Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman’s Van, parked in a handicapped spot
From Taking Down Words:
Mitch “The Blade” Daniels and the New Orleans Disaster
I put this story in the middle of several others yesterday, but I realize now that it needs special attention on it’s own:
Mitch “The Blade” Daniels and the New Orleans Disaster:
Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced to resign in 2002 over budget disagreements with the White House. He clashed with Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, which sets the administration’s annual budget goals.
“One time I took two pieces of steel into Mitch Daniels’ office,” Parker recalled. “They were exactly the same pieces of steel, except one had been under water in a Mississippi lock for 30 years, and the other was new. The first piece was completely corroded and falling apart because of a lack of funding. I said, ‘Mitch, it doesn’t matter if a terrorist blows the lock up or if it falls down because it disintegrates — either way it’s the same effect, and if we let it fall down, we have only ourselves to blame.’ It made no impact on him whatsoever.”
Daniels, now governor of Indiana, did not respond to a request for comment.
You guys voted for this fucker; I didn’t. Now I’m doubly proud of my “not my man” bumpersticker. And I’m doubly scared, because if he did this crap to New Orleans, what is he doing to our state?
Rep. Espich on supporting bigotry: “I sure do!”
Representative Jeff Espich (R 82) was asked, “You don’t support bigotry do you, Sir?” His reply? “I sure do!”
There were around 150 people protesting against House Speaker Brian Bosma’s Beer Bash for Cash last night at the Rathskeller in the Antheaneum, and my partner Stephanie and I were two of them. The problem with Bosma’s fundraiser is, of course, that Massachusetts Avenue was revitalized primarily by gay and lesbian business owners who moved into the area and restored buildings and built prosperous businesses when most of the real estate there was boarded up and the Republican mayor at the time, Stephen Goldsmith, was ignoring the area.
Now Massachusetts Avenue is a flourishing cultural district, and Bosma was attempting to cash in on the success of GLBT people’s hard work by holding a fundraiser designed to raise money to crush the very people who made the area a success. Fortunately, he failed, because our protest was a smashing success.
Bosma’s party expected 500 supporters, but they had no more than 50 people in attendance, and apparently at one point Bosma was pounding the table in frustration over the noise and commotion we created.
We held up signs outside the event; we took photos of people entering and leaving the fundraiser, chanted and talked to people on their way in, gave them leaflets and information on why we were there, and when their fundraiser moved outside to the beer garden, we walked around to the side of the building with a bullhorn and chanted and talked to drown out their speeches. We also aired some of the dirty laundry some attendees brought with them; several politicians who claim to support “the sanctity of marriage” have some less than stellar records when it comes to marital fidelity, and a list of those incidents read into the bull horn stopped some Bosma supporters in shock.
The protest was organized by the Indiana Action Network (a direct action group) and attended by people from StopTheAmendment.org, Greater Indianapolis Fairness Alliance, Indiana Equality, Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, and Rock Indiana as well as many individuals.
The event was not without incident; one male Bosma supporter viciously attacked Outword Bound Bookstore owner Tamara Tracy, attempting to steal and break the camera she was holding after she took his picture. He was stopped and quickly hustled inside where he couldn’t harm anyone else.
“Bosma Faces Protesters over Gay Marriage Ban” — That’s the headline on the Star article about the event. In the Star, Bosma has a very strange quote:
“I’m not overly concerned about any protest,” Bosma said. “We will just have to agree to disagree on this issue.”
I’m not sure what he thinks that means, really. We’re not going to “agree to disagree” when heterosexual people enjoy special rights that are denied to others. We’re not going to “agree to disagree” on the issue of being denied health care benefits and the ability to see our family members in the hospital. We’re not going to “agree to disagree” on being fired from our jobs because some people are bigots. We’re not going to “agree to disagree” when gay and lesbian youth are harrassed in school. We’re not going to “agree to disagree” when we’re told we can’t worship as we please.
There’s no agreement with any of those injustices here.
I really want to be proud of where I live
But it’s really hard to do when my elected officials embarrass the crap out of me every time I turn around. Turns out the Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar are both at the top of the list of politicians who take sleazy free vacations from lobbyists. Way to represent, guys.
And because I was in the hospital when it went down, I haven’t had a chance to blog about my very own city-county council representative, Patrice Abdullah. He’s a democrat. I voted for him. I actually took off work early one day, back when he was running for office, to go to our neighborhood meeting to talk to him and ask him where he stood on gay rights issues. He assured me that he didn’t believe in discrimination. But he recently voted against a change in Indianapolis’ Human Rights Ordinance that would protect gay people from being discriminated against, claiming his Muslim beliefs meant that he was expected to discriminate against gay people.
Guess what Patrice? You’re not going to be on the city-county council in the next election. I may not be able to do anything about the retard in the Oval Office, but I can single-handedly get your ass kicked to the curb, and I will be doing exactly that.
Holiday World Has a Blog
This is pretty fun, and funny; the staff of Holiday World, the Indiana amusement park, has a blog.
Factual Errors in anti-gay amendment arguments
Courtesy of Jeramy Townsley, Adjunct Faculty, Psychology, IUPUI and Univ of Indpls
Below are numerous factual errors from the anti-equal marriage rights advocates who are seeking to prevent equal marriage rights for gay people, with factual analysis and studies included illustrating the mistaken ideas in their arguments.
Governor Daniels calls Democrats Terrorists
House Democrats in Indiana were concerned about two bills that threatened the rights of Hoosiers; a bill that created an “Inspector General” position for the Governor’s office, which would allow the Governor to appoint his own prosecutor and basically screw up the balance of power between government branches, and a bill requiring voters to present a driver’s license at the polls, which would prevent poor Hoosiers who can’t afford a driver’s license or state ID card from being able to vote.
So they walked out of the House and refused to hear 130 some bills, which killed many of them.
Now the Governor Daniels is calling Democrats terrorists, and accusing them of “car-bombing” his pet legislation, and refusing to apologize for his inflammatory rhetoric.
Of course last year Daniel’s precious Republicans pulled the same “car-bombing” stunt themselves, walking out of the House and killing legislation because they were insisting that their Pro-bigotry and Pro-hate bill on equal marriage rights should be heard. So what Indiana Republicans are saying is that bigotry and hatred are good, and protecting the rights of Hoosiers is bad.
You know what Governor Daniels? If Democrats are “car bombers” then you’re a giant doody-head. (Originally my language was much stronger, but then I decided I shouldn’t try to be a bigger jerk than him).
Indiana Women To Row Across The Ocean
In November of this year, two young Indiana college students, Sarah Kessans and Emily Kohl, will attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean in a 2,900 nautical mile rowing race from the Canary Islands to the West Indies. The race is one of the most extreme physical sports challenges in the world; more people have climbed Mount Everest than have rowed across an ocean.
If they can achieve their goal, Kessans and Kohl will be the youngest American women to do so. The boat they will use, The American Fire, has no motor or sail of any kind, and is solely powered by the two rowers, who trade off rowing in 2 hour shifts. The vessel must contain everything they need for a possible 75 day trip, including meals, a reverse osmosis water machine to provide drinking water, and radio and navigation equipment.
The Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race in 2005 will be the fourth such event, and will be comprised of 41 rowing teams of two. The race begins in La Gomera, Canary Islands, and follows prevailing winds and currents across the Atlantic to Antigua, West Indies. Two support yachts follow the fleet for emergency assistance. Rowers face extraordinary physical and mental challenges on their 60 day journey, encountering storms, sharks and physical exhaustion.
Lifelong athletes, twenty-something Kessans and Kohl are both award-winning veteran rowers on Purdue Universities’ rowing team. They are hoping to raise the funding for their entry into the event by garnering donations and corporate sponsorship from their website. The total cost of their entry in the race is around $200,000.
UPDATE: Kessans and Kohl were unable to complete their challenge when their boat was capsized by a large wave. They were rescued at sea. Video of their rescue here:
Statehouse Rally for Equal Marriage Rights – March 8
I will be attending this rally on March 8th, and I’m inviting you all to join me. I will be one of the crowd-control folks in a lovely orange vest. If you want to get together for a sign-making party, please let me know; this event is only a few short days away.
In response to the State Legislature’s current bill (SJR 7) seeking to limit equal marriage rights for same-sex couples by amending the constitution, gay rights advocates and their friends and families are planning a Rally/Silent protest at the east steps of the Indiana Statehouse on March 8 at 11 a.m. to protest this piece of legislation and several others that are currently under consideration. Organizers are expecting over 1,000 supporters to attend the rally.
This rally will also serve as a counter rally to the one taking place on the west side of the statehouse, held by the right-wing organization Advance America, founded by former political candidate and longtime lobbyist Eric Miller.
The Legislation
A number of bills have been introduced into into the Indiana State Legislature this season that will have an effect on the lives of gay and lesbian citizens of Indiana. Here is a synopsis of three of them:
SJR 7 – EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS: This bill seeks to amend the Indiana constitution to limit the possibility of marriage to a definition of one man and one woman, and additionally seeks to prevent any legal arrangements between same-sex couples that are intended to provide the same protections as marriage.
SJR 585 – ADOPTION/FOSTERING: This bill will prohibit gay people from being foster parents and adopting.
SJR 541 – DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS: This bill will limit eligibility under a state university health plan to an employee of the university and to the spouse and dependant children of the employee.
The first legislation, SJR 7 has already passed in the senate and will move on to the house in this legislative session. If it passes the house (it is expected to) it will need to be passed again in a future legislative session, and with then be placed on a ballot referendum for Hoosiers to vote on.
Additional Rally Information
Organizers describe the rally as a silent protest intended to emphasize the attempts by the religious right to silence the gay and lesbian community. They also ask attendees to remember that they want no noise, rude behavior or disorderly conduct, and that rally supporters are asked to stay off the Statehouse grass, to avoid blocking entrances to the Statehouse and foot traffic on the sidewalks. 15 to 20 organizers of the event will be on hand to provide crowd control and to help attendees maintain order.
There will be several speakers, including the possibility of Senators who opposed the legislation.
Attendees of the Rally are encouraged to make signs. Organizers suggestions include: “SJR7 – The Hate Debate” or “SJR7 – Blatant Discrimination” or “Eric Miller -Conservative Approach; Extremist Agenda” or “Hate is Not a Family Value” or “It’s Our Constitution Too”
More information about the rally, including a map of the Statehouse, flyers that can be distributed, and parking information is available at [link deprecated: http://www.stopthebigots.org] Stopthebigots.org.
Parking for the Rally
Attendees of the rally are urged to carpool to the event due to downtown parking and traffic considerations. Parking at Circle Center Mall may provide the best location.
Statehouse Rally for Equal Marriage Rights – March 8
In response to the State Legislature’s current bill (SJR 7) seeking to limit equal marriage rights for same-sex couples by amending the constitution, gay rights advocates and their friends and families are planning a Rally/Silent Protest at the east steps of the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday, March 8 at 11 a.m. to protest this piece of legislation and several others that are currently under consideration. Organizers are expecting over 1,000 supporters to attend the rally.
This rally will also serve as a counter rally to the one taking place on the west side of the statehouse, held by the right-wing organization Advance America, founded by former political candidate and longtime lobbyist Eric Miller. Miller is a supporter of amending the Indiana constitution to prevent equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.
The Legislation
A number of bills have been introduced into into the Indiana State Legislature this season that will have an effect on the lives of gay and lesbian citizens of Indiana. Here is a synopsis of three of them:
SJR 7 – EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS: This bill seeks to amend the Indiana constitution to limit the possibility of marriage to a definition of one man and one woman, and additionally seeks to prevent any legal arrangements between same-sex couples that are intended to provide the same protections as marriage.
SJR 585 – ADOPTION/FOSTERING: This bill will prohibit gay people from being foster parents and adopting.
SJR 541 – DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS: This bill will limit eligibility under a state university health plan to an employee of the university and to the spouse and dependant children of the employee.
The first legislation, SJR 7 has already passed in the senate and will move on to the house in this legislative session. In the House of Representatives, SJR 7 is expected to be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, which will conduct a hearing on the resolution in mid-March. A proposed constitutional amendment must be passed by two separately-elected legislatures, and then approved by voters in a state-wide referendum. The earliest such a vote could take place is November 2008.
Senators who voted no on SJR 7 include:
Anita Bowser (D-Michigan City)
Billie Breaux (D-Indianapolis)
John Broden (D-South Bend)
Glenn Howard (D-Indianapolis)
Tim Lanane (D-Anderson)
Earline Rogers (D-Gary)
Vi Simpson (D-Bloomington)
Sam Smith (D-East Chicago)
Additional Rally Information
Organizers describe the rally as a silent protest intended to emphasize the attempts by the religious right to silence the gay and lesbian community. They also ask attendees to remember that they want no noise, rude behavior or disorderly conduct, and that rally supporters are asked to stay off the Statehouse grass, to avoid blocking entrances to the Statehouse and foot traffic on the sidewalks. 15 to 20 organizers of the event will be on hand to provide crowd control and to help attendees maintain order.
There will be several speakers, including the possibility of Senators who opposed the legislation speaking or making an appearance.
Attendees of the Rally are encouraged to make signs. Organizers suggestions include: “SJR7 – The Hate Debate” or “SJR7 – Blatant Discrimination” or “Eric Miller -Conservative Approach; Extremist Agenda” or “Hate is Not a Family Value” or “It’s Our Constitution Too”
More information about the rally, including a map of the Statehouse, flyers that can be distributed, and parking information is available at [link deprecated http://www.stopthebigots.org] Stopthebigots.org.
Rally organizer Pepper Partin explains the motivation for the rally: “We are being persecuted because of our sexual orientation, and sexual orientation is no more of a choice than our height or our eye color or anything else that is part of our pre-determined make-up. So we must make sure people understand that we are not a subculture and this is not a lifestyle, and that is a big reason we must stop people like Eric Miller and his organization from making people think we are nature’s mistakes deserving of only table scraps beneath the table of equality. Our constitution is for everyone – not just for those who feel they are superior in some sense.”
Parking for the Rally
Attendees of the rally are urged to carpool to the event due to downtown parking and traffic considerations. Parking at Circle Center Mall may provide the best location.