Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 115
December 29, 2010
Mississippi State Rep. tried to kill civil rights ed law because it's 'Accusatory Of One Group'
Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, has filed a bill to repeal the law nearly every year since 2006. Moore, who lives in a suburb of Jackson, said he wants to know who will write the textbooks and craft the materials students will be taught."I want schools to be teaching my grandchildren to read, write a complete sentence and do math," Moore said. "I just want to make sure it's teaching the truth and facts and not being accusatory of one group of people or the other. I don't want it to be somebody's philosophical idea of what civil rights are."
In dismissing civil rights history as "somebody's philosophical idea" about "one group of people," Moore is articulating exactly why such curriculum is necessary. Indeed, Moore's derision of civil rights is not just relegated to history. In considering current policy, Moore refused to support including sexual orientation in the state's anti-discrimination laws and expressly rebuked any type of affirmative action. Future Mississippi policymakers may have a different perspective of discrimination if they understand its history from an early age.
Transgender woman arrested for being assaulted by a cop
On December 1st Chloe Moore, a transgender woman living in DC, pepper sprayed a man after he reportedly hurled transphobic slurs at her and pushed her. The man then chased Moore, threw her to the ground, pinned her down, and pulled out a badge identifying himself as Officer Raphael Radon of the DC Police Department
Since I've seen no mention of this anywhere on front page of the Blend, I thought it prudent to post as a diary myself. I received this information in my email, and was simply appalled by the information.
Jos Truitt of Feministing reported the story at: Feministing
The story continues:
Radon and his friends have their own version of the story, of course, but Moore's is backed up by an uninvolved witness. The Washington Blade discovered that the two police officers who responded to the scene determined Radon started the altercation and may have committed a bias-related assault. But supervisor Captain Michelle Williams overrode their recommendation and had Moore charged and arrested. Officer Radon has not been charged with anything.
Wait a minute. What was that last part again?
Officer Radon has not been charged with anything.
A police officer assaults a Transwoman in DC, she defends herself and attempts to get away and she's the one charged with a crime?
There's a petition at Change.org to let the DC police department know exactly how we feel about this sort behavior. You can find it here: Petition
Guest post by Rev. Patrick Cheng - The Truth Will Make Us Free: A Queer Year in Review
Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The author of Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology, he shares a year-end piece for discussion. --Pam
More below the fold.The Truth Will Make Us Free: A Queer Year in Review
By Rev. Patrick S. Cheng, Ph.D.
Follow on Twitter @patrickscheng
Anti-gay Christians love to quote John 8:32, which says that "the truth will make you free." According to them, if only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people would simply accept the truths of the Christian faith, we would discover the error of our ways, repent of our sins and miraculously change our misdirected sexual orientations and/or gender identities.
As an openly-gay theologian, ordained Christian minister and seminary professor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I agree that the truth will make us free. However, the anti-gay Christians have it backwards. As the groundbreaking events of 2010 have demonstrated, it is actually the truth of the fundamental goodness of LGBT people and our lives that will make us free. Ironically, this truth also will free anti-gay Christians of their own heterosexist prejudices and theological blind spots.
What were some of the truths about the goodness of LGBT people and our lives that were demonstrated in 2010? In August, the first fully-litigated U.S. federal court trial about same-sex marriage concluded that there was no rational basis for prohibiting LGBT people from entering into civil marriage. The trial court struck down California Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that stripped LGBT people in California of the right to marry. Judge Vaughn R. Walker's ruling demonstrated the truth that LGBT civil marriages are grounded in the same ethical values of love, mutual caring and commitment as non-LGBT civil marriages.
In September, after a rash of horrific suicides by young gay men across the United States, the openly-gay author and syndicated columnist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller started the "It Gets Better Project." This project has resulted in more than 5,000 Internet videos of LGBT people and our allies, speaking directly -- and giving hope -- to suffering LGBT young people around the world. Each video tells the truth about how even though many of us suffered at the hands of bullies and bigots while growing up, our lives ultimately have become better in the process of coming out and speaking the truth about our lives to the world.
In December, the U.S. Congress authorized -- and President Obama signed into law -- the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell statute that had prohibited openly lesbian and gay soldiers from serving in the U.S. military for the past 17 years. The repeal was based upon overwhelming evidence that allowing lesbians and gays to serve openly in the military would have no adverse consequences to national security. In fact, the evidence showed that encouraging truth telling by lesbian and gay soldiers would actually enhance the effectiveness of our armed forces. As most of us learned from an early age, telling the truth is a virtue and not a vice.Other year-ender items to click over to:There were a number of other encouraging examples in 2010 of speaking the truth about LGBT people. For example, in September a Florida state court struck down an anti-gay statute that expressly prohibited LGBT people from adopting children in that state. Shortly thereafter, the Florida Department of Children and Families declined to appeal the decision, thus conceding the truth of that ruling.
In December, the United Nations spoke the truth by voting to protect LGBT people around the world from extrajudicial killings and arbitrary executions, notwithstanding the strenuous objections of a number of member countries. Even Pope Benedict XVI, in a recent book-length interview with a German journalist, took a first step toward speaking the truth about LGBT people by saying that the intentional use of condoms by a male prostitute to prevent HIV/AIDS infection could be the "first step in the direction of moralization."
Interestingly, anti-gay Christians love to cite over and over again the half-dozen or so verses in the Bible that purportedly condemn same-sex acts as sinful. However, they ignore the nearly 200 verses in the Bible that emphasize the importance of truth-telling from a theological and ethical perspective, not to mention the explicit prohibition of bearing false witness against one's neighbors in the Ten Commandments.
These anti-gay Christians would do better to heed the stern biblical warnings against bearing false witness. Recently, the venerable Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) officially designated 13 anti-gay Christian groups -- including the American Family Association, the Family Research Council and the Traditional Values Coalition -- as "hate groups" for spreading "known falsehoods" against LGBT people. Another five groups -- including the Concerned Women for America, Liberty Counsel and the National Organization for Marriage -- were cited for their use of "demonizing propaganda" against sexual minorities on the SPLC's website.
Anti-gay Christians, including those who are affiliated with the above groups mentioned by the SPLC, would do well to read more closely the first chapter of letter of St. Paul to the Romans. In particular, they should read Romans 1 as applying to themselves. Often that chapter is used solely as "proof" of the sinfulness of LGBT people. What anti-gay Christians seem to forget, however, is the traditional doctrine of original sin, as articulated in Romans and interpreted by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo onwards, applies to all people -- including themselves!
What if the warning of Romans 1:18-21 against the "ungodliness" and "wickedness" of those who "suppress the truth" -- and those whose "senseless minds" are "darkened" -- actually referred to those anti-gay Christians who fail to acknowledge the truth and empirical evidence about the fundamental goodness and loving nature of LGBT people and our relationships?
What if the "lusts," "impurity" and "degrading" actions (including "exchanging the truth about God for a lie") as described in Romans 1:24-25 actually referred to the lust for political power, wealth and idolatrous self-worship as exhibited by many anti-gay Christians, some of whom scapegoat LGBT people as a convenient way of diverting attention from their own sexual sins?
What if the condemnation of the "shameless acts" committed with "one another" and the "debased mind" described by St. Paul in Romans 1:27-28 actually referred to the brutal gang rape (metaphorically speaking) of LGBT people by anti-gay Christian hate speech - hate speech that has resulted in numerous queer bashings and suicides by LGBT people, including innocent young people whose lives were tragically cut off before reaching their prime?
Although admirable progress was made during 2010 with respect to basic human rights for LGBT people, much more needs to be done. In particular, the rise of state-sanctioned anti-LGBT violence in other parts of the world, including the Middle East, Asia and Africa, is frightening. For example, the upcoming vote by the Uganda legislature on its "kill-the-gays" legislation is one example of this state-sanctioned violence that must be condemned by people of faith everywhere.
As LGBT people, we must remain ever vigilant and hopeful that the truth of the fundamental goodness, and holiness, of our lives and relationships will free us from the sinful bondage of homophobic and heterosexist oppression. However, LGBT people are not the only ones who will benefit from this truth. The truth will also free anti-gay Christians from their own heterosexist prejudices and theological blind spots -- shortcomings that would otherwise prevent them from entering fully into the reign of God.
* Truth Wins Out - Year in Review -- LGBT Top 10
* Michigan Messenger - Year in Review: LGBT issues figure prominently in 2010
* Ranker - Top 10 People Out of the Closet in 2010
White House video - Behind the Scenes: Signing Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal
At the signing of the bill to repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" last week, the sense of history and enthusiasm was palpable throughout the audience. While we were there we had a chance to talk to Captain Jonathan Hopkins, who was discharged under the policy, as well as Rep. Patrick Murphy who led the charge in the House of Representatives, and Melody Barnes who played an integral role here at the White House. The video gives a glimpse of what it was like there:Screenshots:
World Net Daily selling discredited book about gays and Nazis
crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
The website World Net Daily is known as "World Nut Daily" for good reason in many progressive circles, particularly in the lgbt blogging community.
A writer on the site, Les Kinsolving, has in the past referred to the lgbt community as the "sodomy lobby." In October of this year, he called a judge’s order to stop enforcement of the military’s ban on gay and lesbian troops in the military as a "disease ridden judicial decision."
In August of this year, the publication dropped conservative writer Ann Coulter as a keynote speaker from a conference it held because she earlier spoke at a conference held by a gay Republican group.
And in February of this year, another writer on World Net Daily, Molotov Mitchell, spoke out in favor of Uganda's "Kill The Gays" bill, even evoking Martin Luther King Jr's name in defense of it.
But apparently that's not the extent of World Net Daily's homophobia.
At its online superstore (yes World Net Daily has a "superstore"), interested individuals can buy a discounted copy of The Pink Swastika. According to the description on the page:
The Pink Swastika is a thoroughly researched, eminently readable, demolition of the "gay" myth, symbolized by the pink triangle, that the Nazis were anti-homosexual.
In other words, The Pink Swastika supposedly gives proof that the gay community was behind the Nazi Party in Germany during World War II.
Not exactly.
The Pink Swastika is actually a discredited book written by Scott Lively and Ken Abrams. Lively has a long history of maligning the gay community. He is probably most famous as one of the prime instigators of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill. According to Box Turtle Bulletin:
In March 2009, Lively was one of three American anti-gay activists to deliver what he called his “Nuclear Bomb against the gay agenda” at a conference in Kampala, Uganda which ultimately led to the introduction of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda’s Parliament. That bill calls for the death penalty against LGBT people under certain circumstances, and virtually criminalizes knowing or providing services to gay people. Lively has called that bill “a step in the right direction” and “the lesser of two evils,” although he claims to oppose the death penalty and has falsely claimed on multiple occasions that the death penalty has been removed from the bill.
And let's not forget the fact that his organization, Abiding Truth Ministries, has been declared an official anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
However in the case of The Pink Swastika, Lively clearly outdoes himself. It was written in 1995 (although World Net Daily seems to be selling an "updated version") and since that time, it has been routinely criticized. According to SPLC:
The Pink Swastika has been roundly discredited by legitimate historians and other scholars. Christine Mueller, professor of history at Reed College, did a line-by-line refutation of an earlier (1994) Abrams article on the topic and of the broader claim that the Nazi Party was “entirely controlled” by gay men. Historian Jon David Wynecken at Grove City College also refuted the book, pointing out that Lively and Abrams did no primary research of their own, instead using out-of-context citations of some legitimate sources while ignoring information from those same sources that ran counter to their thesis.
Now in all fairness, Amazon.com also sells The Pink Swastika from its site. However, the difference is that Amazon.com allows its patrons to post reviews of books. And in the case of The Pink Swastika, several patrons have condemned it for its errors and homophobia.
World Net Daily doesn't give its patrons the same courtesy.
What's more significant is the fact that World Net Daily claims to be a site devoted to truth, even hosting a "Taking Back America" conference featuring many famous speakers, including Congressional leaders.
One has to wonder just who is the site trying to "take back America" from.
Hat tip to Kyle Mantyla of People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch.
Defense of the day: man shoots wife in the head, says it was mistake during fantasy sex play
This is a novel, preposterous alt.sex defense #fail. Maybe I'm missing something here, but who would want to engage in sex play with a gun to the head? Especially with a dolt who doesn't bother to check to see whether it's loaded? (CNN):Arthur Sedille was up-front with police: He would often put a gun to his wife's head during fantasy sex play at their Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, home.But Sedille said he didn't know the gun was loaded when he pressed it to his wife's head and pulled the handgun's slide back during sex on the night of December 21.
Now Sedille, 23, is facing the possibility of a murder charge in Canadian County, Oklahoma, in the death of his wife, 50-year-old Rebecca Sedille -- who died when the handgun went off in their bedroom.
December 28, 2010
Unable To Hire Cabinet Due to Pay Limits, ME Gov-Elect LePage Hires Daughter. REALLY.
During the election season, we up here in Maine heard a LOT about how much taxpayer dollars were being wasted on state employees. How we needed a CHANGE; a fresh approach!
Then immediately after winning with a resounding mandate of 38.1% of the vote, Paul LePage declared that he was going to hire the best and the brightest, as well as swore there would be transparency in everything he did.
[image error] Did anyone ELSE think this was a load of buffalo gigolo bullshite?
Well, we were RIGHT.
The "snow" first started to fly a few weeks ago when the Gubinator decided to hire Teabagger Extraordinaire Maine Refounder/ Paint Maine Red leader Pete "The Carpenter" Harring as part of his transition team. Ole "Pete the Red" is infamous for this quote:
"Liberals are like slinkys and that's because they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs."
Yeah. That really helps set a bi-partisan and professional gubernatorial tone, eh?
Then earlier this month, LePage made headlines, crying over how he wasn't able to hire "the best and brightest" after all- because of the mean ole State of Maine rules that limit pay to Cabinet members! WAAAAAH!
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AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov.-elect Paul LePage says he hopes to have his Cabinet named by the end of the year, but in an interview he acknowledged that state laws limiting how much he can pay those department heads have cost him some of his first choices.
"You try to get as much money as you possibly can for them, and if that is not enough, you have to go to No. 2, 3 and down the list," he said. "I will emphatically say it is adversely affecting our ability to get the best people," LePage said.LePage said it is not only the private sector that is paying more than Maine state government, it is other state governments as well as he has searched nationwide to fill Cabinet positions.
"Not everyone can afford to take a 70 percent cut in pay to serve their state," LePage said. He said he is taking a 70 percent cut from his salary as CEO at Marden's. The governor's salary is set in state law at $70,000.
But... but... we pay our state employees TOO MUCH, Paulie!
So, finding himself with absolutely no one else who could possibly be better qualified to work in the Statehouse, Paul LePage decided to hire someone with no political background- or work background, for that matter. His 22 year old daughter Lauren.
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Dear Ole Dad Demonstrates for Lauren and media his best air guitar rendition of "Money Changes Everything".
AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov.-elect Paul LePage has appointed his daughter, Lauren, to a staff position within the upper echelon of his administration, members of the LePage transition team said Wednesday.Lauren LePage, 22, will serve as assistant to the governor's chief of staff, John McGough - a position that administration officials describe as entry-level and is commensurate with her experience, work history and education.
LePage, a recent college graduate, will be a salaried political appointee earning approximately $41,000 a year, according to Dan Demeritt, incoming director of communications in the LePage administration.
Maine governors have wide discretion in creating staff positions within their offices, filling those positions and setting salaries. Because such appointments are political positions - known as "special assistants to the governor" - there are no rules barring Maine's chief executive from hiring family members.
In a communication with the LePage team, Joyce Oreskovitch, acting director of human resources for the state, affirmed that Maine's rules on prohibiting nepotism do not apply in such staffing decisions.
On Wednesday, Lauren LePage said that although she did not study politics in college, she enjoyed her work on the gubernatorial campaign and saw this as a unique opportunity.
Much more below the fold.
Demeritt penned the following "Maine Opinion" published in spoiler Eliot Cutler's bff Richard Connor's rag, the previously revered Portland Press Herald. Some snips:
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Maine Voices: Lauren LePage perfect choice to serve in a LePage administration
The governor-elect is wise to fill a key assistant position with someone he knows he can trust.
AUGUSTA - Just before Christmas, Gov.-elect Paul LePage announced his decision to add his daughter Lauren to his staff. Many have been fixated on what Lauren LePage gets by joining the incoming governor's staff. Please take just a second and think about why this is a smart and honest move for Paul LePage.
Paul LePage is about to become the chief executive officer of the state of Maine. He is promising to bring dramatic change to the way Maine works, and the political establishment in Augusta is beating the war drum.
The state employees union is telling its members they are in for the fight of their lives, and word on the street is that the Maine People's Alliance is already circulating a petition to remove Paul LePage from office.
Going into what is certain to be an intense battle for Maine's future, Paul LePage is seeking the counsel and assistance of people who are loyal to him and his agenda. Who better to watch out for his interests than his daughter in a key assistant position?... Lauren has been training for key elements of this job since birth.
My former Colby College professor, Sandy Maisel, said the hiring decision nearly took his breath away.
Find a chair, professor, because Paul LePage is going to make decisions that he thinks are right for Maine without giving a second thought to the political considerations.
Anyone else think the Maine forest is gonna be decimated with the flood of FOIA filings??
And for the record, the LePage paranoia regarding a recall is unwarranted. But I gotta admit, the idea is an interesting one!
Here was the Maine Democratic Party's press release reaction:
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LePage Friends and Family PlanPromise to hire 'best and brightest' only applies to family and friends
AUGUSTA- Yesterday, members of Governor-elect Paul LePage's staff confirmed that LePage had hired his daughter, Lauren LePage, to a high-paid position within the upper levels of his administration.
Ms. LePage, 22, is a recent college graduate with a few months of political experience on her father's campaign and will be earning approximately $41,000 per year. This figure is well above the current average for entry level jobs. According to the current administration, the average entry level salary is $30,000.
"While I'm sure Ms. LePage is a bright young woman, this brazen display of political nepotism is disturbing," said Mary Erin Casale, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party."Gov.-elect LePage made a promise to hire the 'best and the brightest', but it would seem that only his friends and family need apply. Who else was considered for this position? How was it advertised? Why is an entry level position being paid $41,000 per year? These are questions that Mainers deserve answered."
LePage campaigned on fiscal responsibility and complained about a 'bloated' government, yet just last week stated it was difficult to attract qualified candidates for commissioner positions due to low salaries. LePage also chose two close friends for commissioner positions - John Morris for Commissioner of Public Safety and Bill Beardsley to head the Department of Conservation.
"LePage hasn't even been sworn in and he's already going back on his campaign promises of attracting the best and the brightest. His staff and cabinets choices are his decision, but this 'friends and family plan' just displays the worst kind of business as usual," said Casale.
From DownEast, the following reactions from Ben Grant of the Maine College Democrats:
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"Giving your daughter a job running the cash register at Marden's is fine when you answer to no one except yourself, but the people of Maine expect more out of their state employees, and much better judgment from their Governor," said MCD President Ben Goodman.
Other Mainers are furious as well as this disgusting act of placing family over an entire state, and a slew of anti-LePage websites and Facebook groups are rapidly popping up, thicker than mosquitoes, with some even having countdown clocks until he is out of office and a selection of bumper stickers.
A sampling:
Happy 2011, Paulie- and welcome to the Big Leagues. We don't hold back- and we pitch them fast, hard and FURIOUS.
WND on DADT: Officer asks to be relieved of command over repeal
"I did not give up my constitutional rights and freedom of religion when I joined the military. I don't believe in subjecting myself to all of the behavior modification and sensitivity training. They're going to try to push the position that this is an acceptable lifestyle."-- an unnamed Army lieutenant colonel, who, according to WND, has "asked to be relieved of command rather than order his troops to go through pro-homosexual indoctrination."
Alvin posted earlier about the "butt sex" obsession of the documented hate organization American Family Association when it comes to DADT repeal. You can add WorldNetDaily to that list, under the headline "The gaying of America."
Currently the commander of a battalion-sized unit in the Army National Guard, the officer also has threatened to resign his commission rather than undergo "behavior modification" training intended to counter his religious convictions about homosexuality.The soldier sent the following letter to his commanding officer:
Subject: Request for Relief from Command due to Personal Moral Conflict with New Homosexual Policy1. I respectfully request to be relieved of Command of XXX Squadron, XXX Cavalry prior to new policy implementation subsequent to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." My personal religious beliefs and moral convictions do not permit me to treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, compatible with military service, any more than adultery, illicit drug use, or criminal activity. I believe this lifestyle runs counter to good order and discipline in military units, and I refuse to sacrifice my belief system, protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in order to fall in line with the command policy that will logically follow. This new policy will undoubtedly include mandatory sensitivity training as well as same-sex partner inclusion in Family Readiness Group activities and integration into the full spectrum of other military benefits, as well as a whole new category of discrimination standards and investigative procedures. I will not, as a commander, put my signature on a training schedule or other document recognizing or legitimizing any of these things that contradict my personal beliefs.2. I would like to remain in the XXX Army National Guard until I am eligible for retirement (at 20 years and 0 days), which would be in the late summer of 2012, but on grounds of my religious beliefs, I will not attend sensitivity or behavior modification training consequential to this policy change, even if it means disciplinary action. I regret that I cannot continue to serve in the military further, but feel that my efforts would be insincere because my heart will no longer be in it."
AFA: Repeal of DADT will cause an epidemic of 'butt-sex'
crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
Sometimes, it doesn't take much to demonstrate just how nasty and hateful some members of the religious right choose to be.
All you have to do is just give them free reign to talk.
Take for example the recent overturning of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The American Family Association's phony news service, One News Now published the following piece:
Fighting back against sodomized military
A national defense analyst and Pentagon advisor says the new Congress can take a number of actions to blunt the impact of the new law that allows homosexuals to openly display their lifestyle in the U.S. military.
Many pro-military pundits said they were sickened and angered last week when President Barack Obama ended 235 years of wholesome tradition by signing the bill that will effectively sodomize the U.S. military. One of those specialists is Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.), who was part of the military working group that helped craft the 1993 homosexual service ban that the lame-duck Congress and President Obama have now overturned.
"You have a very corrupt regime running the country," he laments. But he expects there to be a backlash when the 112th Congress replaces the lame-duck body that was repudiated by the American people last month.
Where does one start with this one?
Sodomized military? So according to the AFA, the overturning of Don't Ask, Don't Tell means that automatically the American Armed Forces is facing an "epidemic" of butt-sex?
Also, while the article claims that many "pro-military pundits" (which is a bizarre description. Just who are these "pro-military pundits" and does that mean there are "anti-military pundits") who oppose the overturning of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it only quotes one person, Maginnis. And while Maginnis may be a former military person, he isn't exactly a legitimate source of information.
He just happens to be with the Family Research Council (another religious right group) as the "Senior Fellow for National Security." Before being quoted by this article, he said in another article that "America is no better than Sodom and Gomorrah" for allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.
It's important to remember that the Southern Poverty Law Center has declared both the AFA and FRC as anti-gay hate groups due to their need to demonize and dehumanize the lgbt community. Granted both organizations claim they are being unfairly victimized for "upholding" Christian values.
And they may have a point . . . only if causing a panic about anal sex is a "Christian value."
December 27, 2010
NC: County Commissioner Bill James in email to colleagues - gays are 'sexual predators'
Matt Comer of QNotes reports that James's latest missive was sent to his colleagues after LGBT-ally County Commissioner Chair Jennifer Roberts requested that the commission send a letter of thanks to U.S. Reps. Larry Kissell (D) and Mel Watt (D) and U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R) and Kay Hagan (D) for their votes to repeal DADT.
It should be noted that James has some harsh criticism for Burr, the conservative Republican who surprised almost everyone by voting for repeal. James in the email:"Homosexuals are sexual predators," James wrote in one email from string of three between county board members, Roberts and County Manager Harry Jones, and provided by James to qnotes. "Allowing homosexuals to serve in the US military with the endorsement of the Mecklenburg County Commission ignores a host of serious problems related to maintaining US military readiness and effectiveness not the least of which is the current Democrat plan to allow homosexuals (male and female) to share showers with those they are attracted to."
James added, "The US Government would not allow Hetero men and women to share showers and other personal facilities yet the leading homosexual in Congress (Barney Frank) thinks it is OK for homosexuals to do so allowing enlisted men and women to fall prey to higher ranking or more powerful homosexuals who ogle them (or worse)."
"I suspect Richard Burr will pay a high electoral price for his actions but whether it boots him from office next time is unknown. I know I won't be supporting him even if he does have an R after his name."As far as NC is concerned, since the midterms has resulted in the first GOP-dominated state legislature since Reconstruction, James is hot to let the incoming Republicans he wants a social agenda pushed that includes a ban on adoptions by gay couples, prohibition on domestic partner benefits and raising from the dead again a marriage amendment.
We go way back with homobigot James, who is in a conservative district where he often ran unopposed. His long outrageous e-diatribes of homophobia are hard to top.
Below the fold, some classic Bill James for your entertainment.
Matt Comer brought up this racist, homophobic embarrassment that was caught on camera.
During debate last December on domestic partner benefits for county employees, James leaned over to his Democratic colleague, Vilma Leake, and called her son a "homo." Leake's son died from AIDS in the 1990s.When Leake heard that, she replied: "Don't make me hurt you. Don't do that to me. Don't talk to me about my son."
He refused to apologize, saying "It is akin to someone whose son is an alcoholic and died from the disease, using his death from drinking as justification to have the taxpayers pay for more booze."
But wait, there's more. The following reveals a lot about what passes through the mind of Bill James. Again, this was sent to his fellow commissioners as an official communication.
From: Commissioner Bill JamesBTW, he loves answering emails about his views if you want to drop him a line:
To: =emails deleted=
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 8:56 AM
Subject: Perversity is not diversity
You really think that a pool of people (homosexuals) where 45% of them eat feces from the rear end of another male is "normal"? If you do, you are frankly nuts.A lifestyle where one of their past times is buying gerbils and hamsters from the pet store and cramming them up their rears in an activity called feltching? A group of people who like to urinate on their partners and call them "golden showers"? Where one of the honored members of the Gay Alliance is an organization called the "Man-Boy Love Association" that promotes sex with underage boys?
That behavior is worthy of protection? That behavior is worthy to be taught in our schools? to our children? You are one sick "Independent, white, married-heterosexual, presbyterian" if you do.
The stat's below are unimpeachable. I intend on talking about each and every one of these "behaviors" if this sorted subject comes up. I am lining up speakers including Doctors and Nurses to talk about these in gruesome detail. And these are the behaviors that Parks Helms wants to "insure"?
Attached is a wav file with a Charlotte news account of one of those "feltching" accounts gone wrong. I will play it from the BOCC dais if this comes up.
Contact Commissioner James:
Wjames@carolina.rr.com
The Best of Bill James:
* NC: Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James refuses to apologize for his 'homo' comments
* CharMeck homo-bigot will not STFU
* CharMeck County Board meets tonight; wingnuts are coming out
* NC's precious homobigot Bill James rises again
* I wasn't kidding when I said the NC wingnuts are sick
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