Former assistant dean at Pat Robertson's Regent Univ and his wife plead guilty to child sex abuse

From Pam Spaulding:

It's getting to be a broken record, isn't it? Yet another member of the pious set proves the far-right judgmental conservative set is populated with a boatload of deviants. In a Virginia Beach Circuit Courtroom in separate hearings, Stephen Lee McPherson, 40, and Melina Ann McPherson, 37 pled guity of taking indecent liberties with a minor -- not one incident, mind you, but several between 1996 and 2000 involving three sisters. It occurred while the McPhersons were house parents at Hope Haven Children’s Home. It makes you sick.

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In Illinois, Sen. Candidate Alexi Giannoulias declares support for marriage equality

An Illinois Democrat running for the Senate seat once held by Barack Obama has announced that he's a supporter of marriage equality:

Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias said Wednesday he favors legalization of same-sex marriage and, if elected, would seek to repeal a federal law that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.

In an interview, Giannoulias said individual states should be able to decide for themselves whether they allow same-sex couples to marry, but that all states should be required to afford legal recognition to same-sex marriages performed in states where they are sanctioned.

Giannoulias also would require the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages, now prohibited by the Defense of Marriage Act he wants repealed. He says this would have the effect, in part, of allowing gay and lesbian couples to file joint federal income tax returns and receive Social Security survivor benefits.

To top it off, he wants to repeal the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

"This goes to what this country was founded on -- equality and fairness," said Giannoulias, emphasizing that he sees same-sex marriage as a constitutional and legal issue in the context of past civil rights struggles.

Local gay rights activists say they believe Giannoulias, the state treasurer, is the first major candidate in a statewide race in Illinois to stake out a position in favor of gay marriage, although they don't expect him to be the last.

This is good news. We're seeing more and more candidates willing to take this position on marriage. And, I like this quote:

"This is what I believe in, and I'm sure not everyone is going to agree with me," Giannoulias told me in advance of his campaign issuing a position paper later this week. "I'd like to think the public is more accepting of gay and lesbian couples in committed relationships. It could be risky, but it's what I believe."

I'd like to think the public is more accepting, too. But it's getting better every day and positions like this are becoming less and less risky. Now, we just need to get that message to Barack Obama. But, in the White House, it's still 1993. Read More...

No on 1/Protect Maine Equality launched first tv ads today

I posted the first ad, with the Putnam family, over at AMERICAblog. It's very good and speaks right to our base by putting gay families front and center:


There's another ad featuring Bill Whitten, the father of a lesbian, who thinks "everyone should be allowed to live the way they want to live." This is a very good ad for those Mainers who are trying to decide how to vote:


Help keep these ads on the air. Donate to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality here, via ActBlue. It's easy, safe and the money goes directly to the campaign. Thanks for all the help so far. Read More...

Senate Dems think next year is bad time for gay rights, what with the election and all

We so called it. Joe and I have been saying for months now that "never" would be a good time for President Obama and the Democratic Congress to keep their promises on gay rights. Now the Dems are saying that next year would be a bad time to lift the ban on gays in the military, what with the 2010 congressional elections and all. Of course, as Joe and I have said before, 2011 is the beginning of the presidential election season, and 2012 is the actual president elections and congressional elections. Clearly neither year will be opportune for Democrats to keep their promises on gay rights, you know, because of the elections.

And absent a big push from the Pentagon and Obama, key Senate Democrats are signaling that there is little appetite to anger some of their more socially conservative voters at a time when election forecasters are signaling a tough 2010 election cycle for the party.

Obama has already said he won't lift a finger to help achieve any of his gay rights legislative promises. Just like he's doing with health care reform, President Obama doesn't think it's his business to weigh in on legislative matters. He prefers to sit back and let Congress do its own thing. But rest assured, if Congress ever does move ahead on its own to keep President Obama's own campaign promises, he's sure to sign the legislation, should it ever happen to arrive. Read More...