Miss Teen and Girlfriend

An attorney says a lesbian student who sued a Mississippi school over its policy banning same-sex prom dates can bring her girlfriend to a privately sponsored dance. (March 30)

- KSRO.com Posted 3/31/2010

Gay marriages allegedly violate Presbyterian church law – yet Minister Jane Spahr was aquitted due to the fact that the church did not believe the same sex marriages she performed were real. Now, however, several of the marriages that she performed occurred within the 5 month span in which same sex marriage was legal. What does this mean for Spahr?

- By Aaron C. Davis | March 31, 2010
Original Story via The Washington Post

Over raucous objections from Maryland Republicans, House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D) sidestepped an attempt Wednesday by Del. Don H. Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) to call a vote on whether to impeach Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) for directing Maryland agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Despite a Maryland State Trooper stationed outside the chamber in tactical gear and Dwyer’s vows to not “go down without a fight,” the episode ended without any of the physical confrontation to which Dwyer had previously alluded, and that had attracted at least six television news crews and more than two dozen reporters to the chamber.

At the episode’s apex, Dwyer yelled that Busch was out of order. “This is wrong, this is wrong, Mr. Speaker, and I object.” Busch then banged his gavel and dispensed with the ultimatum with a procedural decision to refer the matter to the chamber’s Judiciary Committee.

The move, which appeared to set a precedent and that Republicans maintained usurped the authority of House members to vote up or down on articles of impeachment, all but assured the demise of the impeachment attempt.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario (D-Prince George’s) scheduled a hearing on Dwyer’s resolution for 3 p.m. But a majority of the committee members support legalizing same-sex marriage, and members in recent months have repeatedly voted down attempts to preclude Maryland from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.

Some of the members also stood up during Wednesday’s debate to say they support the attorney general’s opinion that he cannot be impeached without a conviction by a court of law.

On the floor, the ordeal ended on an anticlimactic 39 to 101 vote that in effect supported Busch’s decision to move the impeachment charges off the floor and into committee.

- www.joemygod.blogspot.com March 30, 2010

Canadian “ex-gay” reparative therapy Dr. Aubrey Levin has been charged with sexually assaulting a male patient. Since that charge became known a few days ago, almost 30 other patients have come forward with accusations.
Dr Aubrey Levin, who in South Africa was known as Dr Shock for his use of electricity to “cure” gay military conscripts, was arrested after a patient secretly filmed the psychiatrist allegedly making sexual advances. Levin, who worked at the University of Calgary’s medical school, has been suspended from practising and is free on bail of C$50,000 (£32,000) on charges of repeatedly indecently assaulting a 36-year-old man. The police say they are investigating similar claims by nearly 30 other patients. The Alberta justice department is reviewing scores of criminal convictions in which Levin was a prosecution witness. Levin has worked in Canada for 15 years since leaving South Africa, where he was chief psychiatrist in the apartheid-era military and became notorious for using electric shocks to “cure” gay white conscripts. He also held conscientious objectors against their will at a military hospital because they were “disturbed” and subjected them to powerful drug regimens. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard that Levin was guilty of “gross human rights abuses” including chemical castration of gay men. But after arriving in Canada in 1995 he managed to suppress public discussion of his past by threatening lawsuits against news organisations that attempted to explore it.
Levin has been torturing gay people with his quack “cures” since the 1960s.
The treatment consisted of strapping electrodes to the upper arm. Homosexual soldiers were shown pictures of a naked man and encouraged to fantasise, and then the power was ratcheted up. Trudie Grobler, an intern psychologist on ward 22, saw a lesbian subjected to severe shocks. “It was traumatic. I could not believe her body could handle it,” she said later. One gay soldier claimed to have been chemically castrated by Levin. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was told by investigators that he was not alone. It also heard that at least one patient had been driven to suicide. Levin refused to testify before the commission.

THE HAGUE — An ex-US general has apologised after saying Dutch UN troops failed to prevent the Srebrenica genocide partly because their ranks included openly gay soldiers, the Dutch defence ministry said on Tuesday.

John Sheehan, a retired former NATO commander and senior Marine officer, “wrote a letter of apology,” ministry spokeswoman Anne van Pinxteren told AFP.

In it, Sheehan said he was “sorry” for remarks made at a Senate hearing earlier this month where he argued against plans by President Barack Obama to end a ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the US military.

“The case in point that I’m referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs,” he said at the time, referring to the Dutch UN peacekeeping force deployed to protect Bosnian Muslim civilians.

Sheehan claimed that Dutch leaders, including the former chief of staff of the Dutch army General Henk van den Breemen, had told him that the presence of gay soldiers had contributed to the fall of the enclave which led to the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

“To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers,” states Sheehan’s letter, dated Monday and addressed to the now retired Van den Breemen.

“I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military,” said the letter, a copy of which was given to AFP by the ministry.

“It is also regrettable that I allowed you to be pulled into a public debate.”

Sheehan’s statements had been described as “disgraceful” by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and “complete nonsense” by Van den Breemen, while the gay rights group Pink Army threatened to sue the ex-general unless he retracted.

“Pink Army is relieved and happy that the former American general Sheehan regress his allegations,” the organisation said Tuesday.

“Now that he has expressed regret, the need to start legal proceedings has vanished.”

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

- Renata Pereira, Pink News, March 24th, 2010

Waiting to stand trial for chaining himself to the White House gate, soldier Dan Choi has spoken out on his disappointment with gay community.

Iraq War veteran and gay activist Lt. Dan Choi was arrested on 18 March after he and a fellow soldier chained themselves to the White House gate, in protest of the US military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which bans openly gay people from serving in the army.

Choi, who is due to stand trial on 26 April after pleading not guilty to the charge of failing to obey a lawful order, said of his actions: “Obama told us at the [Human Rights Campaign] dinner last year, ‘you need to put pressure on me.’

“I was there at that dinner, in uniform. So this is my mission; the president said to pressure him and I heard that as a warning order.”

Speaking to Newsweek on Monday, he went on to criticise the gay community’s commitment to the cause, declaring that many of their leaders seemed more concerned with achieving a high social status than making a difference.

“Is someone willing to give up their career, their relationships with powerful people, their Rolodex, or their parents’ love to stand up for who they are? I’m giving up my military rank, my unit – which to me is a family – my veterans’ benefits, my health care, so what are you willing to sacrifice?”

“Jesus up on the cross did not have a party with all his major donors to raise money for his cause, his cross was free. Gandhi did not need three-course dinners and a cocktail party to get his message out. These are people who sacrificed their lives. It was not the size of their distribution list, but their message that endured.”

Choi, who described the DADT policy as “the only law that enforces shame”, said his military training taught him about sacrificing himself for the greater good.

“I have fully committed my life and all the sacrifices necessary to manifest equality and America’s promises. Like I said at court (sic.), ‘I’m not guilty, I’m not ashamed, and I’m not finished.’”

-www.transgenderlegal.org March 26th, 2010

The time for ENDA is now. When House Members return from recess on April 12th, we want them to take up the Employment Non-Discrimination Act right away. To get them to do that, we must put pressure on them. We’ve waited long enough, we have the votes, and now is the time to pass ENDA.

Help get it done. Here are three things you can do during House recess to help move ENDA forward:

Visit your representative in your district. Get an appointment, drop by the office, and definitely leave a note. (Find your representative here).
Write to your representative. Mail it, or send an email.
Call your representative today! Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your Representative.
Here’s a suggested voicemail message: My name is _______ , and I live at (your street address) in (your city). I am calling about ENDA. My message is simple and direct: we need committee markup and a House vote on ENDA the week of April 12. Thank you.

Kimberly Newman, FOX News

Story Created: Mar 25, 2010

Story Updated: Mar 26, 2010 at 1:27 PM CDT

Most teens prom concerns range from what to wear and arranging a limo, but for a Cochran high school student, his date caused the most controversy. A gay high school student in Bleckley County is defying the community’s wishes, and bringing his boyfriend to the prom.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a limo and go out to eat with my boyfriend and my friends, and then go to prom, and hopefully, have a walk through.” –Derrick Martin/Bleckley County High School Senior

Derrick Martin’s peers stood up Thursday against the senior’s sexuality and his plans to bring a same sex partner as his date.

“It wasn’t too long before people from the community started showing up at the rally, and taking sides.” –Kimberly Newman/ Kimb...@fox24.com

“You sit here and you tell me that if somebody walked up to you and you’ve already paid all your money to go a prom that you’ve waited eleven years to go to and its a sacred event and somebody walks in and says oh I’m gay I’m going to do a walk through with another guy.” Concerned Citizen/Cochran

An organized rally met outside the Bleckley County Courthouse Thursday afternoon to allow angered parents, students, and community members to speak out about the boy’s decision. In an ongoing battle against sexual prejudice, Derrick went to the school’s principal and asked for permission to bring his same sex date to the prom, scheduled for April 17th. His request was approved after a short delegation by the Board of Education, and Derrick couldn’t be happier to feel accepted, even if it isn’t by everyone.

“There’s always going to be people that don’t like you and that don’t want to be around you, and you just have to just accept it.” –Derrick Martin/Controversial Student

“I’m going to speak out. Because I’m a father, and I’m proud to be a father and I’m going to look out for my kids no matter what and I’m going to stand up for them no matter what.” –Bobby Duskin/Worried Father

Concerned father Bobby Duskin arranged Thursday’s rally at the courthouse and worries that his daughter will miss out on a big event in her life. Amber backed out of going to the prom once she heard Derrick was being accompanied by a male.

“It’s not just his prom it’s my prom too and everybody else’s at the school.” –Amber Duskin/ Bleckley High Senior

In an effort to distance themselves from the gay couple, some students intend on going elsewhere for prom night and community members are trying to arrange an alternate prom. I’m Kimberly Newman, for News Central.

Below is the full statement from the Board of Education regarding the decision:

‘A male student at Bleckley County High School requested permission to bring a male friend to the high school prom. After school and system officials reviewed prom rules and procedures and legal precedent, the school informed the individual that there were no rules or policies that would prevent him from bringing his friend to the prom. This statement is not an endorsement of any particular practice or life style, but rather recognition of the legal environment in which public schools operate today. In the interest of fairness to all students who have looked forward to their prom, school officials did not entertain the option of canceling the prom.

Our school system is struggling with much larger concerns such as budget shortfalls and striving to sustain our reputation for excellence in education. We have serious matters that require our time and resources and we simply can not afford to divert any of them away from our educational mission.’

For video coverage of this story, go to:

by: Pam Spaulding
Thu Mar 25, 2010 at www.pamshouseblend.com

UPDATE: The original article is from 2006, so you can take a look at the video now. That makes the situation even more grim. Benedict was elected when this scandal was already in full flower:

It’s time for Pope Benedict to spare the faithful the continual pain of representing a full-blown, RICO-worthy criminal enterprise, an unholy alliance of silence at the expense of the innocence of children. He must face criminal charges. Tonight a BBC documentary is airing that will Today’s well-documented expose by the New York Times, which corroborates evidence uncovered in a BBC documentary in 2006, give the Vatican zero wiggle room to make claims like “we didn’t know” or worse, laughably, it’s “a campaign to smear the pope.” There is more than enough evidence from the documents that have been revealed to put any lay person on trial.

The Pope played a leading role in a systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests, according to a shocking documentary to be screened by the BBC tonight.
In 2001, while he was a cardinal, he issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church’s interests ahead of child safety. The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it. And, to keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeat the allegations they would be excommunicated.

…Five years ago [Benedict] sent out an updated version of the notorious 1962 Vatican document Crimen Sollicitationis – Latin for The Crime of Solicitation – which laid down the Vatican’s strict instructions on covering up sexual scandal. It was regarded as so secret that it came with instructions that bishops had to keep it locked in a safe at all times.
Five years ago — that was well into the rise in abuse scandals, and with that original document in place, when Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope, you can’t tell me those voting for him didn’t know of his past, the coverups, the policy that was in place.
Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing a new principle: that the Vatican must have what it calls Exclusive Competence. In other words, he commanded that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with direct by Rome.

…Father Tom Doyle, a Vatican lawyer until he was sacked for criticising the church’s handling of child abuse claims, says: “What you have here is an explicit written policy to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy and to punish those who would call attention to these crimes by the churchmen.
“When abusive priests are discovered, the response has been not to investigate and prosecute but to move them from one place to another. So there’s total disregard for the victims and for the fact that you are going to have a whole new crop of victims in the next place. This is happening all over the world.”

The documentary is by Colm O’Gorman, who was raped at 13 by a priest.
As we’ve learned over the years, in story after story of child-rape by men of the cloth, the church just shifted them around, as Ratzinger decreed in his sacred, secret document. There is no other moral option other than to step aside, but we all know he won’t do that.

For a clip from the documentary, click here:

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD, www.bucks.blog.nytimes.com March 24th 2010

The health care overhaul package excludes a provision that would have helped same-sex couples: eliminating a tax on employer-provided domestic partner health coverage.

While the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives in November included language that erased the tax, which applies to health insurance coverage offered to the domestic partners of employees, that provision didn’t make it into the legislation signed by President Obama.

As it stands, employer-provided health benefits offered to domestic partners are counted as taxable income if the partner is not considered a dependent (the amount of the tax is based on the value of the partner’s coverage paid by the employer). Coverage extended to opposite-sex spouses, however, is not subject to the additional tax.

“We are very disappointed this was the outcome,” said Brian Moulton, chief legislative counsel at the Human Rights Campaign.

Last year, we calculated the extra costs that many same-sex couples incur over their lifetime. Not surprisingly, health care costs were one of the biggest contributors. Part of the reason is that most employers don’t offer coverage to domestic partners — about 36 percent of large companies that offer health benefits provide coverage for same-sex partners, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Of course, even if employers do offer coverage, the employee is still subject to the tax.

But the health care overhaul could make it easier for people who are not covered by an employer to receive coverage, which may benefit uninsured members of the gay and lesbian community.

Come 2014, people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage, and the uninsured will be able to buy coverage on newly-formed state-run insurance exchanges that must include certain essential benefits. People with low to moderate incomes may be eligible for subsidized coverage. You can find more coverage on how the health care overhaul will affect you here, here and here.

“If you don’t have the option through your own employer, or through your partner’s to get insurance in some manner, there will now be this additional mechanism, the health insurance exchanges, to get individual coverage,” Mr. Moulton said.

There is arguably a potential upside to not being married. Low to moderate income uninsured partners who are not covered by their own employer or their partner’s may be more likely to receive subsidies on premiums and cost-sharing expenses (which include out-of-pocket expenses like co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles).

After all, since they cannot file joint federal tax returns, their partner’s income would not increase their income to the point where they are no longer eligible. So as long as eligibility depends solely on federal tax returns, their income for subsidy qualification purposes will actually be lower than their true household income.