"If you're gay, lesbian, or bisexual, would you sacrifice for your trans neighbors and siblings? If you're trans, would you sacrifice for your gay, lesbian, or bisexual neighbors and siblings? It's something worth knowing about yourself and those around you." --Autumn Sandeen, 4/19/2010, the night before GetEQUAL's DADT repeal protest at the White House
Public Calendar
Press/media, organizations, and individuals send your time-based event info to: calendar@phblend.net
The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
In light of the recent suicides of gay teens around the country, I felt compelled to share my own story for the first time to let youth know it gets better and to let people know they can do something to help.
At 18, I was suicidal. I had decided I would take my life due to such deep self-hatred about being gay after years of being bullied and harassed about being the fat kid and the geek and often called faggot even though I wasn't out or even sure I was gay. I wrote a poem that would serve as my suicide note, I planned the date, got the prescription. Two days before the planned date, I was walking as a sophmore through my university and just happened to look to my left and saw a Safe Space sticker on a faculty door. It was closed. I didn't want to be seen looking at it but I knew it was some how gay related.
I stuck a note under the door saying "I need help, please call" and included my number.
A young professor called. He told me about this organization called GLSEN. I never told him I was planning to kill myself. But the idea there was an org helping high school kids struggling with what I was feeling made me feel less alone and I thought that I wanted to be sure no one else ever had to feel this way.
I was bullied and harassed because people thought I was gay. What kept me going was not that I was happy or less depressed but that I learned I might help someone else. He introduced me to a therapist, the gay student group on campus and the GLSEN NNJ chapter. I gave them my very first gift to a nonprofit. By meeting them, and others on campus they introduced me to, I finally told one of them how desperate I was and they helped get me into rehab to deal with my suicidality and my eating disorder in 1996.
I came back from rehab. I came out at 20 with amazing support and immediately became an activist. I lead the group with that same professor to add sexual orientation and gender identity to MSU's anti-discrimination policies immediately after Matthew Shepard's passing. I changed majors and moved towards my nonprofit career.
I've been privileged to work for amazing non-profits such as GLSEN and now at the Liberty Hill Foundation. If you are a young person and need help, call the Trevor Hotline now at 866-4-U-TREVOR. Someone is there 24 hours per day.
I tell this story publicly now for the first time because I want youth to know there is hope but we as adults need to be sure they know where to find it.
GLSEN's Safe Space Campaign relaunches this week. The kit costs only $20.00. Go online and donate $20 or more at http://www.glsen.org and help GLSEN get these kits across the country. One sticker can save a life. It saved mine.
If you live in Los Angeles and want to be part of advancing LGBT rights and equality in the City of Angels, visit Liberty Hill and sign up for more information.
Patriot PAC has unveiled Operation Black Storm, a national coalition effort to unite the nation behind the 15 black conservative congressional candidates running in key districts around the country as Republican nominees for the upcoming November elections.
Helping to lead the charge among the Tea Party and Patriot movement in America for substantive political reform, Operation Black Storm will fight to fundamentally reshape the makeup of the U.S. Congress on November 2, 2010.
. . . This coalition has put its collective weight behind these highly qualified conservative black candidates to provide the resources and exposure they need to win on Election Day. Coalition members helping with voter education and candidate scorecards include Break the Bonds of Tyranny, Unite in Action, The ConservativeMESSENGER, The Frederick Douglass Foundation, and The Black Sphere, among others.
And the kicker? On the website under the above videos are the pictures of the 15 black conservatives wanting to be elected behind this mess. Call it what you want, but I say it's an endorsement of the insane, paranoid message in the video.
And by the way, this isn't a joke. There are legitimate organizations pushing this. The Frederick Douglass Foundation claims to be
. . . a public policy and educational organization which brings the sanctity of free market and limited government ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing our nation. We are a collection of pro-active individuals committed to developing innovative and new approaches to today's problems with the assistance of elected officials, scholars from universities and colleges and community activist.
Black Sphere is an extreme right-wing blog/organization.
And Conservative Messenger seems to be an organization run by one man, K. Carl Smith, who "claims" to espouse the free labor system of government
Quite simply, this is the most God-awful piece of crap I have ever seen in my life. It goes beyond the ideas of respecting black conservatives simply because they have a difference of opinion when it comes to the majority of the African-American community when it comes to the ballot box.
It's like a mad scientist crossed the DNA of a stereotypical Uncle Tom with that of a stereotypical House Negro, made clones, weaned them all on Fox News and then sent them out loose in the world.
I think we need holy water and 15 copies of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
I sh*t you not. If you want to get an idea of what the WaPo thought the "balance" that the homophobic, fact-free op-ed screed of Tony Perkins was supposed to offset, take a look at this exchange GLAAD had with the WaPo on Twitter (courtesy of GLAAD's Richard Ferraro):
Please see exchange below between glaad/WaPo on Twitter today. They point to a live chat with It Gets Better as justification for the Perkins op-ed.
GLAAD's initial tweet:
The @WashingtonPost Gives Platform to Anti-Gay Activist http://bit.ly/crX6q5 #LGBT #gay
Washington Post reply:
Hi @glaad, we're working to cover both sides. Earlier, we hosted Dan Savage of It Gets Better in a live chat. http://wapo.st/aA8SXX
GLAAD's reply:
@WashingtonPost There are not "both sides" to this issue. Teen suicide isn't a debate-it's a tragedy. http://bit.ly/crX6q5 #LGBT
Is this what American mainstream journalism has come to? Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn, for the paper's "On Faith" column, didn't even bother to Google Tony Perkins or check his sources.
Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke.
...Six years later, in 2002, Perkins embarked on a campaign to avenge his mentor's defeat by running for the US Senate himself. But Perkins was dogged with questions about his involvement with David Duke. Perkins issued a flat denial that he had ever had anything to do with Duke, and he denounced him for good measure. Unfortunately, Perkins's signature was on the document authorizing the purchase of Duke's list. Perkins's dalliance with the racist Council of Conservative Citizens in the run-up to his campaign also illuminates the seamy underside of his political associations.
When it rains, it pours! The wonderful news out of Florida this afternoon is that the Florida Department of Families and Children will not appeal a judge's decision that the ban on gay parents adopting children is unConstitutional. From the Miami Herald:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's gay adoption ban won't be enforced anywhere in the state after the Department of Children and Families decided Tuesday not to appeal the ban's overturn to the state Supreme Court.
The only way the case stays alive is if Attorney General Bill McCollum separately decides to appeal to the Supreme Court to keep the ban in place. He would have to do so without the support of the child welfare agency, which is changing its forms so adoptive parents aren't asked if they're gay.
If McCollum doesn't appeal, it will end the three-decade old ban that was considered the strictest in the country. The state's 3rd District Court of Appeal last month upheld a 2008 ruling by a Miami-Dade judge, who found "no rational basis" for the ban when she approved the adoption of two young brothers by Martin Gill and his male partner.
Since December 2004, Martin Gill and his partner have been foster parents to two brothers, then a four-year-old and an infant. Both children were removed from their birth mother's custody by DCF after severe neglect. Martin, who had fostered seven other children prior to these two boys, didn't want to say goodbye again. With the help of the ACLU, he filed suit to end Florida's thirty-three year old ban on gay people adopting children, with the end goal being legal adoption of his two foster sons.
On September 22, the Florida appeals court upheld a district court's decision that the ban was unConstitutional, and served no public interest. AG Bill McCollum, who we all remember as the man who hired George "Rentboy" Rekers to testify against gay and lesbians during this very trial, pushed for the appeals court to hear the case, rather than going directly to the State Supreme Court, as Gill's counsel petitioned for following the district court's ruling. After the initial ruling came down in September, Governor Charlie Crist instructed the state to not enforce the adoption ban. Department of Children and Families, as the Defendant in this case, had 30 days to file an appeal. DCF has said it will not appeal the decision. The only way this moves forward is if AG McCollum does so on his own, which given his past statements, could very well happen.
MCCOLLUM: I don’t believe in gay adoption. I don’t believe in involving the government in enforcing or encouraging the lifestyle of gays and homosexuals. I just don’t believe that. [...]
Q: Florida permits homosexuals to serve as foster parents. That has been used as an argument to undermine the ban on adoptions. Should homosexuals be permitted to serve as foster parents in Florida?
MCCOLLUM: Well, I personally don’t think so, but that is the law.
Q: Should the law be changed?
MCCOLLUM: I think that it would be advisable. I really do not think that we should have homosexuals guiding our children. I think that it’s a lifestyle that I don’t agree with. I realize a lot of people do. It’s my personal faith, religious faith, that I don’t believe that the people who do this should be raising our children. It’s not a natural thing. You need a mother and a father. You need a man and a woman. That’s what God intended.
It's possible that Governor Crist will instruct his AG to not pursue this. DCF has determined it will not appeal this ban, and has in fact states that it is now legal for gay and lesbian parents to adopt in the state of Florida. We shall see.
With Judge Ordering End to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Udall, Gillibrand, 19 Other Senators Urge White House not to Appeal
Senators: Appeal of Judge’s Ruling, Injunction would Harm Military’s and Government’s Interests
Washington, D.C. – Today, after a federal judge in California ordered a halt to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law banning gays from serving openly in the military, U.S. Senators Mark Udall (D-CO) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter signed by 19 other Senators, urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder not to appeal the judge’s original decision and to allow the injunction to stand.
Not appealing the decision would allow Congress to act to repeal the unconstitutional law, which harms our national security, the Senators argued in their letter. An appeal of the recent federal court decision – and of the injunction issued today – could set back those congressional efforts, they added.
Udall and Gillibrand originally sent the letter to Holder in September. They are now joined by Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Roland Burris (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Al Franken (D-MN), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Ben Cardin (D-MD). The additional signatures are a testament to the support in the U.S. Senate for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“In light of important national security concerns, we respectfully request that you, in your capacity at the Department of Justice, refrain from appealing this decision or the permanent injunction granted against this law,” the Senators wrote.
“President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have all publicly advocated for the repeal of this harmful law,” the Senators continued. “There is no legal or military justification and not one shred of credible evidence that supports continuing the discriminatory DADT law, and considering the guidance of the commander-in-chief and the nation’s top two defense officials, we urge you to refrain from seeking an appeal. The federal court decision was a step in the right direction, and we are confident that the Senate will take the ultimate step by voting this fall on the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to permanently lift the ban on gays in the military. Although we understand that only action by Congress can bring real finality to this issue, we believe an appeal of the recent federal court decision could set back those congressional efforts. Therefore, we request your assistance in ensuring that we can eradicate this discriminatory law permanently and urge the Justice Department to choose not to appeal any court decision that would keep this law in place.”
The full letter to Attorney General Holder follows:
Dear Mr. Attorney General, We are writing to bring to your attention the recently issued decision of Judge Virginia A. Phillips of the United States District Court of the Central District of California in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, which declared that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) underlying law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process and free speech, thereby rendering DADT unconstitutional. In light of important national security concerns, we respectfully request that you, in your capacity at the Department of Justice, refrain from appealing this decision or the permanent injunction granted against this law. The following quote from the judge’s decision captures the overwhelming reason why the decision should stand: “Among those discharged were many with critically needed skills … Far from furthering the military's readiness, the discharge of these service men and women had a direct and deleterious effect on this governmental interest.” As one of many criteria that the Justice Department will examine in deciding whether to appeal the permanent injunction to this policy, we ask that you examine whether or not an appeal furthers a legitimate governmental interest. We would say any appeal does not. Additionally, DADT harms military readiness, as well as the morale and the cohesiveness of our armed forces, at a time when our military’s resources are strained and unity is critically important. For every person discharged after ten years of service, six new servicemembers would need to be recruited to recover the level of experience lost by that discharge. This not only weakens our military, but neither is it an effective use of our government resources or taxpayer monies. President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have all publicly advocated for the repeal of this harmful law. There is no legal or military justification and not one shred of credible evidence that supports continuing the discriminatory DADT law, and considering the guidance of the commander-in-chief and the nation’s top two defense officials, we urge you to refrain from seeking an appeal. The federal court decision was a step in the right direction, and we are confident that the Senate will take the ultimate step by voting this fall on the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act to permanently lift the ban on gays in the military. Although we understand that only action by Congress can bring real finality to this issue, we believe an appeal of the recent federal court decision could set back those congressional efforts. Therefore, we request your assistance in ensuring that we can eradicate this discriminatory law permanently and urge the Justice Department to choose not to appeal any court decision that would keep this law in place. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to hearing from you.
How about that fierce advocacy! Predictable, given how things have gone so far; this admin's DOJ and this President (a constitutional scholar) are going to defend discrimination. From Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (email press release):
Department of Justice will Appeal GLAD's Victory in DOMA Lawsuit
Today, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal in the case of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, the challenge brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Representing seven married same-sex couples and three widowers, GLAD filed Gill in March 2009. The case was heard in May 2010 by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro, who issued a decision finding DOMA Section 3 unconstitutional on July 8, 2010.
"We fully expected an appeal and are more than ready to meet it head on," said Mary L. Bonauto, GLAD's Civil Rights Project Director. "DOMA brings harm to families like our plaintiffs every day, denying married couples and their children basic protections like health insurance, pensions, and Social Security benefits. We are confident in the strength of our case."
The case is now before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The next step will be for the government to file its brief to that court arguing that Judge Tauro's ruling was wrong. GLAD will then file its brief in opposition to the government, and finally the government will file a reply brief. At that point, the appeal will be scheduled for oral argument. Briefing could be concluded by the spring of 2011 with oral argument to follow by the fall of 2011.
The government also today filed its notice of appeal in the related case Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Department of Health and Human Services.
Co-counsel in the Gill case are attorneys from the firms Foley Hoag LLP, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, and Kator, Parks & Weiser, PLLC.
UPDATE: Read between these lines - @KerryEleveld quoting Robert Gibbs:
"Obviously, there have been a number of court cases that have ruled in favor of plaintiffs in this case and the president will continue to work as hard he can to change the law that he believes is fundamentally unfair."
Note from Louise: More press releases coming in (4pm EDT) and will be put up below the fold.
The fierce advocate finds himself painted into a LGBT equality corner three weeks before midterms by a federal judge. (The Advocate):
In a Tuesday ruling, U.S. district judge Virginia A. Phillips ordered the Defense Department to "immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding" related to "don't ask, don't tell."
In her order Phillips did not specify when the injunction would become effective. Justice Department attorneys are expected to appeal the injunction to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit.
The ruling:
So what's it going to be, Mr. President, Mr. Commander-in-Chief? Is the gay community's equality a political football on this issue or is removing a policy banning gays and lesbians from serving in the military going to happen on your watch, on your authority now?
The President, who is himself a constitutional scholar, has been handed the golden opportunity to end DADT once and for all. A federal judge has now ruled that the gay ban is unconstitutional, and he has ordered the federal government to stop the discharges immediately. The President now has the power - given to him by a federal judge - to do the right thing, to do what he promised, to side with the civil rights community. All he has to do is not appeal, and DADT is over.
It's a no-brainer. Even for this administration that is loathe to do anything bold, loathe to be seen as responsible for anything even slightly "controversial." Well, now they have their out. It's the judge's fault. President Obama can simply choose not to appeal the case, to respect the judge's decision, and DADT is over. It's history.
Or the President can direct his Department of Justice to oppose the judge's order, to appeal the case, and to defend DADT - to defend bigotry, to go down in history on the same side as those who chose to defend discrimination against another class of Americans earlier in the 20th century.
Reactions...
SU:
"This order from Judge Phillips is another historic and courageous step in the right direction, a step that Congress has been noticeably slow in taking," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and the sole named veteran plaintiff in the case along with the Log Cabin Republicans. "While this is certainly news to be celebrated, we would also advise caution in advance of a potential stay from the Ninth Circuit. If the appellate court wishes to put itself on the right side of history, however, it will allow this sound and long-over due decision to remain in effect."
The case that won the injunction, Log Cabin Republicans vs. United States of America, was originally filed in 2004. Just last month, and after a two-week trial in July, Judge Phillips issued her final ruling in the case, finding that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law was unconstitutional on first and fifth amendment grounds. She also indicated her intent to issue an injunction barring further discharges in light of that finding. A copy of the injunction can be found at www.ServicemembersUnited.org/injunction.
LCR:
Christian Berle, acting Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans "After finding in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' violates servicemembers First and Fifth Amendment rights, a world-wide injunction was the only reasonable solution. These soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines sacrifice so much in defense of our nation and our Constitution. It is imperative that their constitutional freedoms be protected as well. This decision is also a victory for all who support a strong national defense. No longer will our military be compelled to discharge servicemembers with valuable skills and experience because of an archaic policy mandating irrational discrimination. The United States is stronger because of this injunction, and Log Cabin Republicans is proud to have brought the case that made it possible."
Dan Woods, White & Case partner who is representing Log Cabin Republicans "We are extremely pleased with Judge Phillips's decision granting an immediate and permanent injunction barring the US military from carrying out its 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. The order represents a complete and total victory for Log Cabin Republicans and reaffirms the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians in the military who are fighting and dying for our country."
So when did the Washington Post partner with WorldNetDaily? I must be confused, because how is it possible that a mainstream national newspaper could run an op-ed in its Religion section about homosexuality by a man who bases his arguments on junk science by Paul Cameron?
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, under the WaPo "On Faith" banner headed up by Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn, penned "Christian compassion requires the truth about harms of homosexuality." In essence, he says it is the LGBT civil rights movement that causes these gay teens to take their lives.
Reading the following may cause you to want to hurl.
[H]omosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family.
Within the homosexual population, such mental health problems are higher among those who "come out of the closet" at an earlier age. Yet GLSEN's approach is to encourage teens to "come out" when younger and younger--thus likely exacerbating the very problem they claim they want to solve.
Some homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal--yet they have been told by the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment, that they are "born gay" and can never change. This--and not society's disapproval--may create a sense of despair that can lead to suicide.
Jim Burroway destroys the "facts" Perkins is attempting to foist on readers and puts the studies he refers to into context.
I guess Perkins doesn't actually intend for people to click on those hyperlinks. Apparently, he intended them for decoration, the same way FRC people regularly sprinkle their publications with footnotes to make them look more scholarly. But I would invite you to go ahead and click on the first one, which points to a 2002 article from the Monitor On Psychology, the American Psychological Association's official magazine. Among the studies discussed in that article was one by Susan Cochran ("Emerging issues in research on lesbians' and gay men's mental health: Does sexual orientation really matter?" American Psychologist, 56, no. 11 (Nov 2001): 931-947). Her study did find elevated levels of psychological distress among gay people. However,
For one thing, she says, "these are certainly not levels of morbidity consistent with models that say homosexuality is inherently pathological." For another, the data simply don't prove either pro- or anti-gay arguments on the subject, whether it's that the inherent biology of homosexuality causes mental illness or that social stigma provokes mental illness in LGB people, she says.
Cochran also predicted that her study would, no doubt, be misused by anti-gay people like Perkins "to falsely promulgate the argument that gay people are by nature mentally ill." She was right.
Over at Americablog, John recounts the epic FAIL of the research Tony's "facts" are drawn from. A tidbit:
Paul Cameron is an infamous anti-gay propagandist whose one-man statistical chop shop, the Family Research Institute, churns out hate literature masquerading as legitimate science. Cameron dresses up his "studies" with copious footnotes, graphs and charts, and then pays to publish them in certain journals. Cameron's work has been rejected by both the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association, yet his ludicrous statistics are frequently referenced in sermons, news broadcasts, politicians' speeches and even court decisions.
FRI has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This information has been out there for ages, and surely Meacham and Quinn know how to use TEH GOOGLE to see whether the WaPo's reputation (such that it is) wants to be seen providing outlet for opinion -- or flat-out fometing hate and disinformation in the name of "balance."
What Perkins is writing -- and the Post is publishing -- is that he believes homosexuals should "intuitively" see same-sex attractions as "abnormal" -- and yet he sees no connection to be drawn between his statements and the despair that leads LGBT teens to suicidal thoughts and believes no blame is to be placed on him for the bullying borne of such attitudes.
There are no words - another teen struggling with her sexuality -- on a historically black university campus feels there is no way out. Via Rod 2.0:
Very unfortunate news to report as yet another LGBT teen has ended their life. Nineteen-year-old Aiyisha Hassan, a lesbian former Howard University student, took her own life last Tuesday in California.
Hassan becomes at least the seventh LGBT teen to commit suicide in the past five weeks. She also becomes the second Black LGBT teen to commit suicide in the past two weeks.
''She was having a lot of trouble with a lot of different things,'' Morris says, ''but mainly her sexual identity and just trying to express that.''
Sterling Washington, co-founder of C.A.S.C.A.D.E. and former president, came upon news of Hassan's suicide after attending a C.A.S.C.A.D.E. event at the university this week.
''I absolutely think that this is connected in a way to the failure of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to be repealed,'' Sterling, who is gay and an a 2004 Howard alumni said, speaking to Metro Weekly on Friday.
''What happens in a large group trickles down to the junior members... so in this case it's members of society so it affects youth in general,'' he said. ''Those straight-identified youth who already had a proclivity, who already had from their parents, their socialization, this idea that gays are less than, it sort of gives them permission and facilities this whole bullying thing so that those that are most vulnerable to it sometimes see suicide as an out.''
Friend of the Blend and all-around secret nice guy (except to anti-gay closet cases) Mike Rogers of BlogActive and Raw Story was on The Ed Show the other day and GOProud's Chris Barron each took a turn at the plate to discuss the unhinged racist, anti-LGBT Republican NY gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino (R). Via David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement.
"He has all of the moral authority of John Edwards...He's Alan Keyes... He's running the perfect campaign to get 25% of the vote... He should be treated by the conservative movement as a buffoon...The social conservatives are trying to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. The Tea Party is a grassroots movement. Carl Paladino doesn't control the Tea Party movement, Jim DeMint doesn't control the Tea Party movement...My dog has a better chance of getting elected Governor than Carl Paladino does."
Mike Rogers:
"Well, Mr. Paladino's clearly been gripped by old talking points of the very people who he's hoping to elect him, because he knows if he puts down his ideas that he's tried to run on, he'll go nowhere so he starts to grasp at these crazy ideas. and he - there's nothing to make of it is that he's another politician saying what he thinks he will hope to get elected but are there real ramifications and we saw what happened in the Bronx. We see what happens with the youth suicides that you mentioned earlier. That when politicians and leaders say things like this, they have an effect on people because they are seen on leaders and Chris can say what he wants but Carl Paladino is the de facto leader in the Republican party in the state of New York and when Carl Paladino says things like that he's putting the lives of gay, lesbian and bisexual people at risk."
Many pols I've encountered are pretty self-absorbed characters with outsized egos. I don't think it's a requirement of course, but you probably have a healthy ego to ask people for money.
I have to say that a few pols stand out in my mind as quite genuine in that they simply want to serve the people, and have a backbone in the wake of political adversity. Krystal Ball, who is running for Congress in the 1st district of Virginia and is a strong LGBT ally, is one of those people. I met her a couple of years ago at Netroots Nation as she was kicking off her run,and she sat down for a short interview.
As we speak her campaign has been responding to a controversy over what the MSM now describes as "racy" photos of her from six years ago that were released last week. No, I'm not posting them; the MSNBC report addresses it with Krystal. FromThe Politico:
Ball, a 28-year old accountant running against Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) in central Virginia, said that while she is "embarrassed" by the photos, she is "angry" that they have been posted on the Internet by a partisan blogger. The pictures - which POLITICO is not posting - are from a party about six years ago and depict Ball posing with her now ex-husband in a joking yet sexual manner. The pictures were originally posted on a Republican blog called "Virginia Vertucon" and have also been re-posted by a Republican blogger who calls himself Black Velvet Bruce Li.
She's gone on the offensive, not by leading with attacks, but by sticking to the issues and shares why she is running. I wanted to run this piece by Krystal on The Next Glass Ceiling. --- Pam
The Next Glass Ceiling
By Krystal Ball, U.S. Congressional candidate for the 1st district in Virginia
(Below right: her appearance yesterday on MSNBC.
When I was 15 years old, I watched Hillary Clinton during the difficult times she faced when her private life and President Clinton's private life became public. Nevermind that the people conducting the impeachment hearings were having multiple affairs and oozed hypocrisy. Nevermind that they wanted to know every voyeuristic detail of the President's sex life under the guise of righteousness. What I remember thinking as a young woman was watching Hillary Clinton's expression after she had to face the entire country with her private life exposed for the world to see. I admired her so much. I thought she had this toughness and grit, style and pain, all at the same time. She must have been such a jumble of emotions inside, but she persisted. But what must that first time facing the public be like, knowing that everyone knows about your private life? Knowing that your political opponents did this in order to hurt you?
I am a 28-year-old wife, mother, Certified Public Accountant and small business owner, and the Democratic Nominee for US Congress in the 1st district of Virginia, where I was born and raised and where I am now raising my own daughter. My father has a Ph.D. in physics and did his dissertation on crystals. Fortunately or unfortunately, my mother allowed him to name me and so he chose the name Krystal Ball.
If elected, I would be the first woman under 30 to serve in Congress in our nation's history. When I decided to run for office, I had never been involved in politics before. My husband and I own an educational software business and we design software for charter schools and public schools, to teach everything from river ecology to Spanish.
In 2008, I was sitting in the hospital, holding my baby girl Ella in my arms. She was born on the day before the Presidential Primary. I remember looking at Ella and watching the election and thinking about Hillary. Thinking about how she, my own mother, and their generation of women proved that a woman can be just as competent as any man. They had to fight against the dominant narrative that women were somehow less capable, so they worked twice as hard, had twice as much experience and determined not to be victims of sexism but instead to smash the glass ceiling by sheer determination. This was not without cost. Women felt they had to choose between family and career, and they had to cover up almost any hint of sexuality in the workplace if they wanted to be taken as seriously as men. Many women of that generation came into their own after their children left the house, unleashing their intellects with a fierce determination to succeed, but somewhat handicapped by how far they could rise by having spent so much time subordinating their lives to their husband's careers.
"She feels that everyone is attacking her," a close friend tells PEOPLE after Wei and Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi, were charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for allegedly live streaming on the Internet a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man.
"She is trying to stay optimistic," he says. "She's really upset about this, she definitely feels bad, and wishes it didn't go the way it did."
If convicted, Wei and Ravi, both pictured in their high school yearbook photos above, face up to five years in prison. But for now, the two have remained silent - and there has been no sign of them or their families for over a week, say neighbors.
According to her friend, Wei is now living the life of a fugitive. "She is going to different places," he says, "because the media is always at her house."
The poor thing! Just think, deceiving, mentally torturing someone and then driving that person to kill himself has consequences! Who knew? Wei has also received angry messages on Facebook from people who are disgusted by her actions. Unfortunately, social retribution is probably the only real consequence Wei will face. Her and Ravi are charged with with two counts of invasion of privacy and at most will only face up to five years in prison. A life is over and Wei is complaining about her flash in the pan infamy and her flash in the pan punishment.
In this article, they refer to Wei as "quiet," "sweet," and "smart." Nice words for a murderer. Three days before this article was published, they wrote one called, "Rutgers Suspects Aren't Bad - Just Made a Bad Mistake." There is a thin line between publishing the fact that Wei and Ravi have supporters and actually supporting their actions. I think the line might have been crossed.
So this is a good "what do you think" piece for the AM. Is Wei's "plight" something to feel sorry for? Is the media shaming appropriate, or is it coddling "good kids"? Does this diminish the horror of what happened to Tyler Clementi?
We lost another young life to incessant bullying last year, and in the wake of so many suicides the family of a trangender teen who shot herself speaks out. Just at the point coming out to herself, the difficulties that Chloe Lacey suffered included having rocks thrown at her, and constant physical abuse. Note that her mom still refers to her as "him." (Fresno's ABC-30):
At Buchanan High School, Justin Lacey was your typical guy. He liked snowboarding, BMX riding, and art. But, when the 18-year-old decided to transition into Chloe earlier this year, family members say she struggled with fears of harassment and abuse.
Chloe's mom says, "Who wants to see a young man walking down the street with a dress on? In his eyes, that was the worst fear of all time, for someone to throw rocks at him, beat him up. It's just the overall society judgment is what did this."
Just days before her 19th birthday, Chloe shot and killed herself inside her Eureka home where she was living for school. Her family says Chloe's death mirrors that of other teens who have recently committed suicide due to bullying.
...Chloe's step-dad says, "That's what we're creating as a society. We're creating this incredible cloud of fear for these individuals and they feel they have nowhere to go."
If you want to get an idea of what the WaPo thought the "balance" that the 
[H]omosexual activist groups like GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) are exploiting these tragedies to push their agenda of demanding not only tolerance of homosexual individuals, but active affirmation of homosexual conduct and their efforts to redefine the family.
The Next Glass Ceiling
