E. Ross is the founder of Bent Alaska.
– guest post by Rev. Johnathan Jones of Church Life Alaska
As the death toll from Haiti’s devastating earthquake rises to 200,000 the world is literally scrambling to send aid and relief to the broken country. However, some people are making outlandish claims that the earthquake was punishment from God. Just think of the recent comments made by the 700 Club’s so called “Reverend” Pat Robertson. It reminds me of other ridiculous comments made in the past. Like Jerry Falwell’s comment that “AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.”
What do we do with such comments? Shake our heads in disbelief? Stare in shock at our TV screens? Discuss the comments over a cup of coffee and declare how dumb such people are? The reality is that many people agree with such statements, and the media delights in reporting them. We should be taking notice of such comments and speak against such lies.
As a Christian, I am moved to let folks know that the majority of Christians don’t think this way. I also want to apologize on behalf of those Christians who do believe that way. I apologize not because I have some type of spiritual bond with them but rather because they are children of God, just like I am. As a gay man I am also aware just how hurtful and upsetting such comments can be. Even though these words are absolute lies, it hurts knowing people actually think this way and are saying “Amen” to the Pat Robertson’s of this world.
I want to come up with some solution that will dispel these false comments, solutions that will reveal them for the lies that they are, I want to stop them from being said in the first place. Except, there’s nothing I can really do that is going to stop Pat Robertson from making such comments again or from having the media report on them. But, I can do my best to reveal them as the lies that they are.
Through relationships. As queer folk we know anecdotally that homophobes and fence sitters often change their views about homosexuality when they become friends and enter into relationships with people who are queer. I have seen this time and time again. I believe that with the same philosophy we can show the people of Haiti, and those who are hurt by such ugly words, that these are not the truth.
By offering our support, love, prayers and money we can show Haiti and the world that we do not believe the earthquake was punishment from God because of some so-called pact made with the devil 200 years ago. By loving the people of Haiti, by caring for those hurt by others’ words, by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves we can reveal a God of love rather than a God of hate.
Sticks and stones can break our bones and words can break our spirits, but love and care can build those bones and renew our spirits. Let’s do our part to make a good difference during this time of trial. Let’s spread love and stop hate.
Friday, 22 January 2010 – 5:55 PM
| Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/22/10
Juneau
New Year Class for Changing Directions 1/24, 12:30-5 p.m. with Dr. Maureen Longworth at Alaska Holistic Family Medicine.
Ryan’s Travel Slideshow & Cocktail Party 1/25, 7 p.m. at the Silverbow.
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:15 – 7:15 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha
Fairbanks
Women’s Bowling, Sundays at 2 p.m in the Polar Alley at UAF.
Wednesday LGBTA Social at 9 p.m. Email Joshua for the current location.
Mat-Su Valley
Mat-Su LGBT Community Center in Palmer is open M-F 5-8 p.m. (except 6-8 on Wed.) The social group meets Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. at Vagabond Blues.
Anchorage
Ever Ready performs in Eagle River 1/22, 7:30-11:30 p.m. at the VFW Post.
UAA’s “Out” resumes 1/24, 12 p.m. on the 2nd floor of the Student Union.
Miss MeMe’s FRICKIN’ COLD Gospel Show! 1/24, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s
Dolores, Rachel and Wendy play the Folk Fest 1/26, 7 p.m. at Cafe Felix, inside Metro Books and Music.
Today is the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s pro-choice
Roe v Wade ruling. Why is that on a blog about Gay Alaska? Let’s get
Larry from Wasilla to explain the connection:
“This victimization of the underaged female, and the failure of society to remark or to react with condemnation, point to the success of the goal of the liberals who want to use our children for sex toys. This success is marked by the revealing clothes young girls wear, MTV, the ever younger indoctrination of our young in public schools about sex and alternative lifestyles… Abortion is part of the desensitization of society to the taboos associated with how we view and treat our young… The homosexual agenda shares in the goal of the liberal establishment that seeks to breakdown morality and the family to accomplish recruitment for casual sex at ever younger ages.”
Larry Wood was somehow allowed to write an
Alaska Gubernatorial column for the Examiner. He wrote glowing columns about Sarah Palin until she quit and made him write about appointed governor Sean Parnell. The quote above is from a column asking Parnell to sign a petition to declare fetuses a protected minority group and thus make abortion a hate crime. The post begins:
“A national movement has finally hit Alaska. This movement seeks to extend Constitution protection to the right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ to the unborn. Given former Governor Sarah Palin’s avowed pro-life stance, one wonders if Governor Sean Parnell will add his voice in support of this initiative?… Unlike Sarah Palin, his predecessor, Parnell has yet to speak out on the issue of whether or not the State should be in the business of killing babies in the womb.”
What do you want to bet that ol’ red-shirt Larry testified
against extending protection to the right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ to the LGBT residents of Anchorage who tried to pass a nondiscrimination ordinance last summer? The anti-abortion post isn’t the first time he called gays pedophiles. His post on
the passage of the Hate Crimes Act berated our Congress members for supporting it:
“Yes, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, two staunch, conservative Republicans voted with the pack, rather than voice their disapproval of this dirty trick by the Reid Senate and the Pelosi House. Of course, Sen. Mark Begich voted with his party to further establish homosexuals as a “protected” class under a system of law that was supposed to be based upon the fact that none stand above any other…. Meanwhile, in our Congress, the priority is keep pedophiles and homosexuals from being offended by heterosexuals. Once again the liberal congress and Alaska’s congressional delegation said to Hell with our troops and their needs. Why, the egos of this evolutionary dead end faction of our society takes precedent over the welfare of our troops in harms way.”
Protecting a minority group that is targeted for discrimination does not raise them above others, it simply levels the field. But given his opinion on protected status – that it raises some groups above others and creates an unfair situation – his argument in the very next column in favor of making fetuses a protected class, and thus unfairly raising them above others, is a stunning about-face. Enough to give one a touch of vertigo.
Of course, Pres. Obama is also to blame for gays and liberal destroying the country. In the special rights for fetuses column, his tirade against gays and “liberals who want to use our children for sex toys” includes a predictable attack on Obama for the appointment of Kevin Jennings, founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educators Network:
“One of the most notable examples is the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), supported by Kevin Jennings, President Obama’s director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS).”
You knew he was going to mention NAMBLA, didn’t you? How tired. And completely untrue. Kevin Jennings is the current punching bag of the far right homophobes because he’s an openly gay man appointed by Pres. Obama – two people who send the far right into crazyland. Jennings founded GLSEN and dedicated his life to creating safer schools for LGBT kids, and no, he does not support illegal sexual activities. But truth is low on the far right list of priorities, well below firing gays and demonizing liberals. He also argues that abortion causes immigration:
“Another byproduct of abortion is the current illegal migrant worker situation. These are foreign nationals that are in the U.S. illegally, who are taking jobs, benefits and resources that are rightfully the purview of the naturalized U.S. citizen and their children. Abortion has created the demand for labor by terminating approximately 45 million Americans before birth, too many in the last trimester of the reproductive process. We have killed those before they are born who would otherwise be there to replace an aging and diminishing U.S. workforce.”
Creepy, huh? Let’s drag his whole paranoid argument out into the light and see what it says. (hold on to something solid):
Abortion causes illegal immigration,
because America doesn’t have enough poor children
waiting to fill all the menial jobs for starvation wages.
And abortion promotes the homosexual agenda
because… well, somehow abortion allows gays to share
in the liberal goal of using children as sex toys.
So if Gov. Parnell is a good governor like Sarah Palin,
he will sign a petition to give ‘special rights’ to fetuses
(protected group status for stigmatized minority groups,
like gays, but fetuses should have them instead.)
Then abortion will be classified as murder
and that will magically stop
non-white foreigners from sneaking into America,
put an end to casual sex, rape and MTV,
and prevent gay people from taking over Congress.
Pure. Batshit. Crazy.
Several bits of news converged this week connecting Sarah Palin, John McCain, gay marriage and republicans in a tangled web that may spell change in the GOP:
1. Cindy McCain, the former presidential hopeful’s wife, posed for a
photo shoot with the NOH8 campaign against Prop 8 and in favor of gay marriage. Daughter Meghan already posed for the campaign. Senator McCain’s office released a statement saying that he continues to oppose marriage equality. He is running for re-election this year.
2. Sarah Palin endorsed McCain’s re-election campaign and agreed to stump for him. Palin may have a gay friend (what pageant girl doesn’t have a gay friend?) but she doesn’t support legal rights for gays. She opposes domestic partnerships, civil unions and marriage equality. Cindy McCain’s NOH8 photo shoot is not likely to improve Palin’s opinion of her.
3. Neither Palin nor McCain are speaking at CPAC, the annual conservative conference, but gay republicans are co-sponsoring the event. The anti-gay Liberty Counsel threatened to withdraw from CPAC because the organizers accepted sponsorship from GOProud, who would like to be friends with Sarah but would have better luck with Cindy and Meghan.
4. Palin did not speak at CPAC last year either, or rather, she was supposed to speak but didn’t attend. She said she never committed, CPAC said she did. The conference organizer accused Palin of “whining” after she backed out, which may explain why she isn’t going this year.
5. Other CPAC co-sponsors include the Alliance Defense Fund, the ultra-conservative legal team defending Prop 8 in the current federal trial, and NOM, a national group for straights-only marriage that produced those ridiculous Gathering Storm ads for Prop 8. They also ran the campaign that repealed marriage equality in Maine. These are the groups Palin appeals to, but she isn’t attending the conference. Instead, she’s speaking at a Tea Party shindig while gay republicans climb into bed with the anti-gay CPAC sponsors.
6. The federal court challenge on the legality of Prop 8 continued this week with the republican mayor of San Diego testifying in support of gay marriage because he wants his lesbian daughter to have a legally equal relationship with her lover, not a second class civil union or domestic partnership. Ted Olson, a top conservative lawyer and the former Solicitor General of the United States, is defending gay marriage.
7. GayPolitics posted a list of
prominent republicans who support marriage equality, including Steve Schmidt, McCain’s chief strategist during his 2008 presidential run, and FOX News contributor Margaret Hoover, who announced her support for marriage equality last week in an op-ed titled, “Why I’m Joining the Fight for Marriage Equality.” Sarah Palin was hired by FOX the same week.
High profile republicans are coming out in support of gay marriage, even leading the way to marriage equality. Openly gay republicans are co-sponsoring conservative events. Even FOX has a pro-equality commentator. Perhaps mainstream republicans are trying to regain control of their party from the religious extremists by making support for gay marriage a moderate position.
Where will that leave Sarah Palin and her far right religious fans who refuse to accept the “gay marriage = individual liberty” memo? On the outer fringe, where they belong.
Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia – these are the only 5 states in the nation that have no LGBT elected officials, according to the Victory Fund.
The Fund recently announced the
36 LGBT candidates they endorsed for elected office this year. Based on the categories below their map, 30 states currently have LGBT representation at the state or federal level, another 15 have at least one elected LGBT official below the state level, and only 5 states have no LGBT representation at any level. Alaska is in the last category.
We don’t have a single gay or lesbian elected official in the entire state of Alaska? Hogwash.
We must have a few gay officials among the hundreds of people who hold public office in this state. There are thousands of LGBT people living here, and we are just as capable as heterosexuals. Statistically, it’s inconceivable that there wouldn’t be at least a few elected gay people. Maybe not in high profile positions, but somewhere.
Historically in Alaska, the leaders were people who might not have won elections in the more settled regions of the country. Some would not have been allowed to run for office in parts of the Lower 48. But in frontier Alaska, a capable and friendly person who would commit to staying for a few years might be recognized as a leader despite other characteristics. Some Alaska towns are still like that, and one or two might have a good leader who happens to be gay.
But they wouldn’t be likely to talk about something they were willing to overlook, and a gay leader elected despite their identity wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. It’s besides the point.
For the national LGBT movement, knowing about them is an important point. Someone who is elected in spite of being gay cannot advocate for changes on our behalf without calling attention to their own identity.
When the Victory Fund said “openly LGBT” they didn’t mean being out to friends and relatives, or even co-workers, they meant being publicly out. For a candidate in a city with a large LGBT population, the national exposure can help them get elected. They might as well come out publicly during the campaign so they won’t be outed in office. But there isn’t much advantage in a small town, or for someone who is already in office despite being gay.
So the Fund’s map is basically accurate, although it isn’t true. They just need to change the description of the Horizon category that includes Alaska from “no openly LGBT elected officials” to “no LGBT elected officials who want to come out to the whole world.” That’s probably true for the other 4 Horizon states as well.
But if you’re a capable and friendly Alaskan who wants to run for office as a publicly out gay man or lesbian, the
Victory Fund would be happy to add Alaska to their list of active states… and we’d be happy to move out of that column.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010 – 8:56 AM
| Comments Off on Prop 8 trial: pro-gay marriage republican mayor & live-blogging links
The court took a break in honor of Dr. King, and the trial resumes today with testimony from the Mayor of San Diego, a republican who supports gay marriage because he wants his lesbian daughter to be equal.
We may never see the actual trial, but a Los Angeles company is filming reenactments of the Prop. 8 trial using partial transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers. They hope to begin posting segments from the first week on Wednesday.
Live-blogging teams converged on San Francisco when the US Supreme Court blocked broadcast of the trial, and these amazing bloggers are typing hour after hour to keep the world informed of the proceedings.
Here are several good resources for live-blogging and analysis of the Prop 8 trial:
The Courage Campaign’s
Prop 8 Tracker has a live-blogging team, and posts nightly summaries with commentary.
Bilerico‘s Davina Kotulski is live-blogging with occasional commentary.
FireDogLake has been live-blogging the trial since the first morning. This impressive set of transcripts is a great resource for the media and anyone who has time to read the whole thing.
Karen Ocamb is posting about the trial at
LGBT POV, including reports from live-bloggers.
The
San Jose Mercury News was live-blogging from the first day with short summaries in place of word for word transcripts.
The bloggers and non-profits work for donations, so please show your appreciation for their efforts. If you have another favorite site for Prop 8 trial news, please add it in the comments.
Monday, 18 January 2010 – 8:59 PM
| Comments Off on Federal Job Site Ends Gender Identity Bias
If you are a transgender Alaskan looking for work, hundreds of local open positions are now more available to you: the federal government’s official job site added gender identity to the hiring nondiscrimination policy.
And if you’re a red-shirted local who thinks Alaska is not ready to protect transgender workers from job discrimination, it’s time to get ready for workplace diversity.
While the Anchorage effort for gay and trans protections dragged on last summer, the federal government was evaluating it’s employment practices. On Jan 5, gender identity was added to the equal-employment opportunity notices on
www.usajobs.gov, the federal job site.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said, “The largest employer in the country is doing what all the other large employers in the country are doing, so that’s really great news.”
The change brought criticism from social conservatives, who trotted out the same nonsense we heard in Anchorage: biology = destiny, trans people are faking it, and if we protect them from discrimination the sky will fall.
But the federal hiring practices are now trans-inclusive, and there are HUNDREDS of open federal positions based in Alaska.
The USAJOBS
search page currently lists 292 federal job openings in Alaska, but the Alaska page lists 881 results (the anywhere-in-the-US positions make up the difference.)
- There are currently 80 federal job openings based in Anchorage, 57 in Fairbanks, 23 in Juneau, 25 in Homer, etc. and others are listed for regions or the whole state.
- Almost all are full-time and many are permanent.
- They cover 21 fields, mostly science, engineering, office work and medical/health, but also business, finance, education, safety, communications, trades, transportation, and more.
- They represent 16 agencies, primarily Agriculture, Interior, the Air Force and the Army, but also Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, Transportation, and the VA…
Wait, what? Openly gay and trans people cannot serve in the military, but we can work for the military in civilian positions, even on base, and they can’t discriminate against us in hiring for those jobs. Well, that’s interesting.
OK, trans people looking for work in Alaska, head over to the
USAJOBS site and check out the options on the Alaska page. You’ll find all kinds of interesting jobs, and a shiny new trans-inclusive hiring policy.
Rachel Maddow covered the policy change following a segment on Amanda Simpson, the first transwoman appointed by Pres. Obama:
Saturday, 16 January 2010 – 11:32 AM
| Comments Off on Straight Alaskans divorce more, despite gay ban to protect marriage
Divorce rates are dropping in states that allow same sex marriages and rising in states with gay marriage bans, according to a new study – and Alaska ranks dead last on both counts, with the fastest rising divorce rate in the country and the first gay marriage ban.
The study compared divorce rates between 2003 and 2008 to the gay relationship laws in forty-three states and the years the laws were passed. The author
explains the findings: (
my emphasis)
Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States. Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period.
As is somewhat visually apparent, those states which have tended to take more liberal policies toward gay marriage have tended also to have larger declines in their divorce rates. In Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2004, the divorce rate has declined by 21 percent and is the lowest in the country by some margin…
On the other hand, the seven states at the bottom of the chart all had constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage in place throughout 2008. The state which experienced the highest increase in its divorce rate over the period (Alaska, at 17.2 percent) also happens to be the first one to have altered its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, in 1998.
The differences are highly statistically significant. Nevertheless, they do not necessarily imply causation. The decision to ban same-sex marriage does not occur randomly throughout the states, but instead is strongly correlated with other factors, such as religiosity and political ideology, which we have made no attempt to account for. Nor do we know in which way the causal arrow might point. It could be that voters who have more marital problems of their own are more inclined to deny the right of marriage to same-sex couples.
Interesting point. Alaska banned same sex marriage in 1998, claiming the ban would protect “the sanctity of marriage.” But Alaska’s heterosexuals are divorcing more than ever, and the state has high rates of domestic violence, rape and incest.
Maybe it wasn’t about the sanctity of marriage after all.
Saturday, 16 January 2010 – 8:37 AM
| Comments Off on No Name-Calling Week, Prof. Smoke on Matthew Shepard, & the Women’s Summit
Gay AK – notes for and from LGBT Alaska
No Sticks, No Stones, No Dissing
GLSEN’s No Name-Calling Week is January 25-29, 2010, a week of educational and art activities aimed at stopping name-calling and bullying in schools. The Creative Expression Contest is an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities. Lesson plans and other resources at
No Name-Calling Week.
Gale Smoke on Matthew Shepard
Professor Gale Smoke will review Judy Shepard’s book “The Meaning of Matthew, and a World Transformed” (Hudson Press, 2009) at this month’s Anchorage PFLAG meeting. Refreshments will be available and all are invited to the meeting at Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
Anchorage PFLAG.
Alaskans Together announces new board and officers
Congratulations to the new board members: Heather Bayless, Kelli Burkinshaw, Shayle Hutchison, Miguel De Marzo, Verner Wilson, and Christopher Narvaez. For 2010, the new executive officers for the organization are as follows: Elias Rojas – Board President, Joseph Lapp II – Vice President, Kevin Kristof – Treasurer, and Miguel De Marzo – Secretary. We are happy to announce that ATE is now a member of the Equality Federation. Come and join in the fun and hard work by volunteering to serve on one of the committees, which meet monthly by conference call. There is room for you! Join
Alaskans Together.
Women’s Summit: Anchorage lunch 3/17 and Juneau conference 3/18 – 3/19
It’s time to sign up for the 2010 Women’s Summit on March 17-19. The theme for this year is “Interpersonal Violence in Alaska: Why Alaska Ranks at the Top, and Strategies for Success.” The keynote speaker is Rebecca Levenson, Senior Policy Analyst with the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Come listen, learn and network with other women from around the state. Rebecca will also speak at a luncheon in Anchorage on Wednesday, March 17, 12 pm at the Sheraton Hotel downtown, $35/person. A limited number of scholarships are available for the Juneau conference (for travel, lodging and registration) and are due by March 1. For those arranging your own travel and lodging, applications are due by March 10. The Women’s Summit is organized by the
Alliance for Reproductive Justice.
Tantric Wisdom for the Activities of Daily Living
Bird Trungma, Rinpoche, has moved her short essays on Tantric Wisdom to HubPages. She hopes you will keep reading them, and continue to enjoy and benefit from them. Her first essay tells her story of moving to Anchorage, almost leaving, then deciding to stay. Check out
Bird’s Tantric Wisdom.
Friday, 15 January 2010 – 3:11 PM
| Comments Off on This Week in LGBT Alaska 1/15/10
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar.
Juneau Pride Chorus rehearses every Friday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church. Marsha
Fairbanks
Continuing LGBT Discussion 1/17, 11:30 p.m. at the UUFF.
Wednesday Social at 9 p.m. Email Joshua for the current location.
Mat-Su Valley
Mat-Su LGBT Community Center in Palmer is open M-F 5-8 p.m. (except 6-8 on Wed.) The social group meets Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. at Vagabond Blues.
Anchorage
Scott T. Schofield’s “Debutante Balls” 1/14-1/16 at 7:30 p.m. and 1/17 at 4 p.m. at Out North.
Prayer Vigil for Haiti 1/17, 11 a.m. at the GLCCA
Fur Rondy float planning meeting 1/17, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s
Professor Gale Smoke reviews Judy Shepard’s book “The Meaning of Matthew” 1/21, 7 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church. Anchorage PFLAG.
Renown poet and author Nikki Giovanni 1/21, 7:30 p.m. A free event for Civil Rights Month at UAA.
