Only 10 People Show Up to National Ex-Gay Pride Events, “Ex-Gay Pride Month” Officially A Flop
Feature Image via rightwingwatch.org
This past July was declared “Ex-Gay Pride Month” by the group Voice for the Voiceless, which claims to “defend the rights of former homosexuals” and “defend the constitutional rights of all Americans to share their views of homosexuality in the public forum.” It all culminated on July 31 when thousands of members of the ex-gay community were expected to march on Washington and attend a dinner and reception featuring such speakers as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former Senator Jim DeMint. However, all of this quickly fell apart. First, it was reported that most of the headline speakers, including Bachmann and DeMint, were only invited and had not even confirmed that they would attend. Next, Voice of the Voiceless claimed they were being threatened by “anti-ex-gay extremism” and had to postpone and move the dinner and banquet to an undisclosed location. The final nail in the coffin happened on the day of the march when only about ten protesters showed up to show their support.
Even though they were facing all these problems before the 31st, Voice for the Voiceless still claimed that “thousands of ex-gays” were going to show up. And although less than ten actually were there, the group is still trying to claim this as a victory. They say that the existence of one ex-gay person is proof that the therapy works, rather than evidence that sexuality can be fluid, or that bisexual people exist, or that some people choose not to have sex or be in a relationship. Christopher Doyle, the group’s president, continued his barrage of nonsensical statements by saying that ex-gays should be designated a protected class. “We want federal protection just as gays are given… we’re discriminated against because we’re former homosexuals and we dare to have a different viewpoint,” Doyle said. He never made it clear what discrimination or persecution ex-gay people face, or whom they need protection from.
This is just the latest story in what is hopefully the steady decline of ex-gay ministries and therapy. There was a time in America when many Christian churches embraced the idea that you could “pray away the gay.” But with the percent of Americans who think being gay is a sin dropping, and the percent who support gay marriage rising, things are looking up for LGBTQ Christians and LGBTQ people living in Christian households.
Several Christian groups who once led the ex-gay charge are now changing their tune. Back in June, Exodus International, one of the largest and most prominent Christian groups that offered a “cure” for being gay announced it was closing down. In addition to shutting their doors after more than three decades leading the ex-gay movement, many of the leaders apologized for their judgmental and dangerous actions. Former chairman John Paulk said that he believes Exodus International’s actions did more harm than good.
Today, I do not consider myself ‘ex-gay,’ and I no longer support or promote the movement. Please allow me to be clear: I do not believe that reparative therapy changes sexual orientation; in fact, it does great harm to many people.
Alan Chambers, Exodus International president
via Huffington Post
Alan Chambers, who was president of Exodus International when it closed its doors joined in, and issued a very public apology both on Our America With Lisa Ling and on the Exodus International website. In it he acknowledged the deep harm that his group had caused.
Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents… I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.
Churches aren’t the only ones enacting change. One of the largest steps in the decline of ex-gay ministries happened when California passed a law banning so-called “reparative therapy” for minors. This form of therapy, also called “gay conversion therapy” is described by the majority of mental health groups as being dangerous and ineffective. The passage of this law was hailed as a victory for LGBTQ rights groups, the mental health community and child advocacy groups. But not everyone is happy. people on the Far Right and some Christian groups are saying that this ban violates their First Amendment rights. Although this law is currently being challenged in courts by conservative groups, similar laws are being considered in Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Despite all of this, Voice for the Voiceless still thought that their Ex-Gay Pride events would cause a resurgence in the movement. This was supposed to be their big “coming out” day. It was supposed to draw thousands of participants and massive media attention. Instead, by having such a small showing and weak presence, the group revealed what many of us have known all along: they are a fringe group whose time is coming to an end.
Exodus International’s President Does the Unthinkable, Explicitly Apologizes to Gay Community
Although Exodus International, America’s premiere religious “conversion therapy” organization, has been backpedaling for some time, probably no one expected to ever see what happened today: Exodus’s president, Alan Chambers, has posted a comprehensive apology to the gay community on their website.
The apology, titled simply “I Am Sorry,” seems genuinely heartfelt in many regards, and speaks to specific instances which Exodus apparently now realizes it’s responsible for.
Friends and critics alike have said it’s not enough to simply change our message or website. I agree. I cannot simply move on and pretend that I have always been the friend that I long to be today. I understand why I am distrusted and why Exodus is hated.
Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.
More than anything, I am sorry that so many have interpreted this religious rejection by Christians as God’s rejection. I am profoundly sorry that many have walked away from their faith and that some have chosen to end their lives. For the rest of my life I will proclaim nothing but the whole truth of the Gospel, one of grace, mercy and open invitation to all to enter into an inseverable relationship with almighty God.
Does this mean that Exodus will disband or that it now opposes conversion therapy? Probably not. Chambers also wrote that “Because I do not completely agree with the vocal majorities in either group and am forging a new place of peaceful service in and through both, I will likely continue to be an outsider to some degree,” and “I cannot apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex… I cannot apologize for my beliefs about marriage.” While Chambers can’t necessarily speak for all of Exodus, it seems like he’s saying that his beliefs about issues like the sinfulness of homosexuality remain unchanged, and perhaps his views about the efficacy or worthwhileness of conversion therapy — the wording of his apology was careful in that he talks about how “some of you” felt shame when conversion therapy proved ineffective. But it does seem like Chambers wants to change how those beliefs affect other people, saying that “…I will exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them.”
alan and lisa chambers/ photo credit Associated Press
Although Exodus made a statement last year that it would no longer use language that suggested it could “cure” or “change” homosexuality, that’s a far cry from actually acknowledging the lives that have been irreparably damaged and, in some cases, ended by the pseudoscience attempting to “fix” sexual orientation for religious or gay-panic-related reasons. Chambers’ language in this apology implies that he actually has learned something about what the repercussions of his work have been. He’s also taking steps for active reconciliation — this apology coincides with a television broadcast of “God & Gays” with Lisa Ling, during which Chambers will sit down with people affected by his organization in a process that’s similar to a formal restorative justice process.
Of course, while this is undeniably a positive step, it may ring hollow for people who are still struggling with the problems Chambers is apologizing for. Acknowledging the incredible harm wrought by ex-gay programs doesn’t make it go away; many might argue, very fairly, that paying for therapy would be a more meaningful gesture. But especially for people whom have carried shame their whole lives about feeling unwelcome in their religious communities, hopefully this statement can be affirming. And although Chambers gives us the disclaimer that “…some within the communities for which I apologize will say I don’t have the right, as one man, to do so on their behalf,” hopefully other leaders within the religious right will find this example inspiring, if not in a way that actually changes their views, perhaps in a way that calls into question the degree to which other people need to suffer for them.
Controversy Breaks Out Over the Right Way to Be Ex-Gay
In a strange land, the land of “conversion therapy” and “cures,” a civil war is brewing. As Amanda Marcotte reported yesterday in Slate, several groups within the ex-gay movement have officially backed away from curative therapy, and are now promoting quiet, shameful returns to the closet — in order to, apparently, stay relevant in today’s rapidly evolving attitudes towards the queer community.
this is where they’d like us to be
This shift in strategy is predominantly led by Exodus International, the country’s most well-known ex-gay Christian ministry. So that their mission — “Mobilizing the body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality” — can be carried out in the most politically expedient way possible, Exodus is re-branding. Exodus president Alan Chambers announced back in June that claiming to be able to cure homosexuality is “as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth.” Chambers has allegedly gotten rid of ex-gay books from the Exodus online bookstore, and is working to discourage others from promoting it.
Instead, Chambers is officially promoting alternative solutions, like celibacy, or “finding an understanding opposite-sex partner,” which is what he has chosen to do, telling the Associated Press that his marriage is the best one he knows of. He says, “It’s an amazing thing, yet I do have same-sex attractions. Those things don’t overwhelm me or my marriage; they are something that informs me like any other struggle I might bring to the table.” It sounds like a lose/lose situation to me, but anyway. This is apparently a progressive twist on the philosophy that homosexuality can and should be cured, because it acknowledges that same-sex attraction can’t be prayed away.
Mormons within the ex-gay movement are following suit, suggesting that instead of telling young people not to be gay, supportive family members should instead tell their kids to simply not act on their gay identity.
Not everyone in the right is getting behind the “closet-not-cure” route. Its flaws — like the fact that to re-enter the closet means a life of emotional suffering with no hope for fulfilling sexual experiences — are surprisingly obvious to Team Gay Cure. In response to Exodus’s re-branding, members of Team Cure launched the ironically titled Restored Hope Network, which held a conference this past weekend to get the show on the road. The core of the Restored Hope Network’s position is that though queers are “sexually and relationally broken,” we can actually be fully cured of our sinful desires, restored to the fulfilling heterosexual lifestyle that these people have deemed appropriate, normal and good. It’s a counterargument to Team Closet, though both sides are promoting an emotional death sentence.
This is all very infuriating and depressing, but sometimes it’s important to check in with people who actively oppose equal, healthy relationships for queer people, and understand what the people who want to set us back are thinking. The important thing is that even though Team Closet understands itself to be progressive and compassionate in mission, its goals are based on the same fundamental understandings of its predecessor, Team Cure. Both teams think that they have the right to define how other people should exist, and each one thinks that they have a superior way to attain a queer-free world – or at least one where all queers get to go to Heaven despite their shameful, dirty feelings. Hopefully the public will recognize the absurdity of both these ideas and view this schism as a last ditch effort of a sad, dying movement.
In the end, the semantics of the argument are relatively inconsequential. What matters is that we, as a community, continue to promote messages of equality, and offer support and hope to those people who are being told by the people around them that they are broken.
Ex-Ex-Gay Minister Has Never Met an Ex-Gay
Three years after resigning as the executive director of Exodus International’s Love in Action ministry, John Smid admitted that he’s gay. In a recent blog post, Smid reflected on his updated views on homosexuality. Taken at face value, his new beliefs — that homosexuality is about more than just behavior and that sexual orientation is intrinsic — are by no means subversive. But considering the 22 years Smid spent preaching that GAY = EVIL, the acknowledgement of these basic facts could pave the way for change in evangelical and conservative Christian communities.
Smid frames his post as a response to a reader’s question about whether or not Christians should expect their homosexual friends (because as everyone who’s ever listened to a famous bigot apologize for some homophobic remark and remind everyone that They Have Gay Friends! knows, we homosexuals are gluttons for punishment and just loooove having friends who don’t believe in our basic human dignity) to repent. Unlike many Christian leaders who think a lukewarm acceptance of homosexuality will do the trick, Smid says no, they shouldn’t repent.
“So often people will say someone needs to “repent” from homosexuality. It is something that actually cannot be repented of! People are, or they are not, homosexual. It is an intrinsic part of their being or personally, my being. One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable.“
He understands that being gay isn’t just about having (fantastic) gay sex, it’s an identity that can be embraced or ignored but can’t be changed.
“I used to define homosexuality or heterosexuality in terms describing one’s behavior. I thought it made sense and through the years often wrote articles and talked from that perspective. Today, I understand why the gay community had such an issue with my writings. My perspective denied so many facets of the homosexual experience. I minimized a person’s life to just their sexuality but homosexuality is much more than sex.“
His most candid (and damning of ex-gay ministries) confession, which undermines the years he spent in Love in Action, is that ex-gay programs are a sham: “I’ve never met a man who experienced a change from homosexual to heterosexual.”
As Ex-Gay Watch points out, Smid still has a ways to go. His somewhat clinical use of the word “homosexual” suggests that he’s still not completely at ease with his sexuality. Critics have accused him of not working hard enough to undo the harm he caused in his ministry.
The good news is that Smid admits that he doesn’t know all the answers.
“Now that I am not submerged into one sided perspectives, I am open to studying and reading the scriptures for myself, I am finding so many rich truths that I wasn’t ever made aware of before. For the first time in all of these years, the scriptures that many have said refer to homosexuality are making sense! I am reading them in context. I am asking questions about who the passages were written to. I am asking what was being talked about, and why the words were written in the first place.“
Those of us who aren’t Christians may struggle to see value in his approach. Why read a 2000-year-old book when you’ve got Judith Butler and Foucault? The truth is, though, that we need biblical scholars almost as much as we need queer theorists. Like it or not, politics and day to day like in the U.S. is profoundly influenced by Christianity. The more guys and girls who are reading the Bible in context and asking the right questions on our side, the less acceptable it becomes to call yourself a Christian while holding onto hateful beliefs.
Gays No Longer Curable via iPhone!
Look down right now. Is that a MacBook in your lap? What kind of iPod do you own? OH MY GOD IS THAT AN IPAD?! YOU FLASHY BITCH. Now look back up and listen to me: Apple did something recently that will upset you, then redeemed themselves, and now are victims of the 24/7 news cycle.
A few days ago, an app was accepted at the app store that “cures gays.” The app was developed by Exodus International, a religious group into the teaching of “freedom from homosexuality.” They do this, of course, because being gay is “one of many conditions that beset fallen humanity,” and they want to help you!, through prayer and the Internet. The app even got a rating that indicated it was not offensive to anyone, ever. So, what the fuck?
Well, gay activists reigned in on Apple and demanded they go back to the day of their rainbow logo, when they didn’t care what God had to say:
And hence, a petition circulated….and circulated… demanding Apple remove the app because of how offensive it was to LGBTQ people. It blew up to over 140,000 signatures pretty much overnight and here are the results:
Exodus International’s president, Alan Chambers, confirmed through Twitter that his group’s app had been removed on Tuesday night: “It’s official. The @ExodusInl App is no longer in the @AppleStore. Incredibly disappointing. Watch out, it could happen to you.”
Apple pulled the app from the store and apparently, they didn’t even send a follow-up text. Exodus said they had no idea why, and claimed the app would help people “struggling” with their sexualities. Apple re-evaluated the decision to provide the app after the petition was brought to their attention, and surprise! Apple realized that something of this app’s caliber was really fucked up:
The app, launched in mid-February, initially received a 4+ approval rating from Apple, meaning it did not contain any “objectionable material.”
However, upon review, it seems Apple decided the app did not in fact meet its editorial guidelines.
“We removed the Exodus International app from the app store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people,” Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr told FoxNews.com.
Thank a higher being for that! If you’re not a part of the iTunes format, you’re probably not on any Apple products. It would involve an incredible amount of tech work to make a non-Apple app work on any Apple device. So, this means the app is now gone never to be seen again for a while hopefully. And you thought getting a flu shot was hard!
The app was specifically targeted at younger people, aka people going through their sexuality crises and falling in love with their best friends and stuff. You’ve been there. So this adds another layer to the whole thing: if people capitalizing on mobile technology are young people and this is what they see in the Apple store, WHERE IS THERE HOPE FOR GAY PEOPLE EVER? Exodus’ insistence that it is their “right” under the Constitution to market their “opinion” on equality this way is bullshit, and nobody should pretend it isn’t bullshit. Unfortunately this is another example of people misinterpreting their constitutional rights — freedom of speech protects you from imprisonment or other government actions regardless of what you say/do. But it doesn’t mean a store has to carry your product or that nobody can boycott your business, that has nothing to do with it. What is wrong with people.
Shame on Apple for ever approving the app in the first place and shame on Exodus for trying to target newgays on their turf with such a stupid message.
In closing, the app is not for sale. Thank God. But unfortunately, Exodus still exists.
Rekers Rentboy Scandal: Are All Anti-Gays Totally Gay? We Investigate.
RENTBOY!
I’m sure you’ll all tune in to see Anderson Cooper do this story right on CNN tonight, but in the meantime Queerty invites you to meet Jo-vanni Roman, Escort to America’s Leading Hypocritical Bigot George Alan Rekers: “Jo-vanni Roman, a 20-year-old Miami resident and sometime-escort, has gone from being an unknown private citizen (circa last weekend) to public figure (circa Tuesday). After being photographed at an airport returning from a 10-day European trip with leading anti-gay bigot George Alan Rekers, Roman finds himself in the center of a scandal involving the Family Research Council/Focus on the Family, Florida attorney general (and GOP gubernatorial candidate) Bill McCollum, and if you want to stretch things, even Maggie Gallagher.”
Since we last reported on this event two days ago, a ton of predictable things have happened; namely that it’s even more obvi than it was that George did not hire Roman to “lift his luggage.”
Rentboy-Hiring Homophobe George Rekers Urges Hired Escort to Keep Quiet
Gawker has more on the scandal, including the phone conversations the Miami New Times overheard between Rekers and the escort:
“Sometimes I feel like I should just tell (the press) what happened on the trip.”
“No,” said Rekers quickly, “Please don’t do that. Please don’t let them pressure you into it.”
Too late, he already did! Luckily, Rekers has his defense all planned out:
“You have to understand,” Rekers explained, “I’m a doctor. It’s my business to understand this plague of homosexuality in order to know how to properly treat it. I needed to explore the psyche of a real live gay and witness first-hand what the lifestyle is all about so I could finally find the cure.”
The rubdowns, we assume, were also part of the research? I want that job!
As we discussed in Evangelicals, Rapists, Tramps & Thieves, this is no uncommon circumstance — it seems the more anti-gay the leader, the more likely the leader is secretly gay:
1980s: Lonnie Frisbee, an American Pentecostal evangelist and a key figure in the “Jesus Movement,” socialized privately as a gay man but preached and said in interviews that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God.
2000: John Paulk, face of the ex-gay movement, was fired from Exodus International after being caught at gay bars with gay dudes 100 too many times.
2004: Paul Franklin Crouch, the co-founder, chairman and president of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world’s largest Christian Television network, paid a $425,000 formal settlement to end a sexual harassment lawsuit from a man who claimed to have been involved in a homosexual tryst with Crouch in 1996.
2006: Ted Haggard. You know this one. A viciously anti-gay evangelical megachurch leader, the male escort he’d been riding the hobby horse with for several months saw Haggard talking shit on the TV and turned him in as a secret gay. Haggard now says he suffers from “same-sex attraction” but is happy with his wife. He’s also stopped talking shit about gay people. Mostly.
2006: The Reverend Dr. Lonnie Latham, senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church and a member of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, was arrested for lewdness when he propositioned a male plainclothes police officer for oral sex in an area notorious for cruising and male prostitution.
2006: Republican congressman Mark Foley, an advocate of abstinence and stricter child pornography laws, resigned from the U.S. Congress after getting caught sending sexy e-mails to a male congressional pages.
June 2009: “Ex-gay” evangelist Matthew C. Manning was “rescued” from being a homo in ‘89. But since then, he’s been banned from his gym for lewdness and arrested for public sex at least three times since 1998.
You can now add a few more to the list, courtesy of The Miami New Times Top Ten Anti-Gay Gay People:
Richard Curtis, Republican member of the Washington state House of Representatives, voted against gays whenever he could, and in his spare time had sex with a gay male porn star!
Bob Allen, Republican member of Florida House of Representatives, was against adoption by same-sex couples. Also he solicited prostitution from an undercover male cop.
Glenn Murphy, Jr., chairman, Young Republican National Federation, got his young Republican friend drunk, then performed fellatio on him.
Roy Ashburn, Republican California State Senator. This is the guy that voted against us, and then when he was caught with his male lover, took the high road and just came out. Cheers!
Edward L. Schrock, Virginia Congressman. This advocate of DADT was caught on tape soliciting sex from a male prostitute.
Larry Craig, U.S. Senator from Idaho: You know this one. Solicited sex in an airport bathroom from an undercover cop, but voted twice against same-sex marriage and hate crime protections for teh gays.
Have you seen Outrage, btw? You should. Oddly, this reminded me of a passage from Chely Wright’s new book Like Me, in which she describes an incident where she told a gay castmate at Opryland that she didn’t approve of his lifestyle and was offended to see him flirt with another man in front of her. She later found out that he went easy on her because he suspected she was gay and understood her words came from self-hatred:
I suppose that my hateful rant against homosexuality in those first few weeks at Opryland only fueled his speculation about me. As I have grown older, I have paid attention to those who are so overtly opposed to and vocal against homosexuality, especially those who prop up their arguments with the Bible. An educated guess tells me that some of them who rant are actually gay.
DOMA:
Case is made vs. US marriage law: This is widely considered the first challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, and it happened yesterday when a lawyer for 17 gays & lesbians who’d legally wed in Massachusetts urged a federal judge yesterday to strike down the 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. They say it’s unconstitutional and that these legally married couples in Massachusetts were ineligible for federal benefits, which is obvs totally unfair.
W. Scott Simpson, a Justice Department lawyer defending the government, countered that the Obama administration agrees that the federal law is discriminatory and supports its repeal. But Simpson said the department is obliged to follow the longstanding practice of defending federal laws signed by previous presidents as long as the statutes are constitutional, which, he contends, the Defense of Marriage Act is.
(@boston.com)
LESBIAN TEACHER:
The kids at Marquette are pissed that the school has rescinded its offer to crown a lesbian as the new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. The lesbian in question has “written scholarly works on gender and sexual orientation” and also stuff “relating to Catholic mission and identity.” (@jsonline)
SAME-SEX PARENTING:
New York State’s highest court kinda expanded the rights of gay & lesbian parents, just barely ruling that nonbiological parents in same-sex relationships should be treated just like biological parents. But the Court of Appeals has declined to resolve two cases involving lesbian parents and sent ’em back to the lower courts instead for reasons we really don’t understand. (@nytimes)
ARGENTINA:
The House of Deputies in Argentina passed same-sex marriage by a 129-105 vote. If the Senate also passes it, the president has promised she won’t veto it, and then all the hot girls in Buenos Aires can marry each other! (@san diego times)
It’s OK to Hate Gays: Exodus International Counters GLSEN’s Tolerance Campaign
EXODUS INTERNATIONAL:
GLSEN’s Day of Silence is only six weeks away, but Exodus International knows that it’s never too soon to teach kids that, despite what the liberal media and your brainwashed gay-lovin’ teachers might want to tell you, it is sooooo not okay to be gay!
The “ex-gay” mental cases at Exodus International have already launched their “Day Of Truth” campaign to stop students from being taught that it’s wrong to beat up and harass gay kids.
The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior.
Exodus International is one of our least favorite non-profit organizations of all time. They run a huge gay conversion industry which includes a camp and conferences and lots of other supplementary materials. 
However my primary complaint with Exodus International is that the downloadable press release is in Microsoft Word format. WTF. PDFs, people, PDFs. Secondarily, the FAQ is a giant mindfuck. Reading it you just want Rachel Maddow to dissect it all for you.
From the website of Exodus International:
Though it would be great to have a peaceful and civil Day of Truth event, many times that just isn’t the case. You may well know that schools are becoming more and more biased when it comes to homosexual issues. Messages about homosexuality are seeping into classroom lectures, and teachers and administrators alike are enforcing one-sided rhetoric. By standing up for what you believe in and sharing the truth you will most likely experience some form of opposition.
HEALTH CARE DECISIONS:
The New York State Senate has passed the Family Health Care Decisions Act, which “[empowers] family members and others close to the patient to make medical decisions for incapacitated patients.” David C Leven, Executive Director of Compassion & Choices of New York said, “Passage of this law is an historic milestone. Health care decisions will now be able to be made by loved ones for thousands of patients, each year, who lack decision making capacity, but do not have a health care agent, primarily those who are dying. In accordance with the wishes or best interests of the patients, unwanted, aggressive but costly and unnecessary treatment which often causes great suffering will be prevented or stopped and care and treatment that is wanted will now be provided”. Apparently domestic partners are included in the list of people who can become surrogate decision-makers; hopefully that means gay people have the thumbs up? (@nysenate)
MARYLAND:
Same-sex marriage is illegal in Maryland, but they may begin recognizing marriages performed in other states. State agencies in Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states until the legislature or courts decide otherwise, Maryland’s attorney general said Wednesday in a long-awaited legal opinion. The opinion by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler concluded that the state’s highest court was likely to rule that legal same-sex marriages in other states are valid in Maryland. But, he said, the matter “is not free from all doubt.” (@nytimes)
NAACP:
Historically, the NAACP has never taken an official position on gay marriage. But the election last week of 44-year-old Roslyn Brock as chairwoman and the fact that current president Benjamin Jealous is 37 are making some people wonder if that might change – will a generational shift in the NAACP affect their stance on same-sex marriage? (@baltimoresun)
ANTI-GAY CRIME:
On the night of February 26th the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center at University of California-Davis experienced acts of vandalism. The entrance to the LGBTRC was defaced with derogatory and hateful words that target the Queer community. (@joemygod)
NOMINATION:
The White House has nominated out lesbian Laura E. Duffy to serve as U.S. attorney for the southern district of California. She led the prosecution team that brought down one of the biggest drug cartels in the state of California. (@theadvocate)
H8:
Did you hear about when Miss Beverly Hills, in an apparent imitation of Carrie Prejean, intimated that gays deserve to die for being sinners? If your immediate reaction was to wonder “What do you even say to that?” you will be pleased to know that this blogger and also Dan Savage have taken care of it for you. (@stylelist)(@firedoglake)
NETHERLANDS:
Several hundred protesters in pink wigs and clothes demonstrated outside a Catholic church in ‘s-Hertogenbosch that refused communion to a gay man. “This dispute began during Dutch carnival celebrations earlier in February, when the man chosen to be carnival prince in nearby Reusel was refused communion because of his open homosexuality… The Sint-Jan church in the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, was prepared for the protest and so decided not to give out Holy Communion during Sunday Mass… The man at the centre of the row has said he just wants equal treatment – if he is regarded as a sinner, he wants the priest to refuse communion to all other sinners too. “ (@bbc)
PROP 8:
On Friday the 26th, Judge Walker of the Prop 8 trial requested briefs from both sides summarizing their points before the closing arguments. Apparently the h8ers have used this as an opportunity to sneak in a few more accusations about gay families that they didn’t mention in the trial. “In papers filed late Friday, lawyers for the sponsors of California’s gay marriage ban offered new twists on their claim that allowing gay men and lesbians to wed could undermine man-woman unions. The potential harms they cited included giving bisexuals a legal basis for pursuing group marriages and unmarried fathers an incentive to abandon their children. “ Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any more information on this anywhere else on the internet, so it’s hard to know what this might potentially mean. (@mercurynews)
WWJD:
In an admirable thought experiment, self-described Christian John Shore wonders aloud what Jesus would do if invited to a gay wedding. Believe it or not, it turns out Jesus was a pretty chill guy, and probably would have hit the open bar with you. “One thing that often gets lost in our considerations of Jesus is the degree to which he is exactly the wrong person to piss off. And you don’t have to spend a lot of time in the New Testament before you understand that the only kind of people who seem to ever truly anger him are those who put religious dogma above what he most stood for, which was God’s compassionate will. Around Jesus you can whine, lie, shift your loyalties, be late, be greedy, be too ambitious, be stupid, be a coward, be a hypochondriac, constantly complain, fall asleep at every wrong moment — you can do nothing right, and it won’t in the slightest way seem to offend him. But you put dogma ahead of empathy? You transmogrify God’s law into a justification for denying God’s grace? Then … yikes, man. Then you’ve got yourself a problem no one wants. (@huffpo)
Twitter Fail, Intervention for Intervention, Therapy Can’t Make You Straight & A Lesbian Club Can’t Make You Gay
OH MY EFFIN G TWITTER IS UP AND DOWN: “We are defending against a denial-of-service attack, and will update status again shortly.”
Firstly – if you’re queer and you’re reading this, and you know when it is exactly that you knew you were queer, please tweet @autostraddle as cleverly as possible using the tag: #wheniknew. We’ll publish all on autostraddle on Friday SATURDAY and the best one will win a TBA prize, but it might involve a vial of Angelina Jolie’s blood. It might involve a sticker. You never know.
Anyhow! Back to things you DO know, lesbians & allies! We proceed valiantly forward with our ‘When I Knew I Was Gay‘ series with Part Two today! Part One kicked ass. Also, the Wednesday Televisionary covers Shark Week and our stuffed mascot Tinkerbell recapped Intervention, FYI.
BREAKING NEWS. BEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME – an Intervention for Intervention.
HAS ANYBODY SEEN HEY PAULA: Paula Abdul broke the news via Twitter that she is quitting her Idol gig. Kara DioGuardi will be the only lady there. We hope this means Paula is going back to her true calling Hey Paula. @newsweek)
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN EX-GAY: Much to everyone’s shock & awe, turning someone from homosexual to straight just don’t work. Yup that’s right GAY CONVERSION PROGRAMS DON’T WORK. And now we have a 138 page paper to prove it, too! (@cnn)
FOR EXAMPLE MY WIFE: Brad Pitt to Parade Magazine: “They say homosexuality is a choice, a lifestyle, something you can be cured of, and that isn’t true. But if you’re tucked away and have no friends who are gay, you’ll believe what the preachers say.”
GIRLBARS: Can a lesbian club make you gay? According to our writer, possibly! “I decided to walk to the bathroom (where I saw two girls going at it hardcore) and splashed some water on my face. I nearly started talking to myself in the mirror. What are you doing? You. Like. Penis. Right? Right.“: Why a Lesbian Club Made Me Consider Switching Teams (@lemondrop) (more…)
Evangelicals, Rapists, Tramps & Thieves: Why Anti-Gay Leaders Love to Sin, Are the Sinners
Friday morning, July 24th, 2009, a jury in Arkansas found evangelist Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multi-million dollar ministry, guilty of 10 federal counts of taking minors across state lines for sex, beginning in 1994. In addition to selling designer jackets to famous people, The Tony Alamo Christian Ministries had been “saving souls” all over the country and on the streets of Hollywood since the 60’s. Superstar Tony Alamo gave himself permission to choose which of his followers to “marry,“ including an 8-year old and a 14-year old. After the woman he married at age 8 escaped, Alamo began keeping other wives who (he believed) had betrayed him in a special “House of Scorn” with boarded windows, located on Alamo’s 15-acre compound (which included swimming pools, ponies, the works). They were unable to leave or eat without his permission. Last year, 32 children were seized from compounds associated with the Tony Alamo Children Ministries over allegations of beatings and sexual abuse.
Daily Fix: Friends of Vanished Gay Med Student Fight to Rescue him from Ex-Gay Ministry Exodus International
Remember when you got fired? We do! (Multiple times, for some of us) Check out our storytime roundtable: YOU’RE FIRED! I QUIT! Then, take a trip to Greece with special guest Erin, who went there to see the ancient sites and sounds and then this dude fell in love with her.
This week’s Tuesday Televisionary is one of epic proportions! So many teevee shows, so little time — True Blood! 10 Things I Hate About You! Gimme Sugar! So You Think You Can Dance! Weeds! Intervention! Ruby Rose’s new Australian show! And more.
↓ BUT I’M A CUTE MEDICAL STUDENT: “A young gay medical student named Bryce Faulkner had made plans to move from Arkansas to be closer to his boyfriend, Travis Swanson, who lives in Wisconsin. But now Bryce has vanished–into a 14-month program meant to “convert” him to heterosexuality, it is thought.”
In addition to their page at the Ergonomical Ministries, Bryce’s friends & supporters made a facebook page to rescue Bryce Faulkner and to raise awareness about the ex-gay organizations that “perpetuate the notion that being gay is evil, spiritually void and a choice on conscience.”
Recently, Bryce’s parents made contact with his friends to threaten litigation and to tell them that Bryce came to them “begging for treatment.”
Let’s raise some awareness, shall we? (more…)