Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 106
January 18, 2011
Non-Task Functions And Roles Of Transgender Community Activism
When I talk to folk about activism under the transgender community umbrella, the discussion usually goes to task-based activism. You know, such as working on specific antidiscrimination ordinances and legislation, providing healthcare services, providing for basic needs (such as food and shelter), or educating those in and out of community about community members and their concerns.
But, there are other non-task functions and roles within transgender community that have to do with activism. If one thinks about it for a moment, there is more than one type of leadership within groups. 
We know about task leadership roles, but there are other group building and maintenance roles. These other group building and maintenance roles include encouraging (offers praise to group members), harmonizing (seeking to resolve conflict), compromising (resolving conflict by coming "half-way"), and gatekeeping (someone who keeps lines of communication open in a group), for example.
With that in mind -- that all the functions of community aren't task related -- let me present a nonexhaustive list of non-task functions and roles within community that are also forms of community activism.
Mentoring: Mentoring is the teaching of the next generations of community members. It can be formal or informal, with formal roles and set goals, or informal "as life happens" moments that are just ad hoc. Sometimes it involves showing mechanisms and means to accomplish goals, sometimes in involves identifying means to cope with the ups and downs of doing the work in the trenches, Sometimes it's clarifying pit falls others have experienced along the way and how to avoid these.
In other words, mentoring is a lot of things, but in terms of transgender community activism it's teaching the next generations about how to be activists.
Mentee-ing: Being a mentee is being willing to learn. In a formal setting, it's listening to, and acting upon the knowledge and wisdom of the mentor. In the informal setting it's the same thing, but any community member can learn the knowledge and wisdom of any other community member -- or non-community member.
I've been a mentor, and even now I'm a mentee. Learning is a lifelong process where one never knows everything there is to know -- keeping oneself open to learn is an important function of all transgender community members...all transgender community activists.
When to be a rock: By rock, I mean being a person to lean on -- a stabilizing force. It's giving a peer a hug when they're down, and offering what assistance one can to others who need assistance of one kind or another.
When has a community filled with as much hurt, pain, and need as transgender community has, one can see how much being a rock matters. And, when one knows that more than four in ten transgender community members have attempted suicide in their lives, and more than eight in ten have seriously considered suicide, can see how much being a rock matters. Being rocks to others is a function our community can't afford to ignore.
When to be the untamed sea: Sometimes, the boat needs rocking. Sometimes we need to rock the boat instead of being a rock.
It's too easy for all of us in community to get comfortable within our own lives or our safe community spaces, accepting conditions that shouldn't be accepted. Being the untamed sea that rocks us our of our comfort zones is often a necessary function to awaken transgender community members from being complacent.
[Cheerleading, healers and nurturers, holding a mirror, "rock stars" and martyrs below the fold.]
Cheerleading: Cheerleading is recognizing our accomplishments, and encouraging the activism of others.
When I'd been out for just a couple of years, I had began volunteering as an amateur, online community news archivist with transgendernews. (I still back up the transgendernews archive every other week.) At a healthcare hearing up in Los Angeles, I met Cecilia Chung for the first time, and she told me how important what I was doing was for community, and encouraged me continue archiving our community's news and history.
That was meaningful and important to me. I knew who Cecilia Chung was, and was surprised to learn she was aware of who I was and what work I was doing. Her appreciation of what I was doing, and her encouragement, built me up -- I went to back to archiving as an energized activist.
Here five-and-a-half years later, I still remember what Cecilia Chung said, and still feel energized by the realization that what I do for community matters. She gave me that encouragement, and it cost her little but a few moments of her time.
I've had many opportunities to encourage others as Cecilia did -- as an informal mentor to me. She taught me by example that cheerleading the good work of others, and the people themselves, can result in energizing people who are doing wonderful work...others who otherwise may feel that both who they are, and what they do, is unimportant.
Cheerleading is kindness that is both a very human and humane thing to do. But beyond how cheerleading builds an individual community member, it's an action that when done by many to many, is a strong community building action -- and transgender community needs that kind of building work.
Being the healers and nurturers we have historically been: In indigenous societies in America, and across the world, transgender people have been healers, nurturers, and shamen. Trans people have been spiritual leaders who bridge division.
One of the roles of transgender community is to continue that tradition of spirituality -- whatever that might mean to an individual -- and that tradition building bridges.
Holding a mirror to ourselves, our individual peers, and to our community: One of the non-task functions of transgender community is to hold up a mirror to community and community members. When one holds a mirror up to one's community or one's community members, one is asking:
"Is what we see reflected back to us beautiful? Is this ugly? Is this both a little bit beautiful and a little bit ugly at the same time?"
The follow up question to those questions always is:
"What do we want to do -- what are we going to do -- about what is being reflected back at us?"
Recently, as many of you here at Pam's House Blend know, I looked in the community mirror, and saw something ugly reflecting back -- So I held up a mirror to community to show others what I was seeing reflected back.
Presenting an ugliness reflected back from one's community is always messy. It's always messy because we don't like to think of ourselves, our peers, or community as being capable of ugliness. And too, showing the reflection of ugliness it's always unpleasant because of that unspoken question:
"What do we want to do -- what are we going to do -- about what is being reflected back at us?"
The person who holds up the mirror often is subject to blowback -- person who holds up the mirror is often accused as being as ugly as what he, she, or ze is trying to show his, her, or hir peers in the mirror.
There are other times when holding up a mirror to community is a joyous action. When we can reflect back what is beautiful about a community member, our community peers, or our community as a whole -- this can be a most wonderful experience.
But of course, there are often those who want to see the ugly in the beautiful, and the beautiful in the ugly, so even holding up a mirror to community to show the reflection of beauty is often an ugly experience.
Holding up a mirror to transgender community is a difficult function to engage in, because for good or for ill, any person who holds up a mirror to community members, community peers, or to community as a whole is putting themselves out as a target for community slings and arrows.
But holding a mirror to ourselves, our community peers, and to transgender community is a necessary function. We can't be mentors, mentees, rocks, the sea, healers, and nurturers unless we're willing to reflect who we are and what we see to others about us. Without the function of holding up mirrors, no non-task functions in community can occur.
Rock Stars: "Rock stars" seem bigger than life and people we can admire -- even if an individual "rock star" has feet of clay.
Communities need "rock stars" because we need to see people who are much like us succeeding in society. We need to know we too can be successful, we too do belong in society, we too aren't complete pariahs, and we are not alone. Transgender community is no different than other communities in this way -- we love to have "rock stars" we can love, or can love to hate.
Martyrs: Just as we need our "rock stars," we need our martyrs. We know the value of the lives Martin Luther King Jrs. and Harvey Milks -- people who gave their lives in pursuing betterment for their respective communities. We know the value of the four young African-American girls who died in 1963's 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Matthew Shepard, James Bird Jr., Gwen Araujo, and Angie Zapata because they were innocents victims who didn't deserve to die just because they were members of minority groups.
We need our martyrs to remind us what we should strive for as a community, and to remind us who we are fighting for the lives for. We need them to remind us to say "We will take societal oppression no more -- we will push back against our oppression."
~~
Well, these are some of the non-task functions within transgender community. There are obviously more non-task functions for community than I've listed, but these are some I've been thinking about lately. If you have functions that you believe should be added to the list, please feel free to do so.
And too, if you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer without identifying as transgender or transsexual, what parallels to you see in your own subcommunities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community? If you belong to a different identity group -- or belong to multiple identity groups -- what are the parallels you see between non-task functions of the L, G, B, and T subcommunities and the other community you belong to?
I believe this is an interesting time -- we have an opportunity point within communities to ask what we want community to look like at this point in time, and looking at non-task functions of community ties into community leadership -- it's a look at some of the maintenance functions and roles that are every bit as important task leadership.
~~~~~
Related:
* Why Transgender Activism
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Insanity in the mailbag: Randall Terry running primary challenge against Obama
You'll recall that when Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider, was murdered, Terry said:PRIMARY AGAINST OBAMA: RANDALL TERRY VOWS PRO-LIFE ADS ON SUPER BOWL
RANDALL TERRY - NATIONALLY KNOWN PRO-LIFE LEADER - ANNOUNCES DEMOCRAT PRIMARY RUN AGAINST PRESIDENT OBAMA.
WASHINGTON D.C. - Mr. Terry Vows to Run Pro-life Ad on Super Bowl 2012, to expose the genocide of unborn babies. Dateline: Washington D.C.
Press Conference: Thursday, January 20, 2011, 11:00 A.M.
Where: Holocaust Museum, Washington DC; in front of main entrance, near the corner of 14th and Independence.Mr. Terry plans to run TV ads showing aborted babies during 2012 AFC and NFC Championships, during Super Bowl XLVI, and throughout the Democrat primary.
Prototypes of Ads can be seen at www.TerryForPresident.com.
Mr. Terry's website also has specific messages to Catholics, Evangelicals, Hispanics, Independents, Pro-Lifers, and Tea Party Activists.
Mr. Terry States:
"My constituency is the millions of pro-life advocates who want to make child killing illegal from conception until birth. My base is those who know that we must show Americans the victims of abortion, in order to restore the full protection of law to unborn babies.
"America has never truly debated child killing, because America has never truly seen child killing. We will use FEC and FCC laws for federal candidates to bring America face to face with this massacre of the innocents.
"The goal of my campaign is: 1) To create a crisis of conscience for Americans regarding the slaughter of the unborn and thereby hasten the end of legalized child killing; 2) To pound on President Obama's agenda starting with child killing, but also including our battle against socialism, our enslavement to debt, and more. Will I defeat Mr. Obama? I'm not delusional. But while I may not defeat him, I can expose the genocide Obama promotes in America and around the world.
"Our help is in the Name of the Lord."
Rabbi Yehuda Levin of New York City States:
"I plan to support, promote and assist Randall in his run for the Presidency. We must, and we will wake up America, helping her to return to the Godly values, the civic standards, basic decency and normalcy that made America the object of God's Grace.
"I have known Randall for nigh a quarter century. He is probably the most dynamic and innovative pro-life leader we have. I urge pro-lifers to join me in helping Randall in this campaign."
For more information, visit http://www.terryforpresident.com/
He was a mass-murder. He sowed death. And then he reaped death in a horrifying way.And...
"We must continue to call abortionists 'murderers' according to the teachings of the Church; we must continue to peacefully expose and protest them; and we must continue to show the bloody remains of children that died at the hands of Tiller and his kind."
SCOTUS rejects bigot Bishop Harry Jackson's appeal of DC's marriage law
VICTORY! Poor Harry Jackson; where's he going to take his religion-based homophobic road show now? (Huff Post):The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from opponents of same-sex marriage who want to overturn the District of Columbia's gay marriage law.Reaction from HRC:The court did not comment Tuesday in turning away a challenge from a Maryland pastor and others who are trying to get a measure on the ballot to allow Washingtonians to vote on a measure that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Bishop Harry Jackson led a lawsuit against the district's Board of Elections and Ethics after it refused to put that initiative on the ballot. The board ruled that the ballot question would in effect authorize discrimination.
"Today's action by the Supreme Court makes abundantly clear that D.C.'s human rights protections are strong enough to withstand the hateful efforts of outside anti-LGBT groups to put people's basic civil rights on the ballot," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "For almost two years, the National Organization for Marriage and the Alliance Defense Fund, along with Bishop Harry Jackson, have fought a losing battle to shamelessly harm gay and lesbian couples in D.C. who seek nothing more than to share in the rights and responsibilities of marriage. The D.C. Council and Mayor courageously made marriage equality a reality last year, and the courts have since upheld the rights of D.C. residents to govern ourselves and take the necessary steps to eliminate discrimination in our community."The Supreme Court's denial of certiorari today leaves standing a D.C. Court of Appeals decision issued last October that determined the Council acted within its authority when more than thirty years ago it established a requirement that proposed ballot initiatives may not authorize, or have the effect of authorizing, discrimination prohibited by the D.C. Human Rights Act. The Court further held that an initiative on same-sex marriage would impermissibly permit discrimination against gays and lesbians in the District.
In December 2009, the D.C. Council overwhelmingly passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Act of 2009. The bill was signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, transmitted to Congress for review and became law on March 3, 2010. The first marriages between same-sex couples were performed less than a week later. Since then hundreds of same-sex couples have been married in D.C.
With today's decision from the Supreme Court, marriage equality opponents have reached the end of their legal wrangling. The D.C. Board of Elections, Superior Court, Court of Appeals and now the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected their meritless and tired arguments that they should be permitted to impose a discriminatory ballot measure on D.C. voters.
'Christian' owners of B&B in U.K. acted unlawfully when they denied room to gay couple
Look at the sour couple who owns the B&B -- the Bulls -- who have to pay out ?1,800 in damages to Mr. Hall and Mr. Preddy:
The Christian owners of a seaside guesthouse acted unlawfully by refusing to let a gay couple share a double bed, a judge has ruled in a landmark case.Peter and Hazelmary Bull did not allow civil partners Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy to use a double room in their Cornwall B&B because it would be "an affront to their faith". However, a judge at Bristol County Court said the couple were breaking the law by denying the men a room.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Boots Association for 'Tolerating Homosexuality'
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has asked an association of churches to leave its Fort Worth, Texas, campus because the seminary says the group has a member church or churches that tolerate homosexuality.A 1997 affiliation agreement between Tarrant Baptist Association and the seminary for use of an office building on the campus requires that the two organizations remain in "theological harmony."
The seminary, which is associated with the Southern Baptist Convention, contends that the association has violated the agreement for retaining fellowship with a church or churches that don't adhere to the denomination's position that homosexuality is a sin.
The Rev. Brent Beasley of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth told the Dallas Morning News that his church is the one "being referred to."
The SBC voted in 2009 to sever ties with Broadway Baptist over its policy to welcome LGBT members. Last fall, the local church ended its 125-year-old affiliation with the General Baptist Convention of Texas
January 17, 2011
What's your take on the film "Stonewall Uprising"?
The documentary Stonewall Uprising opened in theaters in 2010 and will be broadcast on the PBS show American Experience this April. In advance of the broadcast the station that produces American Experience, WGBH, has announced an open call for video shorts that "Show Us Where Stonewall is Now."
We invite citizen reporters, journalists, video-bloggers, documentary story tellers, animators or new media-makers: in a 3 minute video, show us where Stonewall's legacy of courage is today.The deadline for video submissions is February 14th. A $1,000 prize will be awarded to the top five entries selected by WGBH's panel of judges.
I haven't seen Stonewall Uprising yet, but I've read some of the criticisms that it "gaywashes" the event. Until I see the film I can't have an opinion on that score. However, it does appear from the open call notice and the "tips" page that the focus of the WGBH video project is gay-centric.
There is no doubt that Stonewall catalyzed the gay rights movement, if you want to think in the narrow terms of a bygone era. But there is also no doubt that transgender people were key participants in the Stonewall riots and are an integral part of the movement I choose to belong to, the LGBT civil rights movement.
I wish I had the skills answer the invitation to "Show us something about today's struggle for gay rights that we don't know" with a video showing that today's struggle for "gay rights" must be as tightly linked to transgender rights as were the actions of the gay and transgender people who together sparked our civil rights era at Stonewall.
What's your take on Stonewall Uprising? Will you entertain WGBH's invitation? The trailer for Stonewall Uprising is below the fold.
The trailer for Stonewall Uprising
The Daily Beast ranks the 20 Most Tolerant States - does the list make sense to you?
As the country commemorates Martin Luther King Day and reflects on Tucson, The Daily Beast crunches the numbers to rank the tolerances of every state across America. How did yours stack up?When you surf over to look at these rankings by The Daily Beast as described above, a state's tolerance ranking takes into account this criteria:In the four-plus decades since Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, America has surely moved closer to a country where people are judged more by content of their character than the color of their skin-or their gender, religion or sexual orientation. In honor of today's national holiday, and mindful of the debate fostered by the massacre in Tucson nine days ago, The Daily Beast sought to examine which states are the most tolerant, devising a thorough point system that measures each state's residents based on their actions and opinions, as well the scope of state laws guaranteeing equal rights and protections, which reflects the broader political will.
1. Tolerance score: __ out of 100
2. Hate crime score: __ out of 40
3. Discrimination score: __ out of 40
4. Gay rights score: __ out of 10
5. Religious Tolerance Score: __ out of 10
6. Hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents: __ (+ ranking out of 50 states)
7. Discrimination cases filed per 100,000 residents: __ (+ ranking out of 50 states)
8. Population in support of same-sex marriage: __
9. Population that believes many religions lead to eternal life: __%
Now with that in mind, take a look at the top 20, without the benefit of seeing their scores on the above criteria; some of the ranking seems quite bizarre from a LGBT perspective.
The Daily Beast's List of the 20 Most Tolerant States#1 Wisconsin actually has a marriage amendment in place.
1. Wisconsin
2. Maryland
3. Illinois
4. Pennsylvania
5. Hawaii
6. California
7. Minnesota
8. New Jersey
9. New Hampshire
10. New Mexico
11. Virginia
12. Iowa
13. North Carolina
14. Connecticut
15. Florida
16. Louisiana
17. New York
18. Massachusetts
19. West Virginia
20. Nevada
For the life of me I cannot understand how holy-rolling Virginia and West Virginia even made it into the top 20, or for that matter, Louisiana. And what is Massachusetts doing bringing up the rear at #18? New Jersey surely should be in the top 10, but behind Pennsylvania?
And if we're strictly going on institutionalized equality advances, California should be near or at the top because aside from Prop 8, LGBTs have parity in protections at almost every level.
I'll share the stats for my state, NC, which is at #13. Surf back to The Daily Beast to see the other states for comparison.
13. North CarolinaSince I can speak to the anecdotal issue of tolerance in the state, there are a couple of facts to put on the table:
Tolerance score: 63 out of 100
Hate crime score: 25 out of 40
Discrimination score: 30 out of 40
Gay rights score: 2 out of 10
Religious Tolerance Score: 6 out of 10
Hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents: 1.1 (11 out of 50 states) Discrimination cases filed per 100,000 residents: 11.5 (10 out of 50 states)
Population in support of same-sex marriage: 36%
Population that believes many religions lead to eternal life: 62%
* We don't have a marriage amendment (yet; that is now in sight after the midterms, with GOP rule of the Gen Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction).
* More of the population is urban/suburban than rural now, but there is a downside. What that means is more people live near centers of business, education, techonology and medicine, which draw highly educated transplants from around the world. The problem here is that the conservative, more exurban/rural areas are hardcore conservative, and more progressive transplants/transient families don't necessarily consistently vote. Prime example - the Wake County School Board debacle, where fundies packed the board taking control because lazy progressives didn't bother to go out and vote to prevent the resegregation of the school system.
* Day to day life in the city centers is tolerant: I've encountered more overt and passive-aggressive race-based and LGBT-based discrimination in NYC than I do here in NC. Neighborhoods tend to be more racially diverse, with the main division socioeconomic.
* Re: being out of the closet -- people generally just don't think about it, care about it, and take it in stride. Now if you drive far enough out into the stix and see trucks with Stars & Bars stickers and a gun rack, you may want to keep driving. We're not stupid.
* Equality: um, there really is little to report when it comes to LGBT rights, but what we can report is significant. NC was the first Southern state to pass a trans-inclusive anti-bullying bill, and had equal hospital visitation rights long before the federal advance that went into effect this year. Other than that, you can be fired for being LGBT if you are a state worker or work for a private business where there is not an anti-discrimination policy. The only mitigating factor is the wealth of private corporations and universities employing many LGBTs have not only trans-inclusive anti-discrimination policies, but offer partner benefits.
All that said, a ranking of #13 seems high to me. If one of those states is your own, how do you think it should rank?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bernice King, and Bayard Rustin
***
"Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam."Let me say finally that I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world. I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. We are presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national disaster. America has strayed to the far country of racism and militarism.
"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence"
A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.
But getting back to that dream about equality that Dr. King gave during that speech in D.C. -- it's probably best he's not around to see what his surviving daughter Bernice has been up to (his other daughter, Yolanda King passed away; she was a staunch ally).
"I know deep down in my sanctified soul that he did not take a bullet for same-sex unions."
-- Bernice King, the anti-gay daughter of Dr. King, who, ironically, marched with the now-scandal ridden Bishop Eddie Long to "save marriage" with a constitutional amendment in 2004.
Based on what? She was a child when Martin Luther King was shot -- her mother knew and understood the man's views, yet Bernice still cannot reconcile the possibility that her father could embrace the concept of civil equality for gays. Her father had, at his side in the movement, an openly gay man,
Bayard Rustin
, assisting him in the early days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.Will the Bernice Kings of the world ever come around to embrace the idea that equality includes fighting for the rights of her LGBT friends, neighbors and loved ones? And more importantly, will allies in the civil rights struggle continue to work to bring discussions about this schism into view?
One ally who marched with Dr. King, shed blood for equality and today does speak out for LGBT rights is U.S. Congressman and civil rights legend John Lewis (D-GA).
More below the fold.
I had the pleasure of meeting the Congressman at the Equality Alabama dinner back in 2009. He gave a speech that if you closed your eyes, you could believe Dr. King would give it on behalf of the LGBT community. From my coverage:
It was an amazing evening with many old and new friends at Equality Alabama's Gala Saturday night. The highlight was keynote speaker Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who is a native of Troy, Alabama. His played a legendary fearless role in the civil rights struggles of the 60s -- and he is man who believes in LGBT civil equality with equal conviction -- he immediately signed on to DOMA repeal legislation.Other links to surf to today:This is significant in a day when there is a clear dearth of support in the religious black community; Lewis has the moral standing that a homophobe in the pulpit like Bishop Harry Jackson can never touch. John Lewis took batons to the head, was beaten to unconsciousness multiple times for equality -- courage and moral conviction that Jackson and his fellow charlatans of bigotry are bereft of.
Rep. Lewis spoke eloquently about the simplicity of the government staying out of the lives of gay and lesbian couples -- there is no need to "save" marriage from two people who simply want to love one another and be legally affirmed in the same way that heterosexual couples are when they marry.
But perhaps the most powerful message was to those in the LGBT community who are waiting for equality to come to them -- Lewis charged us to seize the moment, do not accept being told to wait your turn, to demand your rights through your representative, and most of all take personal responsibility -- the message we all heard was loud and clear. Too many LGBTs are in the closet waiting for someone else to do the heavy lifting and LEAD. We are all capable of leading by kicking that closet door open. The main meat of the speech begins around 5:00 -- and you will want to hear it all. The man had the audience spellbound.
* Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2011: Nation Ponders King In Wake Of Arizona Shootings
* Chicago ministers say Martin Luther King would not have supported gay rights. The group sponsoring this BS is the Illinois Family Institute. Nuff said.
* In Honor of Dr. King: Let's Solve the Worst Crisis Facing Black Children Since Slavery - Education
"Eighty-five percent of black fourth graders can't read at grade level. In honor of Dr. King, step up and be a part of the solution....Just how starkly different are the school experiences of black children and white children in America? According to the latest Children's Defense Fund (CDF) research, black students are half as likely to be placed in a gifted and talented class, but twice as likely to be put in a class for students with mental retardation."
January 16, 2011
Chuck Colson winks at his complicity in the destruction of natural marriage
A few years ago, Chuck Colson was trying to drum up support for a federal anti-equality marriage amendment with the usual doomsday scenario:...If we don't make the case for natural marriage-or fight attempts to shut us up or shut us down-sooner or later, we will all find our most sacred liberties sacrificed on the altar of the gay agenda.Pam challenged Colson to examine the real threats to "natural marriage" which include divorce.
Colson, Maggie Gallagher and the like don't have anything better to do than to lob ridiculous bombs out there about the institution of marriage being destroyed by The Homosexual Agenda. They spend no time talking about rampant divorce and adultery currently putting marriage in jeopardy over and over. Where are their stiff spine supporting a ban on divorce?
Here we are two years later and guess what? Colson agrees. Sort of.
The January, 2011 issue of Christian Examiner reprinted one of Colson's recent articles, bringing it to my attention:
Closer to home, the church has to ask itself if and how we've contributed to the trends documented in the Pew study. While few churches sanction cohabitation and some of the other new family forms Pew describes, our record on divorce and re-marriage leaves a lot to be desired. Advocates of these new family forms take delight in pointing out that divorce rates are higher in the Bible Belt than they are in more liberal parts of the country. They don't hesitate to point to studies showing that Christians aren't that much better at marriage and family than their non-religious neighbors.This is a stunning admission from someone who spouts hyperbolic claptrap about gay and lesbian families like "This vote on whether we stop the gay-marriage juggernaut in California is Armageddon".Fair enough, they have a point. If we're going to lead the fight to preserve traditional marriage, we need to start by creating a place where there is no question of its being "obsolete." That is, our homes and our churches.
But is Colson really doing anything more here than neatly dodging a fair criticism by quietly agreeing with it and then moving on? After all, Colson is still pimping the Manhattan Declaration against marriage equality.
If we are to believe that Colson is admitting that heterosexuals are responsible for the health of the legal institution they've largely reserved for themselves, he needs to flesh out "our homes and our churches" by confessing his own complicity in the erosion of the institution and by calling on his radical-right "natural marriage" colleagues to do the same. Jesus said, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
You see, Chuck Colson is divorced and remarried.
Colson is not alone in being a fly in the marriage ointment. Many leaders of the anti-equality movement have ended their own "sacred" and "forever" marriages with divorce. For example John McCain divorced his first wife Carol Shepp for Cindy after Shepp had a car accident and lost her looks; Rudy Giuliani is on his third wife. His second wife learned of his plans to divorce her when he made a public announcement; Larry Stickney has had two no-fault divorces and is on his third wife; Newt Gingrich, famous for divorcing his first wife while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery, has been married three times and divorced twice. He was having an extra-marital affair even as he presided over the Clinton impeachment trials.
Colson's first marriage, with Nancy Billings in 1953 bore three children...before ending in divorce in 1964 after some years of separation. He married Patricia Ann Hughes on April 4, 1964.
Colson has taken a positive baby step in admitting that heterosexuals are responsible for debasing marriage. But a wink and a nod isn't enough. He must stop scapegoating gay and lesbian families. Anything short of that and he only embarrasses himself by transparently resorting to diversionary tactics to avoid taking responsibility for his own messy human life.
Mixed bag open thread: pedophiles, pathetic GOPers, a busted ex-gay therapist, and more
* After Promising To 'Repeal And Replace' Obama's Health Law, Republicans Have No Replacement. Gee, is anyone surprised? Think Progress:
When Fox News contributor Juan Williams challenged [The Weekly Standard's Bill] Kristol to explain "what are you going to replace it with?", Kristol told Williams not to worry, because there would be hearings in a few months and Republicans would probably come up with something by then.* Karen Ocamb @ LGBTPOV: Does Sen. John McCain Owe Gay Servicemembers an Apology?
* Joe My God - This Week In Holy Crimes. So many pious pedophiles - from all around the country - it gives you agita. Just one example -
Florida: Pastor Gordon Libby charged with kidnapping a 14 year-old from a Walmart and then masturbating in the victim's presence. Libby is the founder of the clergy recruitment firm Pastors4U.* Is the Black Church Dead? Debate Flares Among African-American Christians. This is about the "prosperity gospel" ministers of black megachurches:
They're pastors, but they're really in the Halloween costume of a Fortune 500 CEO. And in the process they're trick-or-treating the people," Jonathan L. Walton, an assistant professor of African-American religion at Harvard Divinity School, told an appreciative audience three days earlier at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta.* David Badash: Best Palin "Surveyors Marks, Not Crosshairs" Debunking Ever.
* QNotes: S.C. GOP strategist: Gays want 'special protected class'. Consultant Wesley Donehue:
There are many Republicans in the General Assembly who will flat out try to kill any bill providing more gay rights. They aren't the problem for the S.C Alliance (sic). Their problem will be the many forward-thinking Republicans who are sympathetic to their cause, but won't go for putting more laws on the books and creating a special protected class.* MetroWeekly: A Kinder, Gentler DOMA? News Analysis: DOJ's continued defense of DOMA may have taken on a softer tone, but it can't erase the sharp underpinnings of the discriminatory 1996 law.Matt Comer of QNotes:
Unfortunately, Donehue is right on one point: Many South Carolina Republicans (and even some Democrats, mind you) will fight tooth-and-nail to stop pro-equality legislation. What's sadder is that some legislators, like state Rep. Greg Delleney (R-Chester), will also fight to specifically exclude LGBT people from what should be relatively non-controversial health and education legislation."
* Towleroad: Tea Party Holds Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Rally In Iowa.
The marriage debate in Iowa continues to heat up. About 35 people gathered in Council Bluffs, Iowa yesterday as part of a Tea Party sponsored rally in support of a ban on same-sex marriage in that state. Headlining the event was wingnut freshman Republican State Representative Kim Pearson who, along with Republicans Tom Shaw of Laurens and Glen Massie, has helped draft legislation to impeach the remaining four justices on the Iowa Supreme Court.And this money quote from Pearson:
"The definition of marriage is between one man and one woman. God is our ultimate lawgiver."* And how about this great news from across the pond: Christian therapist who claims she can help gay men go straight faces faces being stripped of her psych accreditation.
Lesley Pilkington, 60, will appear before a professional conduct panel and faces losing her accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy....Mrs Pilkington, a devout Christian who says she 'understands the issues' because her son is gay, has treated around ten patients using the controversial Sexual Orientation Change Efforts programme over the past decade.
In tapes of her sessions with Mr Strudwick he asks her if she views homosexuality as 'a mental illness, an addiction or an anti-religious phenomenon'.
She replies: 'It is all of that.'
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