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September 30, 2005
Moral Corruption
Its been a bad week for Republican moralists. House Republican Leader Tom Delay resigned amid a criminal conspiracy indictment and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist is under investigation for insider trading (fellow Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson joined Law & Order, maybe Frist can follow Martha Stewart's insider trading conviction and snag a reality show). Furthermore, a senior White House staffer was arrested for corruption, and now journalist Judith Miller has revealed that Vice Presidential Chief-of-Staff Scooter Libby leaked her the identity of a CIA operative.
On top of it all, Republican Moralist-In-Chief (and gambling addict) Bill Bennett suggested that aborting Black babies would drive the crime rate down. Sure, he was trying to demonstrate his opposition to abortion, but the fact remains that Bennett believes the birth of Black babies eventually leads to an increase in crime.
Then, on top of on-top-of-it-all, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed marriage equality last night for gay citizens of the Golden State. In defending the traditional, monogomous definition of marriage, this is the same Schwarzenegger who has professed his fondness for group sex, and has admitted that he has a hard time staying faithful to a woman (and who has faced numerous news reports on his infidelity).
Perhaps if Schwarzenegger had a close friend (say a Republican congressman) who was an openly-gay public official, he might have been persuaded to do the right thing. Following Delay's downfall, newspapers such as The Washington Blade are reporting that California Congressman David Dreier is indeed gay. I have no personal proof of that, and Dreier (if gay) is not out. However, he is close to Schwarzenegger - having directed much of his political agenda from behind the scenes. What a difference it would have made to have an publicly honest (and openly gay) politician in that role.
Posted by John at 03:18 PM | Permalink |
September 26, 2005
Is Bishop Eddie Long Gay?
For far too long, homophobic black ministers have been able to spew their hateful venom from the pulpit without accountability. Today, Keith Boykin and I begin a special 5-part series to out homophobic Black ministers. We're tired of the hypocrisy and divisive "Christian" rhetoric that too many black pastors are spreading, and we're tired of these same ministers selling out their pulpits to the highest bidder.
From New York to Los Angeles, Black LGBT people have been the backbone of the Black church. Through this network, we've discovered that many homophobic black pastors lead secret lives outside the church. We're not naming any names, yet, but if you know something to help us confirm the information from our sources, we'd like to know. Send us an email by clicking here.
Each day this week, Keith and I will highlight a different Black preacher known for his or her homophobia. We begin today with Atlanta's own Bishop Eddie Long and George Bush's good friend T.D. Jakes. I profile Eddie Long and Keith profiles T.D. Jakes. From there, we've picked out several other high-profile Black preachers who may or may not be living behind stained-glass closets. We'll let you decide. And we will bring you a special finale on Friday that you won't want to miss.
Continue reading to read my piece on Bishop Eddie Long and Keith's piece on T.D. Jakes.
Bishop Eddie Long’s claim to fame…
He made national news when he and Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led a march at the gravesite of her father with thousands of demonstrators to denounce gay marriage.
“Woman is the soul of man. She is his flesh consciousness. In essence, God made Eve to help Adam replenish the earth. Woman has the canal…everything else is an exit. God had to separate Adam and Eve where they connected so he could tell them to reconnect in covenant to duplicate Him. In Christ, God puts his seed in us. Any other way is a spiritual abortion. Cloning, Homosexuality and Lesbianism are spiritual abortions. Homosexuality is a manifestation of the fallen man.” ---Bishop Eddie Long
In addition to his views on gays, Long is a believer that women were put on Earth to procreate.
Long and wife Vanessa have a four children.
The Bishop Eddie Long Duplication Theory
Eddie Long is known for his heretical "GOD Duplication" theology which gives gays a status of less than human and that men and women via hetersexual sex is the way God "duplicates Himself." Long said on Trinity Broadcasting Network on September 7, 2003, that "we [heterosexuals] should wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, 'Good Morning God' ."
Eddie Long starts with the text Isaiah 43: 10 which says, "Ye are my witnesses". But Long says this really means, "Ye are my duplicates". From this he continues that in order to "duplicate" God it is extremely important to be "fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 2:7) so that the "duplication" of God can continue. He then reasons from human anatomy. He describes the perfect fit that males and female have during the heterosexual sex act. Females have a "womb" or "entrance" while all other places on the female anatomy are "exists" he says. She, the womb, receives the man he says. Any other concoction of "entrances" and "exits" during sex cannot bring fruitfulness or "duplicates of God". This union has to be in the woman's "canal" or womb, not the "exist". Besides all this, males need females because the woman is a man's "flesh consciousness". Eve is really the "soul" of man". Bishop Long, likens his theology to extension cords by saying that males and females "plug" into each other. When a male and a female "plug" into each other it is like the male and female ends of an extension cord, making them one so they can be "fruitful" and "duplicate God". Thus his theology (by "extension") makes gays incapable of duplicating God.
The Bishop Eddie Long Policy on the Separation of Church and State
“We’re not just a church, we’re an international corporation,” Long said. We’re not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can’t talk and all we’re doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You’ve got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that’s supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering.”
And he's right. Intercourse is a code word for funding, i.e. President Bush's Faith Based Initiative. Once the money crosses hands, they've had intercourse.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has recently reported a rather interesting exposé on Long. According to the AJC article, Long has received a hefty $3.07 million in compensation from his non-profit company and from his church.
Sounds like he's in bed with more than just the President, if you know what I mean.
And indeed Long does. Bishop Eddie Long, one of several black Pastors who met at the White House as part of the Republican effort to boost Black support for the GOP, was questioned about being a closet Republican. The Bishop admitted that he had attended a meeting at the White House but added, “just because we went to the house, doesn’t mean we had intercourse.”
Our experience has shown that the people who are the most homophobic also tend to be dealing with their own issues about their sexuality. People who are comfortable with their sexuality usually don't care as much about other people's sexuality. Which leads us to an obvious question. Is Bishop Eddie Long gay? If you have any information on Jakes or any of the ministers we profile this week, please contact us. We want to know, and we want you to know. Send us an email by clicking here.
Visit www.keithboykin.com to read about T.D. Jakes.
Posted by Jasmyne at 10:41 AM | Permalink |
September 22, 2005
What An Ass
On Wednesday, the long anticipated meeting between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Equality California commenced, and the Governor didn't even bother to show up. Instead he sent staff in his place.
Sure, staffers often sub for their bosses at meetings like this. However, if you are about to become the first governor in American history to veto marriage equality legislation, you owe it to your constituents to show up.
Earlier in the day, the San Jose Mercury News ran an interview (reg required) with Governor Schwarzenegger on the subject. The publication asked the Governor if he had ever attended a same-sex wedding or commitment ceremony.
Q: Let me change gears here for a moment, if you don't mind. I'm curious if you, Governor Schwarzenegger or private citizen Arnold Schwarzenegger, if you've have ever attended a gay marriage or a gay commitment ceremony -- a gay or lesbian marriage or commitment ceremony?Arnold Schwarzenegger: I can't remember.
Yeah, right. Gay weddings are so forgettable anyway. Governor Schwarzenegger owes California an apology and a meeting with actual gay families before he follows his Republican bosses and vetoes family protections for a large portion of the Golden State.
Posted by John at 09:37 AM | Permalink |
September 20, 2005
But, Dahling!
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is on the defensive after endorsing, and becoming bosom buddies, with an anti-gay Republican activist who is running for Mayor of Cincinnati. Charles Windburn spearheaded the campaign to keep the city from enacting any employment protections for gay citizens. The campaign failed, but Winburn keeps on trucking.
With an eye on the White House, Giuliani continues to be pulled to the right - declaring that he and Winburn share similar values. Winburn, who was a Cincinatti Councilmember before being named by Ohio's indicted Republican Governor to the state commission on civil rights, once wrote that "only born-again believers" should be elected to public office. When Winburn first ran for city council, he ran on a platform whose central theme was allowing employers to fire gay workers.
Winburn, like Don Quixote, continues to lunge at phantom threats that don't exist. As a former city council member, Winburn continues to battle same-sex marriage before the council - although no such matter has ever been brought before the body.
"I am absolutely opposed to same-sex marriages and will fight any type of legislation at City Hall or in the State. City Council better not even think about bringing this issue of same-sex marriages before Council. There will be one half of a million people marching at City Hall opposing this immoral legislation." - Charles Winburn
Posted by TrailMix at 10:04 AM | Permalink |
September 14, 2005
Winning A Double Header
NSD Board Co-Chair Stephen Driscoll (also Co-Chair of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats) speaks at a Tuesday night rally before the constitutional convention.
Democratic action delivered two great wins today. First, the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention crushingly defeated the anti-marriage amendment by a 157-39 vote. Stonewall Democrats throughout Massachusetts worked alongside MassEquality and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force to convince lawmakers to vote against it.
Second, Democratic Congressman John Conyers (MI) successfully introduced the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (Hate Crimes) as an amendment to the Child Safety Act. The LLEA pased 223 to 199.
192 Democrats voted in Favor (along with 30 GOP and 1 Independent)
194 Republicans (and five Democrats) voted against.
Posted by NSD at 06:08 PM | Permalink |
September 09, 2005
A Thousand Words
The above picture is from a truly amazing slideshow by a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. Granted, the focus is on the French Quarter, and there are much, much more devastated areas of the city - not to mention that the photographer got out before the true destruction began. Still, it is a captivating timeline through events there.
I've participated in several hurricane relief efforts, and the devastation along the gulf even pales the destruction of Hurricane Andrew - my first relief effort.
Posted by John at 02:22 PM | Permalink |
September 07, 2005
Republicans Miserably Fail Families
The most liberal Republican in the country just announced that he will veto a bill granting marriage equality to same-sex couples in California. Moderates are no match for the anti-gay special interests that control the Republican party.
Posted by TrailMix at 11:27 PM | Permalink |
Under Pressure
Cue the David Bowie music. Late last night, the California Assembly passed AB 849 - which grants marriage equality to all California families. Now, Governor Schwarzenegger is under pressure to sign the bill into law. Anti-gay activists - and the Republican establishment - is urging him to veto the legislation which passesed with healthy margins in both the California Assembly and the California Senate.
If you are a California voter, contact the Governor TODAY and urge him to sign AB 849 into law.
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Email: governor@governor.ca.gov
Posted by TrailMix at 10:00 AM | Permalink |
September 05, 2005
Hurricane Katrina and Bush's Moral Indifferences
Those Black Christian pastors that urged their congregations to support President Bush because of his views on abortion and gay civil rights have got to be kicking themselves for their blind allegiance to his moral agenda. The world watched in shock and dismay, and that included Black pastors, the cavalier disregard that Bush showed for the Black poor in New Orleans. And that almost certainly includes many Black Christians in New Orleans that Bush has relentlessly courted, and were key to his trek back to the White House. Bush and right hand man Karl Rove also expect big things from them in 2006 and 2008. Louisiana is a key part of the Bible Belt South, and though New Orleans has a reputation as a liberal, free swinging oasis in the South, many of the cities Blacks, including the poorest of the poor, and devout Christians, are the ones that Bush and Rove consider key support allies. But what did they get for that support? Thousands of lives and homes lost, billions in lost income, and an utter disregard for their safety. The “their” being Black Christians.
Yet, President Bush and his Black supporters pulled out all stops to woo Black Christian evangelical voters to the GOP tent in 2004. Having found common ground on issues of morality, President Bush used the issue of gay marriage and abortion to catapult his standing in the Black Christian community and garner votes for his re-election.
A Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies poll in 2004, found that Blacks opposed gay marriage at a higher number than the overall population. Many Blacks also detested Kerry's supposed support of abortion. In polls, Kerry got 20 percent less support from Black conservative evangelicals than Democratic presidential contender Al Gore received in 2000.
In 2004, more than 10 percent of Blacks voted for Bush, and in Ohio, it was 20 percent.
However, in the aftermath of Katrina, the honeymoon could be over for Black evangelicals and President Bush as he is perceived as having abandoned the same Blacks that helped put him back into office.
Bush's unwillingness to save the lives of poor Blacks in New Orleans has been laid out in Black and white, literally for the world to see.
Bush has had a major moral calamity that he and Rove won't be able to cover up so quickly.
Blacks everywhere have been affected directly or indirectly by Katrina.
The heart wrenching pleas for help from the residents of New Orleans hits home with Blacks that are young, elderly, conservative, liberal, Christian, non-Christian, gay and straight.
The issue of race and class has been re-visited in a most distasteful way for African American's, with a blatant reminder that America doesn't care for it's poorest citizen's.
Realizing that a national disaster could happen anywhere at any time, Blacks are reflecting on their own situations and the federal government. Again, this can and should have a devastating affect on Bush's newfound common ground with Black evangelicals.
Finally, there are two questions for Bush and Black evangelicals.
Will the devout Black pastors that trekked dutifully to the White House the past few years seeking faith based money and the president's support continue to blindly follow a man that the overwhelming majority of Black Americans feel abandoned them in their greatest moment of need? And will Bush be able to look these Black pastors in the eye again and say with a straight face, I did everything I could to help you in your greatest moment of need? After all, that's the Christian thing to do.
Those Black evangelicals that are still tempted to look the other way should remember that when the GOP comes knocking again.
Can I get an Amen!
Posted by Jasmyne at 03:26 PM | Permalink |
September 02, 2005
That's Not Helpful
I have a firm mantra of always speaking respectfully of the President, no matter who fills that role. But after hearing the President say this in Mississippi - and then rereading it in the official White House transcript (below), all I can say is "What a jackass."
The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)- President Bush, addressing the real tragedy.
Please take a moment and donate to the victims of Hurrican Katrina through the Rainbow World Fund:
Posted by John at 04:51 PM | Permalink |
September 01, 2005
Democrats "Yes", Republicans "Hell No"
The California Senate just voted to approve marriage equality for same-sex couples. The vote was a suprisingly-high 21-15.
The next time that a Republican tries to argue that there is no difference between Democratic and Republican Parties on issues of equality show them this:
All 21 votes in favor were Democrats.All Republicans voted against.
Posted by John at 04:13 PM | Permalink |
