Articles in Politics
Churches have ‘special’ rights, gays don’t
Elise Patkotak wrote another great ADN column in support of the Anchorage non-discrimination ordinance, Unlike gays, church has its ‘special’ rights:
According to Jerry Prevo’s letter to the editor in Sunday’s paper, his main problem with the city’s proposed ordinance protecting homosexuals’ civil rights is that it would allow men to dress as women for work. Hmm … isn’t that what Milton Berle did on his TV show in the ’50s? And didn’t Tom Hanks get his start as a cross-dresser in a sitcom? Then, of course, we have J. Edgar Hoover — there was a man who knew how to make a dress pop.
I erupted in laughter upon realizing his main objection to this ordinance is his belief that if passed, gay men would blanket the workplace with skirts, heels and makeup. He also apparently believes it authorizes gays to be sexually promiscuous with pornography during work hours. Tough luck for all those straight guys out there who found their company blocked access to porn on their work computers. If this ordinance passes, they’ll apparently have to find a gay friend who is willing to share his screen.
In all seriousness, am I the only one who read that relatively bizarre letter and thought, as the Bard so eloquently once wrote, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
Fear mongering under any guise is a hateful and nasty way to try to hurt someone who is different from you. The Nazis did it with the Jews. America did it after 9/11 with Muslims. The confederate states did it with blacks — it wasn’t all that long ago that a black man looking at a white woman was given a death sentence in many parts of the American south. And now some people are trying to use it on gays in Anchorage under the guise of Christianity.
Most mail I received in response to last week’s column supported my position, though some did so with clear limits and reservations. Many stated that Jerry Prevo simply did not really represent Christianity. A lot of people said that while they didn’t understand how someone could be gay, and maybe could never support the concept of gay marriage, they didn’t hate gays and felt their civil rights should be protected. All in all, most letters were thoughtful ruminations on what is clearly a difficult issue for many people.
But as always, there were the haters. They were the ones who substituted “ph” for “f” in the spelling of some words in order to get it by any obscenity filter I may have on my e-mail account. Many were little more than rants that made it clear I’d be going to hell to spend eternity with all the gays I was protecting. They quoted the Bible to ensure I understood they were speaking with authority. After reading those letters, I think hell would be a much safer option for me.
Jerry Prevo is entitled to his opinion because this is America. And Jerry Prevo and his following have the right to keep gays out of their church, again because this is America.
For his followers who wrote me in a rage because I support “special” rights for gays and they want to know where their special rights are, I suggest they look at the tax exemptions their church has — not only for the church building itself, but for just about any property it owns. They should check into how this ordinance specifically allows them to follow their beliefs and discriminate against gays if they wish. That’s a special privilege. In fact, probably the greatest specially protected entity in this whole country is its churches. They don’t pay taxes and they won’t have to follow this ordinance.
Contrary to Prevo’s fears, most gay men are not standing in their doorways dressed in drag waiting for the moment they can go to court and try a case in a lovely skirt and blouse ensemble. Most have families, bills and pets and live a stable life. And the more flamboyant part of the gay population no more represents the majority than the drunks, druggies and prostitutes you read about every day in the paper represent typical Alaskans.
This world is already filled with groups who hate each other. Why would anyone claiming to be Christian want to add to that?
The Antichrist is Coming – and He’s Gay!
While Prevo tries to stir up fears about clothing and collects tax-deductible donations for his anti-gay political agenda, Pastor Ron Hamman from Wasilla isn’t afraid to tell us what he really thinks about gays in his article “Will the Antichrist be a homosexual?”:
“But will the Antichrist be a homosexual? Having seen what the Bible says of sodomy, we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, ‘Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard… the desire of women….'”
He gives a long definition of sodomy, charges that creating words based on scientific evidence is “historical revisionism,” and calls “mankind’s desire of women” the “glue” of Christianity. He decides that “the one called ‘that Wicked’ by Paul” will indeed be a gay man.
He doesn’t stop there. Adding sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policies of Anchorage, Alaska is proof that the Antichrist is coming!
“The time is ripe for such a leader. Indeed, it should not be surprising that the one who is against everything Biblical and Christian should be a partaker of so great a sin; there is no greater way to reject the Creator than to reject your gender and his design for it. And at what other time have we seen such perversion come out of the closets onto our streets, threatening violence if we do not accept their ways?
Is it any wonder that Revelation 13 says that this same Antichrist will make war with the saints of the tribulation, and overcome them? Are they not now readying themselves to make it illegal to “offend” them in any way, calling it hatred to preach against their sin? Is it because they love us? The time is ripe for such a man.”
Prop 8 again
by Mel Green
A few months ago, a slim majority of California passed Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California after five or six months of it being legal. Since then, we’ve been waiting for the California Supreme Court to decide upon the measure’s legality under the California constitution.
Today, by a vote of 6 to 1, the justices upheld it.
I can’t say I’m surprised. Nor, however, am I particularly demoralized: I think we’ve already begun seeing a sea change. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine… New Hampshire is close, New York not far behind. Things are starting to go the other way. And younger voters overall favor equal rights, while older voters who don’t are gradually dying away. As one person commented in one of my online communities,
This will be a pyrrhic victory [for opponents of marriage equality]. The 20-somethings are for gay marriage by a 3-1 or more margin. You’ll see a reversal on Prop 8 within 5 years with a 55-45 vote at least. It is a lot better when it happens through the political process than from the courts (e.g. abortion). I realize this is no solace for those who have to wait.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. And note that the later states in which same-sex marriage is being established are all establishing it through the political process.
Meantime, it was of some comfort that the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in California during the brief period of marriage equality were ruled, in the same decision by the California Supreme Court, to be valid. It delighted me to know that Artemis & Lori, whom I met last November during an Anchorage protest of Prop 8, just a few days after their wedding in Palm Springs, California, are still recognized as having a valid marriage — at least, in California.
After work today, I bussed downtown to join the small protest of the California Supreme Court’s decision. Like the one last November, this one was held at the Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage. It was organized more or less at the last minute, so there were only a few people present — a total of seven during the time I was there, before I had to get home to take care of the dog. But it was good to be there anyway, & to get at least a few honks from supportive passers-by.
Related:
- See Mel’s complete set of photos from the 15 November 2008 and 26 May 2009 protests of Prop 8 in Anchorage at her Flickr photostream.
- For a history, both public & private, of the fight for marriage equality in Alaska, see Mel’s post Same-sex marriage: A personal history (posted 9 May 2009).
- For the story of another Alaska couple whose 2008 marriage in California is still valid, see Bent Alaska’s post 18,000 Marriages are Upheld, but Not One More.
18,000 Marriages are Upheld, but Not One More
Mo and Lin of Juneau were legally married in San Francisco City Hall on Sept. 15, 2008, exactly eighteen years after their original (non-legal) wedding. Today’s California Court decision means they are allowed to remain married, although other same-sex couples will not be able to legally wed in California.
The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage, and also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be “married” under state law. A statement from Alaskans Together for Equality and the link to the Anchorage protest information was posted earlier.
Many Alaskan same-sex couples were married in California last year when the marriages were legal, and were waiting to hear if the court would divorce them. Other couples were hoping they would be able to get married in California this year.
Conservative groups that support the ban are angry that the 18,000 couples married before the election can stay married.
On Oct. 5, Mo and Lin held a Jump the Broom wedding reception in Juneau, and their friends created a Human Arch of Love and Acceptance for them to walk through. Then Mo and Lin joined hands and raised their arms as part of the Arch, and other couples walked through.
“We may need to do that Arch of Love and Acceptance again and again, letting it grow until all are included and equal in our nation,” wrote Mo after the reception. “Perhaps we can have arches of love and support all over our state in 2009, or all over our nation.”
Here are photos of the Arch of Love, the Newly-wed/Oldy-wed Game, the 3-tiered cupcake tower, and Mo & Lin dancing at the Juneau reception after their California (still-legal-today) wedding:
Lin responded to today’s CA court decision: “It’s a sad day for fairness and equality but I take heart from many things. Fair-minded people are planning for the next step toward full equality. I take heart from Meghan McCain’s recent words (paraphrased), “Republicans believe in fairness and equality and I believe that supporting gay marriage is part of our platform.”
Mo is in California today and plans to attend the Day of Decision action in Santa Barbara tonight. She sent this response:
I will use Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words here among mine, my hero of civil rights introduced to me by my Father in the 60’s.“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”Now is the time for us all to work together, harder than before to change this injustice.“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”Let us stand together, let me hear YOU!“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”Good people please join us, and let us be the change we wish to see in this world.
CA’s Prop 8 Upheld (for now)
The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage, but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be legally married under state law.
The decision ensures another fight at the ballot box over marriage rights. Equality supporters in California said they may ask voters to repeal the ban as early as next year, and opponents have pledged to fight that effort. Proposition 8 passed with only 52% of the vote.
Gay rights supporters will protest the decision in over 100 US cities tonight, including Anchorage.
“No civil rights movement has EVER lost. It is not a matter of IF our community will win full equal rights, including marriage. It is only a matter of WHEN. But as in all civil rights movements, we will have to fight like hell for it,” stated Robin Tyler, the lead petitioner in the case to overturn Prop 8.
In response to the decision, Alaskans Together for Equality wrote: “We believe that the option to get married is a basic human right. Gay and Lesbian Americans should have the same access to marriage and associated rights as other citizens. We are disappointed that the California Supreme Court has let a narrow majority of citizens vote to take away rights from a minority group. The State Constitution and Court System are supposed to prevent such a tyranny of the majority injustice.”
Same-sex marriage was legal in California for almost 6 months before Prop 8 passed. Gay marriages are currently legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and Maine, and may become legal in New Hampshire and New York later this year.
Today is the Day of Decision
Today, Tuesday, May 26, at 10 a.m. pacific time, the California Supreme Court will announce its decision to either uphold or overturn Proposition 8 and the thousands of same-sex marriages performed last summer.
Will we be celebrating or protesting tonight? Cross your fingers for a civil rights victory, and check back after 9 a.m. Alaska time for the ruling.
Outrage hits Anchorage for Pride Week
The controversial movie Outrage will premiere in Alaska during Pride Week, showing at The Bear Tooth on Monday, June 15 at 5:30 & 7:45 p.m. The Bear Tooth’s other Pride Week film will be Poltergay, shown on June 18.
Outrage: Do Ask, Do Tell is “a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. Outrage boldly reveals the hidden lives of some of our nation’s most powerful policymakers.”
Poltergay is “Poltergeist meets Saturday Night Fever with a gay spin. This French horror spoof, of a young couple who unknowingly buy a mansion haunted by disco dancing homosexuals, is set to a monstrous ’70s musical score.”
Watch the Outrage trailer:
Share your Story of Discrimination
Opponents of the Assembly non-discrimination ordinance say that discrimination against LGBT people does not exist in Anchorage. We know that it does, and we need to share that knowledge.
Have you been the target of LGBT-based discrimination in Anchorage? Please tell your story at the June 9 public hearing, or let someone else read it into the record. LGBT people and straight allies are encouraged to contact Tiffany McClain or use the online form at Equality Works.
Examples of anti-LGBT discrimination are showing up in the articles and comments about the Municipal ordinance that would protect Anchorage’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents from discrimination.
Mel Green, who co-authored the study Identity Reports: Sexual Orientation Bias in Alaska (Anchorage, AK: Identity, Inc., 1989), recounts her personal experience of being fired from a local book store in 1984:
“It also occurred to me to wonder if maybe I’d been fired for being a lesbian. This was confirmed a couple of days later when I went in to the store to pick up my final paycheck. I talked with one of my other (former) coworkers, whose name I don’t remember — in “Prima Facie” she goes by the initial M. M was maybe two or three years younger than me, a rather innocent-seeming Mormon girl who seemed embarrassed by what she had to tell me. She said that the day before I was fired, she had seen Chris at the back of the store talking with higher-ups from downtown, including the manager. On the same day, Chris had announced to coworkers that I was gay. On the day I was fired, Chris had gone about the store singing, “Mel got fired, Mel got fired.”“I’ve never seen Chris since, but my best guess is that she resented me for complaining to our manager about her habit of taking overlong breaks, & decided to get her revenge by playing on the prejudices of higher management.”
The Anchorage Municipal Code states that discrimination “based upon race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability… is prohibited.”
“[H]ad sexual orientation been a protected class… I would have had grounds to file a complaint with the state human rights commission & seek redress. (Like maybe getting my job back.)“But sexual orientation was not a protected class under Alaska Statutes. Nor was it under federal legislation, nor under municipal ordinance. I was, as they say, S.O.L.”
Straight allies are also discriminated against for supporting LGBT civil rights, or simply for being our friends and family members. Allies are encouraged to join us in sharing their experiences of LGBT-based discrimination at the hearing.
Ally Celtic Diva describes her experiences of supporting the previous attempt to add “sexual orientation” to the Anchorage Municipal policies, in the early 1990’s, and belonging to the band Sky Is Blu, which represented Alaska at the 1993 National March on Washington for LGBT Rights:
“As a result, I received threatening phone calls (I remember my boyfriend at the time grabbing the phone from me to deal with one of the nasty callers) and all four of my tires slashed. Another member of the band was (literally) harassed and followed down the street!“Worst of all, the only male member of the band lost the job he had been offered with, ironically, the Municipality! As a result of this, he couldn’t get hired in his field and eventually ended up moving to the lower-48 with his wife and child.”
Share your personal experiences of LGBT-based discrimination at the June 9 hearing and help to pass the ordinance. Contact Tiffany McClain or use the online form at Equality Works.
Senator Begich Listens to Alaskans, Co-Sponsors the Matthew Shepard Act
Senator Mark Begich has become a co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Act, the hate crimes prevention bill currently before the Senate, despite being targeted by opponents.
Earlier this month, Alaskans Together reported that Begich was “getting lots of calls from our opponents asking him to vote against the Matthew Shepherd Act.”
“This is a time when we need to raise many, many Alaskan voices to give our senators the support they need to vote with us,” wrote Marsha Buck of Alaskans Together for Equality.
Bent Alaska posted the call to action and sent it to other Alaskan blogs that are concerned with civil rights. Sen. Begich received many supportive calls.
“He did get the message,” wrote Diane DiSanto from Senator Begich’s office. “More Alaskans called to support it, and most of the negatives were from out of state.”
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S 909) was introduced in the Senate on April 28 “to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes.” The House approved it last month, although Don Young voted against it. President Obama supports the measure.
Opponents argue that enforcing hate crime penalties will protect pedophiles. They use this threat to oppose all anti-discrimination and civil rights measures that include sexual orientation.
Senator Begich’s response on the Matthew Shepard Act:
“Thank you for your letter regarding federal hate crimes legislation.
“The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA)/Matthew Shepard Act gives the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the DOJ with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It does not and cannot infringe on an American’s right to free speech.
“The Act provides the DOJ with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable to act, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated, violent crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury. The LLEHCPA also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers or assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes. It covers only these violent crimes, not beliefs or expressions of belief.
“In addition, the Act is endorsed by over 280 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs’ Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National District Attorneys Association, Presbyterian Church, Episcopal Church, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Young Women’s Christian Association and National Disability Rights Network.
“Thank you for expressing your concerns on this issue. Please contact me again with your thoughts as the 111th Congress progresses.”
