45 years ago today, in Washington, DC — I have a dream

for Bayard Rustin — and all the rest of us who remain “Brother -and Sister- Outsiders” — who still don’t have the opportunities, equality, and rights that others have — and that we all deserve.

Barack Obama is looking for support from some of the most intolerant and corrupt “Christian” right leaders.

An article entitled Obama Meets with Conservative and Progressive Religious Leaders at the Christian Broadcasting network, included a list of “religious leaders” that Obama is trying to get support from…

Most of these leaders are rabidly anti-gay and anti-choice. And they even include one “religious leader” who played a role in Monica Goodlings efforts to put more right wing Christians in the DoJ….

Here’s a partial list…

TD Jakes – One of those mega-church preachers who enriches himself (he lives in a $1.7 million mansion) while “saving souls”  Read more 

The plainest way to say it is that everything, every last fucking thing, is “constructed” in the SCLM product/discourse/fairy tale. Someone thinks about what it is in it, and what is not, and how, one word at a time. So when this happens, people should remember it’s a feature, and not a bug. What is funniest to me is that the WaPo, and the District, are queer havens, places where queer culture and thought and activity are open, vibrant. I guess I’ve just never been a part of that group of self-hating types who want to play these games.

But guys: trust me when I say, str8 America is over all this silliness. I look forward to the day, and indeed I believe it will come in my lifetime, when this sort of stunt is uncommon and quickly forgotten.

As the Blade reported last week, Maj. Alan Rogers, by all accounts a hero for his brave acts while serving in Iraq, was killed in January and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Rogers lived as openly gay a life as he could, given the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He had many gay friends in D.C., patronized gay businesses and even worked as treasurer for the D.C. chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group working to overturn the military’s gay ban.

But the mainstream media accounts of his death omitted any reference to his sexual orientation. These were not benign omissions. The Washington Post, in particular, worked overtime to excise any mention of Rogers’ sexual orientation. It did not even report his work for AVER. Several of Rogers’ gay friends told the Blade that they were interviewed by a Post reporter at the funeral, but their memories were not included in the paper’s coverage.

I say this as only one of my age and “race” can: there comes a time when people decide to hate others for different reasons. No construct lasts forever, and nothing cannot be changed. Yes, blah, I know it works ’both ways,’ but in this case, working with younger people and knowing what they tell me about sex and sexuality and gender, I’m confident that this country is on the verge of finally shedding our particularly vulgar and unimaginative form of homophobia. And that’s a good thing.

Feh, I’ll chalk it up to yet another example in which the WaPo reminds me that I’m not sorry I don’t read them. /tosses hair/ So tired, they are.

Going out on a limb I’m going to say that Paul and his partner are good people. I’ve met them, feted Dem causes in their home, and I believe them before I believe whatever the DNC is saying about this. Shame on you, DNC. Even more than you already deserve. Howard, help me out here and do something to make me believe that this is all a misunderstanding. I want to continue to have faith in you. This makes it harder.

According to documents obtained by PageOneQ, a series of senior Democratic National Committee officials has been subpoenaed in an ongoing discrimination lawsuit by former LGBT outreach director Donald Hitchcock. Those ordered to provide sworn testimony include chairman Howard Dean, openly gay treasurer Andy Tobias, and Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council executive Director Brian Bond.

Hitchcock alleges that the DNC fired him after his boyfriend, political consultant Paul Yandura, wrote a scathing letter about the Democratic party’s governing organization.

Hitchcock also alleges that the DNC paid him less than his peers and that Dean, Tobias and others attempted to smear his name. The DNC won’t comment on the case, but Hitchcock says “I look forward shining light on the facts and discussing under oath the circumstances of my employment and unfair termination from the DNC.”

And to think: the work they have done, those two, for the DNC, for our causes! If this is true, I may get even more radical and “non-partied” than I already am.

Goddess I hate the Villagers. Kicking down decent, hard working, nice gays like Paul and Don, who are the nicest people I know in DC. It makes me sick.

Of course, I’m not going to have any and that’s a good thing, but one passage in this report struck me a slightly behind the scientific times:

BHARUCH: Gujarat’s gay prince of Rajpipla, Manavendrasinh Gohil, who was disinherited by the family for going public about being gay but later taken back into the fold, now wants to carry on the royal bloodline, in a manner of speaking.

The gay prince, who wants to ensure the lineage does not end with him just because he can’t have children, wants to adopt a child and make him the royal heir. Manavendra hit the headlines recently by going on the Oprah Winfrey Show and proclaiming his homosexuality.  Read more 

My niece gave me a cold yesterday while we were playing with stuffed animals and numbered legos, and I’m so sorry as I meant to blog heavily today and just don’t have the energy. But I was thinking of writing more about “why we fail,” or perhaps better put, “how we can win” or even “learn from your enemies/those who have beaten you/to fight again another day and win this time.” Joe noticed a good one.

The telemarketing campaign, run by a nonprofit organization called “Faith, Family and Freedom” begins its pitch by asking the callee if they were opposed to same sex marriage. If the callee responds positively, they are then transferred to a United American Technologies representative who will explain to them how the more common telephone service providers, such as AT&T, MCI and Verizon are supporters of gay marriage and child pornography, and that United American Technologies is “the only carrier that is taking an active stand against same sex marriages and hardcore child pornography”.  Read more 

PageOneQ reminds us that rules are flexible things in “a time of war,” and the DADT rule seems to be one of them. I’d bet the number of openly gay people serving right now is even higher than 500, if you count those who are comfortable in their units in which everyone knows, and just doesn’t make an issue of it. In Manzella’s case, he outed himself because some jealous closet case (I’m betting) just couldn’t stand the thought of someone doing a good job and not moping and cowering with shame and guilt. This part struck me:

Manzella had voluntarily come out to his superiors after receiving anonymous threats to out him. An investigation in 2006 revealed “no evidence of homosexuality,” according to the Army, and Manzella was soon redeployed to Kuwait.  Read more 

Molly brought this to my attention this morning, and I have to say it surprises me not at all.  Read more 

Update: Video here. Heh. Miked wiped the floor with those fools.

My buddy Mike Rogers, who has a hand in the circuses at both Page1Q and Raw is going into the lion’s den again tonight. Fox, no less, “Hannity and Colmes” I believe it’s called. At 9pE. Mike is wicked smart and is going to make them choke on their tongues, without breaking a sweat. I expect it’ll be fun. So just this once, turn it on and have some fun as the blogosphere decimates the SCLM, live. headslap Oh, and, he’s the guy who brought you Larry Craig, so if you’re grateful, send him a buck or two. Without Mike MN thrones would’ve been playgrounds for Republican predators for decades to come…  Read more 

UPDATE: Terrance has a completely different take on this worth reading, for all I don’t agree with him.

Look, let’s just clear one thing up right now: Craig is gross, and it’s got nothing to do with his orientation (Republicans, that means “lifestyle choice” in your vocabulary). I’ve seen a lot of pearl-clutching over the idea that Vice roves around (heh) looking to arrest hapless gays just out doing some harmless cruising. That’s not what was going on in Craig’s case:

Sgt. Dave Karsnia was investigating complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s room where Craig was arrested. Airport police had made “numerous arrests” there in connection with sexual activity.

I’m an agressive gay cruising type, and I approve of this police action. Public restrooms are the wrong place to cruise for sex agressively. Period. I also find the whole notion of rubbing your leg on strangers taking a piss gross. Not cool. As in, predatory and rape-culture behavior.  Read more 

I’m a long way from my queer theory classes, and to be honest, I never thought I’d live in an age when what I learned in them would seem so important to straight people. But after six years of Republican rule, it’s clear that the old mantra “gay rights are human rights” has never been more true. Let me see if I can make this argument simply.  Read more 

So Ye All Shall Be Free: (registration required)

OKLAHOMA CITY — The lawyer for a former Baptist church leader who had spoken out against homosexuality said Thursday the minister has a constitutional right to solicit sex from an undercover policeman.

The Rev. Lonnie W. Latham had supported a resolution calling on gays and lesbians to reject their “sinful, destructive lifestyle” before his Jan. 3, 2006, arrest outside the Habana Inn in Oklahoma City.

Authorities say he asked the undercover policeman to come up to his hotel for oral sex.

His attorney, Mack Martin, filed a motion to have the misdemeanor lewdness charge thrown out, saying the Supreme Court ruled in the 2003 decision Lawrence v. Texas that it was not illegal for consenting adults to engage in private homosexual acts.

“Now, my client’s being prosecuted basically for having offered to engage in such an act, which basically makes it a crime to ask someone to do something that’s legal,” Martin said.

Both sides agree there was no offer of money, but prosecutor Scott Rowland said there is a “legitimate governmental interest” in regulating offers of acts of lewdness.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has filed a brief claiming that Latham’s arrest also violated his right to free speech.  Read more 

Via our good pal, and creator of the term 'blogtopia,' The Manly Marsupial Skippy of the Forrest, we discover this exciting blog and a project that seems to be getting a lot of attention. Attention Democratic operatives with the good sense to study history and learn from it: a lot of us out here will do this kind of work for you, for free. I too am sick and tired of bringing squirt guns to a knife fight:

Sometimes you've just had enough. I've hit that point.  Read more 

Even if you put Ken Starr’s jism hunt aside, Bill Clinton’s legacy is vexing.

Was his centrism constructive pragmatism or a damnable sell-out?

Is compromise the proper way to operate in a checks-and-balances democracy, or does it leave us compromised?  Read more 

Via the always essential Page 1Q comes this distressing tale of how Nigerian theocrats are giving our wingers a real run for their money:

LAGOS, Nigeria — Lawmakers in Nigeria are debating a bill that would ban same-sex marriage and any form of association among gays, even sharing a meal at a restaurant.

Few in Nigeria’s deeply closeted gay community have publicly opposed the legislation, which proposes penalties of up to five years in prison and is widely expected to pass.

Engaging in homosexual acts is already illegal in Nigeria, with those convicted facing jail terms in the mainly Christian south and execution in the mainly Muslim north.

“This meeting, right here, would be illegal,” said activist Bisi Alimi, stabbing the air with a French fry for emphasis as he sat at a table with three gay friends and a reporter.  Read more 

The Good Folks at FDL speak for me.

I gave up on ’em a while back, but if you’re gay and you think the HRC is anything more than a great place for Circut Boi to meet Power Daddy, you’re kidding yourself.  Read more