist card. Wouldn't be a hatefest if no one played it!
I find the Boy Scout's stance offensive, moronic and divisive. I don't buy their little snacks or donate to their causes because I think they really hurt boys and young men. I get some grief from my friends about my actions only hurting the boys. I'm sorry but that's an utterly spineless position. The Boy Scouts are *hurting* children, gay and straight. They should lose their funding sources because reason, common decency or genuine concern for all children doesn't seem to play a part in their decision making process.
I just knew it would come to this. The insistence of state (and federal) government on restricting free speech and assembly has inevitably led to the ACLU hooking up with the Phelpsians. (h/t PageOneQ)
Missouri, like other states and the federal government, has passed a law restricting protests and pickets at funerals in response to community outrage over the Phelpsians presence at military funerals. Fred and co. believe that God is killing soldiers because America has embraced homosexuality. So he totes his "God Hates Fags" signs to military funerals. Shock and awe ensue. Never mind that he's been doing this for years to at the funerals of homosexuals and those who have died from AIDS. No one was upset enough to pass a law curtailing civil rights then. I guess faggots brought it on themselves.
The ACLU argues that the law restricts speech on content and is seeking an injunction so the protests can resume while the court considers the constitutionality issue.
Here's Phelpsian whackjob and daughter Shirley ...
"I told the nation, as each state went after these laws, that if the day came that they got in our way, that we would sue them," said Phelps's daughter Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the church in Topeka, Kan. "At this hour, the wrath of God is pouring out on this country."
You aren't suing them, Shirley honey. The ACLU is suing them on your behalf. Because the ACLU respects your civil liberties. The wrath of God sure does pick some interesting vehicles ....
I, too, think the law is unconstitutional. Don't get me wrong -- its abhorrent that anyone would intrude on the grief of a family at the funeral of their loved one. But as the Correspondents have said before, these laws are unconstitutional and passed in a grandstanding furor by legislators responsible for the deaths of these soldiers. Rather than make the funeral a civil liberty free zone, how about reducing the number of funerals? You know, ending the war. Or improving health care access. Investing in AIDS research. Mitigating poverty. That sort of thing.
Last week, a jury found Leon Abramovitz guilty of several charges involving luring two male Pitt students to his apartment, forcing them to stay for weeks, coercing one to steal power tools and the other to perform sexual acts. Abramovitz, 59, has previously worked for City Council and (AND) the constituent affairs department of the Reagan White House.
It gets better.
Abramovitz is currently serving probation for two earlier charges of the same thing.
Huh. Here's the better part. The lawyer of this perv is trying to make this out to be gay persecution! This from the guy who worked for Reagan!
"Homosexual acts are not crimes," said Mr. Houck. "They are only anathemas in many people's minds, but not everybody's."
Mr. Houck is right. Homosexual "acts" are not crimes. However, the actual crimes this perv committed - holding people against their will, forcing them to perform sexual acts and steal, and threatening them with mafia retaliation - are not homosexual acts.
I do have to pick a bone with the PG on this story. In the article, writer Moustafa Ayad paints a comparison of the somewhat hulky young men and the frail pervert inviting the question of how he held them captive. Other than the reference to mafia threats, there is no context for the captivity. Obviously the jury was convinced so there has to be more content to the story.
I think Ayad's coverage was a little soft in this regard. Women are held hostage all the time as any domestic violence worker will tell you and frequently it has nothing to do with size differentials. Power does not translate into size. It is hard to believe that a 59 year old man with a walker could legitimately threaten someone with a mob hit. But obviously he DID on at least four separate occasions. At least.
Kudos to the students for testifying. Get this perv off the streets, walker or not.
Last month, 
I missed this last week, but its 
