Pam Spaulding's Blog, page 70

Guest Post by Eva Kraus: Somebody's really had it with State sanctioned bigotry and hypocrisy!

Crossposted from the Facebook note Somebody's really had it with State sanctioned bigotry and hypocrisy!

By Eva Kraus

I've been kinda getting bent over lately. You know the feeling...BOHICA (Bend over...here it comes again!). Grabbing my ankles is getting old. Why the f**k to we have to put up with the Religious Reich getting to hide behind the First Amendment of Free Speech? Do you think that the sh*t coming out of the "religious" is really what the founding fathers intended? Do you think that the "religious" should get a free pass on hate speech? Do you think that they should be held accountable for their hypocrisy?

You know, I admire the Amish. I wouldn't want to be one. I wouldn't want to live that life, but hell, they live the whole deal....from A to Z. I admire that commitment. They do their thing and don't want anything from anyone, just to be left alone to do their thing.

Guess what? So do I!! But NOOOOOOO! These religious f**ks come along and want to tell everyone how to live. My way or the highway. If you don't live my way, I am gonna make sure you can't get a job, have a home or use a toilet. I am gonna call you a guy in a dress, a pedophile, a freak. I am gonna harass you where ever you go because the government says you can't stop me.

I am "the religious" and I am gonna stand at my pulpit and tell you that I love the sinner, but hate the sin. Seriously? You are gonna tell me that you love me but hate what I do. It is not what I do! It is what I AM!! Still love me? You are gonna preach the crap you do, that I am an abomination and not be held responsible for inciting violence when I am attacked? You are not responsible for the blood on your hands from those you incite? Why do we punish others for inciting violence then? What is different from what you do from what they do?

[More below the fold.]
Oh, I get it. You get to claim the "high moral ground" of religion. You get to tell me who I am. You get to tell me how to live. You get to devalue my humanity. And yes, you get to revel in your hypocrisy. You get to divorce at an over 50% rate. You get to lie, cheat and steal. You get to gamble and become alcoholics. You get to beat your spouses. You get to get caught committing heinous acts with young children You get to make porn a $13 billion industry in the US. You get to claim traditional family values. You get to sit in judgment? of me??? What a joke!

Whatever religion you are or whether you believe or not, the Bible has two basic themes....judge not lest you be judged and love thy neighbor as thyself. Rabbi Hillel said (and I paraphrase), the rest is filler.

You, who sit in judgment, are unqualified to judge. You take on an authority you are not given.

Now, I am a person of deep seated faith. Many of you reading this are not. That is cool. I believe that faith provides hope when there is none. The mere act of faith, in believing in the unproven can provide relief in a world that is full of almost unbearable challenges. While faith doesn't make the tasks at hand easier, it can make the mental burdens easier. In that sense, it is good. I also try to practice those two rules I mentioned earlier.

I am also blessed to come from a welcoming religion that supports TLGBI people. As a Reform Jew, we have at least two transmen as rabbis. That is really cool. Religion should welcome all who seek hope...it should welcome all who seek to ease their mental burdens as we navigate a difficult life. It should provide for fellowship, not only with a loving G-d, but with the camaraderie of our fellow man. It should serve to make our lives easier, not break us as this institution of man often does.

Interestingly, my most beautiful partner is an evangelical Christian. Man, I can't deal with her tribe. I just gave you hundreds of words as to why. Yet, two years ago I met this most beautiful soul in the world. How can that be? I was blessed enough to meet a Christian girl who lives by those two simple rules. She doesn't judge. She gives her money and things to people on the street. She loves all. She, like the Amish, really lives her values. She just sees me. We celebrate, not only our similarities, but our differences. She makes me a better person. She is my missing puzzle piece.

I don't always live by those two sacred rules. I admit that I judge. I judge those who hate. I judge those who dehumanize. I judge those exclude. I eat shrimp. I wear clothing of mixed fibers. If I was a farmer, I probably wouldn't rotate my crops properly. Sorry girls, I am not a virgin. All of these are offenses that carry the death penalty. Oh yes, I am a trans lesbian. Hell, I'd make a good Christian.

Bring lots of stones. Bring lots of stones for yourselves, too. You hypocrites.

And to some of you attacking my partner and me, a pox on your house, too! WTF? You've already condemned me.

Eva Kraus is a businesswoman and emerging trans voice. Her Facebook page is here.

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WA: Anti-gay state senator Dan Swecker approves pro-gay bill

One of Washington state's most ardent anti-gay legislators quietly gave his nod of approval on Tuesday to the out-of-state marriage recognition bill (HB 1649).  While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Washingtonians and their supporters were celebrating Equality Day 2011 on the steps of the state Capitol, Senator Dan Swecker (R-Rochester) voted with the Democratic majority of the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee to send HB 1649 to the Senate floor for a vote.

HB 1649 is a simple reciprocity bill that would "recognize as a valid domestic partnership in Washington state a legal union of two persons, including a marriage, that was validly formed in another jurisdiction and that is substantially equivalent to a Washington state-registered domestic partnership."

This legislation is needed to prevent the tragedies that befell Janice Langbehn and William Schulte when they faced emergencies while in jurisdictions that did not recognize their family relationships.

Interestingly, in the discussion before the vote Sen. Swecker repeated the reasoning that bill sponsor Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) used to counter the defamatory insinuation that gays are incestuous that Sen. Pam Roach (R-Auburn) made during last week's public hearing of the bill.  Sen. Roach was not present for Tuesday's vote, though she sits on that committee.  The following is my partial transcript from a TVW video of the committee meeting.

SWECKER: In some states you can't marry your first cousin, but if somebody married their first cousin and then moves to a state that - I don't know whether Washington is a state where you can't marry your first cousin or not, but we would recognize it as a marriage.  Is that true?

STAFF:  I believe it's true.  Washington law will not allow you to marry anyone closer than a second cousin.

SWECKER:  But nevertheless if someone did marry a first cousin in another state and moved here, that marriage would be considered a valid marriage.

STAFF:  I believe that is accurate.

A request for a statement from Sen. Swecker on the reasoning behind his vote was not immediately available.  However, two explanations seem plausible.
First, anti-gay forces have frequently voiced their fears that pro-equality advocates will again challenge Washington state's so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), this time successfully.  A basis for such a lawsuit could perhaps be the unequal application of state law to married out-of-state same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples visiting Washington state.

WA anti-gay orgs have dropped mention of HB 1649.







Another likely explanation is that Washington state's anti-gay forces know that they are unlikely to prevent passage of HB 1649 or of other LGBT-friendly bills this year.  So they're cutting their losses and focusing their opposition on a bill they hope they look less mean-spirited in opposing while throwing red meat to their anti-choice, anti-gay supporters, the bill updating the Uniform Parentage Act of 2002 (HB 1267) known commonly as "the surrogacy bill".

Whether they're successful in image control is debatable, what with stating that passage of the surrogate bill is tantamount to "allowing women to be bought and sold on the open market akin to livestock", calling gay families unnatural and implying that gays will perpetrate forced pregnancy, human trafficking and slavery.  But it does appear that the local anti-gay organizations are toeing the same line as Sen. Swecker.  All mention of the out-of-state marriage recognition bill (HB 1649) has been dropped and only the surrogacy bill (HB 1267) is mentioned in the latest messages from Family Policy Institute of Washington, Washington Eagle Forum and Faith and Freedom Network.

What remains to be seen is how much constituent support they can get to oppose the surrogacy bill, which already passed comfortably in the House.  Probably not much.  Judging by the number of women who called in to a recent show on KUOW to discuss the bill, a lot of heterosexual women favor the legalization of compensated surrogacy because of their own experiences or the experiences of family members.

Related:

* Visiting Washington state while married: a tragedy waiting to happen

* Why the Washington state Senate must pass the out-of-state marriage recognition bill

* Is Russell Johnson's ignorance credible, or was it manufactured to hide somthing unsavory?

* Gays are incestuous and the Catholic Church is a women's rights group

* Senator Dan Swecker: Gays want to enslave your womb and sell people!

Maryland's gender anti-discrimination bill passes House committee vote

Maryland's gender anti-discrimination bill HB 235 was successfully voted out of the House Health & Government Operations Committee by a vote of 15-8.  Next stop, debate on the floor of the House of Delegates.  The bill must be approved by the House by midnight on Monday, March 28th to remain eligible for Senate consideration and final approval.

In a press release from Equality Maryland:

MARYLAND TAKES A STEP TOWARD FAIRNESS WITH HOUSE COMMITTEE'S PASSAGE OF BILL TO PREVENT EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING DISCRIMINATION

Equality Maryland vows to keep the fight to ensure that all Marylanders are treated with dignity and respect

Annapolis, Maryland, March 24, 2011 - Today the House Health & Government Operations Committee in Annapolis voted 15-8 in favor of sending House Bill 235 - the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act - to the house floor for consideration by the full House of Delegates.

House Bill 235 would add gender identity to the state's anti-discrimination laws in the area of employment, housing, and credit.  The subcommittee approved a few non-substantive amendments which the lead sponsor, Equality Maryland, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force all found them to be relatively inconsequential. They committee also modified the definition of gender identity within the bill. This definition will provide protection both for a person's gender identity, as well as the way in which they express their gender in terms of presentation.  Equality Maryland worked with the subcommittee and committee to ensure that both areas would be covered under the bill's definition.

Lead Sponsor, Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk: "Every Marylander should expect to work or live in comfortable housing without fear of losing either because of who they are.  HB 235 provides the protection necessary to make sure that every Marylander can live without fear of discrimination."

Lead Sponsor, Del. Ariana Kelly: "Transgender Marylanders face profound and often crippling discrimination in housing and employment. This bill [HB 235] is an important step towards mitigating this unjust discrimination. It will improve people's lives, and it is clearly the right thing to do.

Equality Maryland, Executive Director, Morgan Meneses-Sheets: "All hardworking people in our state, including transgender people, should have a chance to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families.  Nobody should have to live in fear that they can be legally fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance.

Discrimination happens a lot in Maryland.  Data shows that 1 in 5 transgender people in Maryland have lost a job because they are transgender, and 12% have become homeless. This law is a matter of life-or-death for some Marylanders."

Equality Maryland's action email is below the fold.

Update: Reaction from The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force is below.  Others added as they come in.

Update 2: Here is how members of the House Health & Government Operations Committee voted on HB 235:

Yes:

   * Peter Hammen (D-46 )

   * Shane Pendergrass (D- 13)

   * Eric M Bromwell (D-8)

   * Bonnie Cullison (D-19)

   * Robert Costa (D- 33B)

   * James Hubbard (D-23A)

   * Ariana Kelly (D- 16)

   * Dan Morhaim (D - 11)

   * Peter Murphy (D-28)

   * Shirley Nathan-Pulliam (D-10)

   * Nathaniel Oaks (D- 41)

   * Joseline Pena-Melynk (D-21)

   * Kirill Reznik (D-39)

   * Shawn Tarrant (D-40)

   * Veronica Turner (D-26)

No:

   * John Donoghue (D- 2C)

   * Donald Elliott (D-4B)

   * William Frank (D-42)

   * A. Wade Kach (D-5B)

   * Nic Kipke (D- 31)

   * Susan Krebs (D-9B)

   * Patrick McDonough (D-7)

   * Justin Ready (D-5A)

Earlier today, the Health & Government Operations Committee (HGO) passed House Bill 235, the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act by a vote of 15 to 8. The bill will now move to the House floor. This is an exciting victory for the transgender community and for all citizens who value fairness.  

We need your help to keep this bill moving and we don't have much time.  The deadline to pass bills out of the House is Monday, March 28th. Will you contact your Delegate today?

CLICK HERE to contact your delegates and urge them to support HB 235!

With today's action, the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act is poised for success in the House and a swift move to the Senate floor.  The passage of this legislation is critical for transgender Marylanders who need the state to take a first step in adding these vital protections to housing and employment this year.  

Lurleen, I want to reassure you that Equality Maryland is committed to ending discrimination against the transgender community, and to continuing the fight for other critical needs such as protections in public accommodations.

Will you stand with us in fighting for equal treatment of transgender Marylanders?

CLICK HERE to contact your Delegates now and urge them to vote 'yes' on HB 235.

Whether you're gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender queer or an ally, your voice is essential to our fight for equality. This legislative session has reminded us that our fight for equality isn't always easy, but we have an opportunity right now to make progress. For Maryland to truly be considered the Free State, we must end discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression.  Will you contact your delegates today?

Join with me, Lurleen, in working to end discrimination against transgender Marylanders.

Yours in Equality,

Morgan Meneses-Sheets

Executive Director

PS - We have less than a month left in the 2011 legislative session. To truly make an impact, it's important that more and more Marylanders who believe in LGBT equality to speak out. Will you forward this message onto 5 of your friends?

Response from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Inga Sarda-Sorensen

Director of Communications

(Office) 646.358.1463

(Cell) 202.641.5592

isorensen@theTaskForce.org

Maryland House committee passes Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act

WASHINGTON, March 25 - The Maryland House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee today passed the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Act (HB 235), which would prohibit discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and credit. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has been working in partnership with Equality Maryland to pass the bill, which now moves to the full House for a vote.

Lisa Mottet, director of the Task Force's Transgender Civil Rights Project, testified in favor of the bill during a March 9 committee hearing. She shared data from the recently released groundbreaking report Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force with the National Center for Transgender Equality. This nationwide study included more than 6,400 people in the U.S.

The study found that Maryland transgender and gender non-conforming people were being fired, harassed, passed over for promotion and not hired simply for being who they were. This was not a small problem: 71 percent said they experienced harassment or mistreatment on the job and 18 percent reported losing their job just because of who they are. Likely due to this discrimination, transgender Marylanders experienced poverty (having a household income under $10,000 per year) at nearly three times the national average; 12 percent of transgender Marylanders reported experiencing homelessness; 17 percent said they were denied a home/apartment due to being transgender, and 22 percent reported having to find temporary spaces to stay in an attempt to avoid homelessness.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force



"The startling statistics and heart-wrenching personal stories found in our national survey on transgender discrimination show that this law will literally save lives. Income from employment is critical to paying for shelter, food, health care - basic necessities that many people simply take for granted. No one should fear being jobless, homeless and going hungry because of bias and discrimination. Maryland should provide these basic tenets of equal opportunity to transgender Marylanders, as it already does to many others. We thank the Maryland House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee for passing this important legislation, and urge the full House and Senate to quickly follow suit."

More about the Task Force's work in Maryland

The Task Force has been partnering with Equality Maryland by contributing financial support to underwrite the salaries of a field director and a field organizer; committing organizers to work on the ground in Maryland throughout the legislative session; and providing training and technical assistance to Equality Maryland's field team.

To learn more about the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, visit www.theTaskForce.org

and follow us on Twitter: @TheTaskForce.

NOM called out for misleading on DOMA

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

The good folks at Stop8.org breaks down the lies of the National Organization for Marriage:

NOM may have gobs of money, but we have truth on our side. The problem is that we need to push this truth more. Point blank - we need more videos like this and we need these videos to be seen by as many people as possible.

AFA's Bryan Fischer: Muslims Have No First Amendment Rights

The wheels have completely come off of the "family values" bigotmobile. The Constitution in the hands of the Religious Right is a pretty flimsy document that only applies to their view of "rights" as convenience suits them.

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the social conservative group the American Family Association, says that when it comes to Islam, the First Amendment is a privilege, not a right. "Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam," Fischer wrote today.

"The First Amendment was written by the Founders to protect the free exercise of Christianity. They were making no effort to give special protections to Islam. Quite the contrary," Fischer wrote on his Renew America blog.

Honestly,the Muslims aren't the only group that better watch put for these these Christofascists, they don't even agree on which form or denomination of Christianity is the "right" one. The arrogance, ignorance and inconsistencies are mind-boggling.

Vote for PHB creep of the night - Haley Barbour or FL Gov. Rick Scott

Both of these guys had made the news today that suggests they have no moral center and love pandering.

Case #1: Haley Barbour lobbied for undocumented immigrants on behalf of Mexican government.

Barbour's lobbying work revolved around easing immigration restrictions and creating path to legal residency for undocumented immigrants.

That position was once considered mainstream in the GOP, but today's conservatives think you're a communist if you even dare suggest that we might need immigration reform, so it's no wonder that Barbour tried to paper over his work for the Mexican government. He'd probably rather be accused of lying than admit what the records show he did.

Case #2: Florida Gov. Rick Scott orders study of abolishing public hospitals . This is the equivalent of telling the uninsured to drop dead. Do you think Scott's former position influences this decision at all?

Gov. Rick Scott, a former executive of corporate hospitals, on Wednesday ordered a yearlong study of whether Florida could do away with government-owned hospitals such as the nine in Broward County and financially ailing Jackson Memorial in Miami.

...Private hospitals have fought unsuccessfully for years to get a bigger piece of all the tax dollars. Scott was among them when he was chief executive of the HCA Inc. national hospital chain, which still has a major presence in Florida. Scott left HCA just before the chain paid $2 billion in fines for overbilling Medicare.

Vote in the poll.

TLC: Legislation Streamlining Process For Transgender Californians For Updated Birth Certificates

From the Transgender Law Center's press release from March 23, 2011:

Legislation Streamlining Process for Transgender Californians to Obtain an Updated Birth Certificates Advances

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2011

Media Contacts:

Masen Davis, Executive Director, Transgender Law Center

Cell: 323-309-0459, masen@transgenderlawcenter.org

Kristina Wertz, Legal Director, Transgender Law Center

Office: 415-865-0176 x 302, kristina@transgenderlawcenter.org

Sacramento - Yesterday, a bill that would alleviate the confusion, anxiety and even danger that transgender people face when they have identity documents that do not reflect who they are, passed the Assembly Judiciary committee in a 7-5 vote.  Authored by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), sponsored by Equality California and co-sponsored by the Transgender Law Center, the Vital Statistics Modernization Act (AB 433), would streamline current law and clarify that eligible petitioners living or born in California can submit a gender change petition in any jurisdiction in the State of California.

The bill would also allow people who were born in or who live in California to use a simplified process that requires medical certification from an attending physician that the individual has undergone "clinically appropriate treatment" to obtain a new birth certificate to reflect their gender.

"The process for transgender individuals to get a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender is confusing and complicated," said Geoff Kors, Equality California Executive Director. "AB 433 would streamline the existing process for petitioning for a court order recognizing a change of gender and obtaining an updated birth certificate.  The legislation would also guarantee that these determinations will be made by licensed physicians, not the government and would bring state law in line with federal standards while also alleviating confusion and misinterpretation."

This change aligns California's standards to the standards set by the United States Department of State for gender changes on passports.

"Transgender people, like all of us deserve to live with dignity and respect. For transgender people, something as simple as government recognition of their authentic gender identity goes a long way," said Kristina Wertz, Legal Director for the Transgender Law Center in her testimony before the committee.  "AB 433 is a cost neutral way to ensure that happens."

California has allowed gender changes on birth certificates for the last 34 years. All but a handful of states allow for gender changes on birth certificates, and the US Department of State allows it for passports and people born on US territory abroad.  

"There is no reason to make a federal case out of this," said Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, author of AB 433. "There is a simple legislative fix, and that's what I'm working on now." She expressed sympathy for the men and women in New York who have had to resort to a lawsuit to obtain appropriate birth certificates. "I think we can do better for people here."

Current California law allows transgender people born in or currently residing in California to submit a petition for a court order recognizing a change of gender and the issuance of a new birth certificate.  The current statute states that a gender change petition to be submitted in the jurisdiction of a person's place of residence, despite the fact that case law has clarified that gender change petitions can also be submitted in the jurisdiction where a person was born.  Additionally, current law conflicts with the medical standard applied by the US Passport Agency and current medical understanding of what is required for gender transition.

###

The Transgender Law Center is a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. The Transgender Law Center uses direct legal services, education, community organizing, and advocacy to transform California into a state that recognizes and supports the needs of  transgender people and their families. www.TransgenderLawCenter.org.

Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights advocacy organization in California. Over the past decade, Equality California has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation. Equality California has passed more than 70 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, electoral work, public education and community empowerment. www.EQCA.org

The press release speaks for itself.

And the DADT discharges keep on coming...2010 numbers from Servicemembers United

For the folks out there who think DADT is dead and buried, think again. The discharges continue. Legislative repeal does not mean it's safe to come out of the closet if you're gay or lesbian and serving in the military. (Servicemembers United press release):

Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, announced today that it has obtained documents showing that the total official number of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) discharges for Fiscal Year 2010 was 261. The annual fiscal year DADT discharge statistic combines the total number of discharges reported by the Department of Defense, which was 250, with the total number of discharges reported by the Department of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard, which was 11.

"While this latest official discharge number represents an all-time annual low, it is still unusually high considering that the Secretary of Defense issued a directive half-way through the fiscal year to make it much harder for military units to discharge troops under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,'" said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United. "Despite this law clearly being on its deathbed at the time, 261 more careers were terminated and 261 more lives were abruptly turned upside down because of this policy."

While these annual figures released by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are used to calculate the official DADT discharge statistics, which now stand at grand total of 13,686, Servicemembers United previously uncovered and reported that the Department of Defense does not actually release information on all discharges under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." National Guard discharge numbers, which have yet to be released for fiscal year 2010, are often omitted from the official annual discharge numbers reported by the Department of Defense. This means that the total unofficial number of servicemembers discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is now at least 14, 316.

Results of the Pam's House Blend Reader Survey, March 2011

Here's what you all had to say (shot of the first page of the report, which is up on Scribd. Lots of pie charts and graphical representations of your answers are in it. A lot of the information surprised me, particularly the gender breakdown -- the proportion of gay men clicking over to read PHB is way high.

The text-based answers to two questions can be read more clearly as PDFs: Click over to see: "In what areas does the Blend need improvement, and "What impact, if any, would there be if the Blend were to shut down?" Pam's House Blend's Reader Survey: Final March 2011

My comments about the survey are below the fold.

The Blend needs a design overhaul. I'm with you on that one. It is tired, too busy and dated. I need to get off of Soapblox and onto another platform. My problem is that I have no time to deal with the backend at this point, and don't have the scratch to get it done with the conversion needed for the Soapblox db. Any Blender designers and programmers willing to help a gal out for the cause?!

Content: Most are satisfied with the content and coverage, with the format of news excerpts with barista commentary (449) the most popular blog format for most readers. A vast majority (337) want to see more long-form essays on news events and policy. Suggestions: more international LGBT coverage, more breaking news coverage. On the latter, I'm definitely hampered by having the necessary day job (with most of my posts written at night).

Torn about Trans issues. Most of the non-trans readers appreciated the coverage on the Blend, with a few saying there's too much trans coverage. Based on the feedback, Autumn's blogging and activism polarizes the trans community to an extent. I don't think that will change in the least based on the behavior of those most in disagreement with her. After all it's hard not to notice that almost every trans-related post (by anyone) garners tons of comments, many hostile, and those threads require much more moderation. There was expression by non-trans readers that they are tiring of the predictable bickering that goes nowhere and gets personal fast. Speaking of that...

You want to keep moderated comments. It seems we're doing a decent job, but not what you'd like to see. Sadly, the time requirements required to earn a gold star in this area are impossible for me to handle with all of my obligations needed to keep the coffeehouse open. There is plenty of feedback that Blender commenters are too insular and hostile. You all need to police yourselves more, and be more gracious to newbies.

You want the Blend to continue in some form. While I didn't ask this as a Yes/No question, most of you are not happy with my idea of shutting down the blog as a viable option. It wasn't a trivial question at all. I've been doing this since July 2004, with few breaks (mostly because of illness), and even with the most prosperous advertising year (2008), I certainly couldn't quit the job that puts a roof over my head. And I have the job in the family with anti-discrimination protections, another reason for the lack of flexible options for me. That's why I'm thankful for the baristas and Blenders who contribute interesting and varied content from around the country. That model of authorship has always made the coffeehouse interesting. But for those who are particularly interested in seeing more content from me, I feel for you; I wish I could do this full-time, but no one has come up with a sustainable model that allows editorial freedom. Someone may figure this out, but don't see it happening in my blogtime; it's a problem that has been on the table for progressive blogs generally, never mind a niche blog that doesn't take skin ads. (BTW, bonus points for the respondent that said they wanted no ads on PHB! LOL.) Everyone likes to get things for free.

So, I'm keeping the option of shutting it down on the table, people. Putting tips in the jar won't make a difference; it really comes down to time. I don't see how I can ramp up for 2012 coverage, help with the marriage amendment battle in my state, hold down my day job, produce content for the blog, and work a third job I now have. No Más.

The blogosphere would lose my particular perspective as a black lesbian from the South, but I'm sure someone would eventually step in to fill the void, or at least I hope that someone will. I'm not unique at all, just an early adopter whose audience grew over time.

Perhaps the Blend has been successful on some level, but I still encounter very myopic views of the community because of regional, gender, and racial bias, not out of malice, but from simply not knowing that there may be another POV, or, in many cases, not knowing how to handle a hot-button issue at all because of real or perceived blowback for not feeling that a "dumb" question can be asked. More people need to pick up better communication skills in this area to advance our movement.

The other problem, as we see on the MSM, is that the go-to people representing LGBT USA are still usually gay, white men. The Blend hasn't made much too headway with that problem. I don't see that really changing in my blogtime, as most of those on the outside are not earning a living as an activist or within the gay-for-pay arena. That's renders the available pool of more diverse voices silent, again not out of direct bias, but because there isn't a sustainable infrastructure or motivation to make it a priority.

Maybe I'll write a book about my experience as a citizen journalist one day...if I ever carve out the time to do it, lol.Anyway, off my soapbox; start commenting on your reactions to the survey.

Thursday This & That: Open Thread

It's an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread...

So, this is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob have been looking at since our last This & That post.

• Los Angeles Times' Gay marriage ban to continue during appeal of Proposition 8; Gay marriages will not resume while the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decides the constitutionality of Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last year that the California initiative is unconstitutional:

Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage will remain in effect while a federal appeals court decides whether it violates the Constitution, the appeals panel ruled Wednesday.

Gay rights advocates had asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its hold on resuming same-sex marriage while the court reviews U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker's Aug. 4 ruling that Proposition 8 deprives gay couples of their rights to due process and equal protection.

The 9th Circuit panel had promised last fall to fast-track the appeal but in January sent the case to the California Supreme Court for a procedural ruling that won't be made until the end of this year or later.

• San Francisco Chronicle's Barbara Boxer rips proposed cuts to homeless vets housing:

Never one to mince words, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer had many choice ones today for the Republican plan in Congress to eliminate housing aid to homeless military veterans nationwide. None were complimentary.

Among them were "ridiculous" and "mean-spirited." The blazing look in her eyes as she spoke to reporters at mid-day news conference at the Ferry Building in San Francisco indicated that she was being polite.

"How could they cut funding like this -- how could they?" she asked. "They don't care."

The cutting she was referring to is a provision in the House Republicans' budget, which would do away with housing vouchers for 10,000 veterans next year.

Every survey I've ever seen is that the American public would rather cut Social Security benefits than benefits to veterans.

• Metro Weekly's DOJ's New Scrutiny; Justice Department's ''historic document'' about anti-LGBT police discrimination signals new approach to investigations -- and to gender identity:

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division's report on its ''Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department,'' which was released on March 16, detailed serious problems regarding racial profiling, excessive and even lethal force and inappropriate treatment of potential sexual assaults.

Briefly noted in initial reports about the year-long investigation's outcome were the findings that, in addition, ''discriminatory policing'' has been occurring against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in New Orleans. As Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, the head of DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said on March 17, ''We found regular harassment of LGBT individuals, and the use of the 'crimes against nature' statute almost solely against LGBT individuals.''

Although these findings are notable on their own, the underlying reasoning that led to the full inclusion of LGBT people in the investigation in the first place was groundbreaking.

The report represented the first time that DOJ applied its Feb. 23 conclusion that sexual orientation governmental classifications are subject to heightened scrutiny in the course of using its investigatory authority to examine potential constitutional violations by state and local law enforcement.

Additionally - and also for the first time - DOJ announced that the heightened scrutiny that it concluded applies to sexual orientation classifications also applies to classifications based on gender identity.

I recommend clicking over to the article and reading the whole thing -- it seems to me to be a pretty good plain English explanation of what the DOJ report means for LGB -- and especially T -- community members.

• Gayapolis's New Indiana Poll Shows 47% Oppose Anti Gay Marriage Amendment, Only 43% Support It:

A new poll released this morning by Indiana Equality Action shows an overwhelming shift in Hoosier's attitudes about a proposed anti-same-sex marriage amendment. Most Indiana residents oppose the amendment and pro-LGBT measures have massive levels of support. The poll surveyed 400 registered voters and has a margin of error of 4.9% with a 95% confidence level.

47% of respondents opposed the marriage amendment while only 43% support it. The poll included more Republican responses than Democrat and showed surprising results; 35% of Republican and 30% of self-identifying conservatives oppose the measure as do 41% of seniors.

• Our Wiener Story Of The Day: MSNBC's ; Hot dogs, deli meats have fewer carcinogens than rotisserie chicken:

If given the choice between eating a hot dog or enjoying some rotisserie chicken, you may want to consider the hot dog.

That's because hot dogs, as well as pepperoni and deli meats, are relatively free of carcinogenic compounds, according to Kansas State University research.

J. Scott Smith, professor of food chemistry, and a K-State research team have been looking at such ready-to-eat meat products to determine their levels of heterocyclic amines, or HCAs. These are carcinogenic compounds found in meat that is fried, grilled or cooked at high temperatures. Studies have shown that humans who consume large amounts of HCAs in meat products have increased risk of stomach, colon and breast cancers.

As always, "The weenie tempts you!" -- and although a weenie in a bun might not be good for you, it may be less bad in some ways than other meaty temptations!

So anywho...It's an open thread! What are you thinking about today, or what books or articles have you been reading the past few days? Wanna share?

And again, please feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread because...it's an open thread! Woo-hoo!