Jesus MCC’s New Campaign
The second part of Jesus MCC’s anti-discrimination campaign is rolling out here in Indianapolis, and it involves six potentially provocative billboards like this one:
I like it.
SJR-7 Language rejected as flawed by ultra-conservative Bork
Bilerico contributor Don Sherffick testified before the recent House Committee meeting on SJR-7, noting that the language for the flawed second paragraph of the bill originally came from an early draft of the Federal version of the amendment – a draft that was later re-written considerably. That revelation caused some comment and concern amongst committee members.
And now Advance Indiana is reporting about why the Fed version was rewritten – Ed Fox has discovered that ultra-conservative Judge Robert Bork realized the ambiguities of the language were too great, and directed the language should be changed.
The question now is whether Indiana Senator Brandt Hershmann chose the flawed original language accidentally, and now just refuses to change it because the process is so far along, or whether he chose it deliberately to restrain the legislature as well as the courts, and is now just lying to his fellow legislators about the consequences of the flawed language.
Statewide religious coalition speaks out against SJR-7
Indianapolis – The Interfaith Coalition on Nondiscrimination (ICON) today spoke out against Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR-7) in a letter to the Indiana General Assembly.
The letter, which is signed by 130 Indiana clergy, leaders of faith communities, and other religious professionals, opens with, “Our backgrounds and those of the people we serve vary widely. Our views on marriage differ. But we speak with one voice to oppose amending the Indiana Constitution to define marriage.”
Signatories on the letter to legislators all believe that the Marriage Discrimination Amendment would strip civil rights from committed unmarried couples and undermine the guarantee in the Indiana Bill of Rights for free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions by giving a legal preference to a specific set of religious beliefs. The text of the letter is attached.
“People are growing tired of religious and political leaders using religious teaching to justify discrimination,” said Executive Director Dan Funk. “ICON is identifying, uniting and giving voice to people of faith who believe that religious-based bigotry has no place in the Indiana Constitution.”
ICON, which is based in Indianapolis, is a growing coalition of people of faith in Indiana representing 26 different faith traditions. Members of this coalition believe that each of their faith traditions place great emphasis on the importance of justice. Members also teach that they must respect the inherent dignity of every human being, even those of differing opinions.
Over the past several years, ICON has built a relationship of trust with clergy and people of faith by advocating civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in a dignified, responsible manner. It is supported by Christian, Jewish, nondenominational, and other responsible religious voices throughout Indiana.
“The debate about SJR-7 is too important for us not to register our very strong concerns,” said Rev. Larry Kleiman, senior pastor of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, Carmel, and a signatory on the letter. “To impose an opinion in the state constitution which denies constitutional rights to any minority group is an injustice. We simply refuse to stand by and let a very small group of Hoosiers create a very large second class citizenry here in our state.”
ICON is a membership organization concerned about the consequences of intolerance against sexual and gender minorities. It is particularly concerned about religious intolerance and lack of acceptance of God’s diversity. Its purpose is to create positive change through education and social action, so that gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersexed, and transgender people will be able to live in peace and equality.
ICON’s work is directed by 20 congregations and religious organizations, including: Affinity (Indianapolis); Bloomington Friends Meeting (Quaker); Broadway Untied Methodist Church (Indianapolis); Central Christian Church (Indianapolis); Circle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Indianapolis); Congregation Beth-El Zedeck (Indianapolis); Eastside Peace & Justice Forum of Cumberland First Baptist Church (Indianapolis); First Congregational Church (Indianapolis); Holy Eucharist Orthodox Catholic Church (Indianapolis); Jesus Metropolitan Community Church (Indianapolis); Lutherans Concerned Central Indiana; North United Methodist Church (Indianapolis); Northeast United Church of Christ (Indianapolis); Plymouth Congregational Church (Fort Wayne); St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (Indianapolis); St. Peter’s United Church of Christ (Carmel); The Church Within (Indianapolis); Unitarian Universalist Church (Bloomington); Unitarian Universalist Church (Lafayette); and Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Fort Wayne).
Colts raise $20,000 for Anti-Gay Group
This is being discussed in the comments on my post on Tony Dungy – but it bears pulling up to it’s own entry – at the Indiana Family Institute Dinner, the Colts sent merchandise to be donated off in an auction, which raised $20,000 for the organization to oppose gay rights and to support SJR-7.
Seats for the event at the Ritz Charles, one of the institute’s largest annual fundraisers, went for $75 apiece. In addition to the more than $50,000 raised from ticket sales, the institute auctioned off enough Dungy-signed Colts footballs, helmets and paraphernalia to raise nearly another $20,000.
In keeping with the Colts theme, Dungy was introduced by Colts punter Hunter Smith, whose Christian band Connersvine served as the evening’s entertainment.
While it’s not a public press release of their support for the anti-gay group, it is an endorsement directly from the Colts home office of the marriage discrimination amendment, and is profoundly disappointing.
House committee tables SJR-7 vote
According to Bil from Bilerico:
The House Rules and Legislative Affairs committee listened to three hours of testimony regarding SJR-7, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. After several members of the committee commented that they’d like more time to review the testimony before voting on the matter, Chair Scott Pelath closed the hearing without holding a vote.
I’m sincerely hoping this is a good thing… I’m also hoping that if/when it does come to a vote, I can be there. I wasn’t able to take off work today because of all the stuff I have left to do after SXSW.
UPDATE: More on the committee meeting and the amendment from the Star.
UPDATE: The South Bend Tribune makes it sound much more like the amendment may die in committee.
Mohler Says Gay Gene Should Be Manipulated, If Possible
From Beliefnet, among many other sources:
The president of a prominent Southern Baptist seminary says he would support medical treatment, if it were available, to change the sexual orientation of a fetus inside its mother’s womb from homosexual to heterosexual.
The idea of a hormonal patch for pregnant women was discussed by the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., on his blog, www.almohler.com, on March 2.
“If a biological basis is found, and if a prenatal test is then developed, and if a successful treatment to reverse the sexual orientation to heterosexual is ever developed, we would support its use as we should unapologetically support the use of any appropriate means to avoid sexual temptation and the inevitable effects of sin,” Mohler wrote in advice for Christians.
I’ve waited a few days before writing about this, because I was so pissed off when I read it that I couldn’t quite deal with it. Mohler officially wins the Joseph Mengele award for horrific dystopian ideas. You really don’t need me to explain why this is wrong, do you?
But you do see how extreme homophobes are in their bent psychosis, right?
I suppose it would be inappropriate for me to counter by suggesting that we start treating all people who believe in religion for psycho-paranoid delusions, wouldn’t it?
500 attend Rally, House Democrats Hide from Constitutents
About 500 people attended the Rally in the Indiana Statehouse, organized by Indiana Equality to address SJR-7, the amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and to support the hate crimes bill, which will include sexual orientation and gender identity. There were several speakers, including Candace Gingrich, lgbt civil rights activist and sister of Newt Gingrich.
See all 52 of my photos of the Rally on Flickr…
Unfortunately, House Democrats were "in caucus" today, and were "unable" to meet with their constituents to talk about SJR-7, so a group of people, including Indiana Action Network members, IYG Youth and IU Students went to protest outside House Speaker Bauer’s office — chanting "Pat, Pat, come out and talk."
What happened next? Indiana Equality Lobbyist Mark St. John got angry at the attention being paid to House Speaker Bauer – gee, I wonder why? Maybe you can find the answer in this post on Advance Indiana – and forcefully grabbed Bil Browning of Indiana Action Network – with the cameras rolling.
I’m processing the video of WRTV’s coverage and uploading it to YouTube…
I happened to be standing right there (you can see me in the video), so I heard what St. John said — he fired Bil from his job at Lambda Consulting because Bil “betrayed his trust” in not getting permission for the impromptu protest at Bauer’s office. A while later, after he calmed down, he said that wasn’t going to happen, but I’m not sure what the repercussions will be in the future.
Incidentally, I also saw St. John grab and physically drag by the arm another protester – one of the IYG youth, I believe – away from the protest to have a heated debated about why the Democrats were in caucus – St. John was claiming that it had nothing to do with the Rally or SJR-7. I’m not sure I believe St. John’s claims about why the “caucus” happened. I do know that Representative Orentlicher, who was at the rally and at the impromptu protest after, was actively trying to get Bauer to come out and speak to the protesters.
In all, I hope the day was an effective event, but the fact that people were unable to lobby their Representatives was a pretty striking blow to the cause. The likelihood that all of the people signed up will be able to have face-to-face meetings with elected officials at other times in the future is pretty slim – many people were from out of town, or happened to have this day off work due to the President’s Day holiday. Face-to-face meetings are far more effective than phone calls and emails.
Staceyann Chin’s speech/poem at Gay Games VII
A selection from Stacyann Chin’s speech at the Opening Ceremonies of the Gay Games (this was the part I love so much):
I don’t know why
but the term lesbian just seems so
confrontational to me
why can’t you people just say you date
other people?
Again I say nothing
tongue and courage tied with fear
I am at once livid
ashamed and paralyzed
by the neo-conservatism
breeding malicious amongst us
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Transgender
Ally
Questioning
Two spirit
Non-gender conforming—every year we add a new letter
our community is happily expanding beyond the scope
of the dream stonewall sparked within us
yet everyday
I become more afraid to say black
or lesbian
or woman—everyday
under the pretense of unity I swallow something I should have said
about the epidemic of AIDS in Africa
or the violence against teenage-girls in East New York
or the mortality rate of young boys on the south-side of Chicago
even in friendly conversation
I get the bell hooks-ian urge
to kill mother-fuckers who say stupid shit to me
all day
bitter branches of things I cannot say out loud
sprout deviant from my neck
fuck you-you-fucking-racist-sexist-turd
fuck you for wanting to talk about homophobia
while you exploit the desperation of undocumented immigrants
to clean your hallways
bathe your children and cook your dinner
for less than you and I spend on our tax deductible lunch!
I want to scream
all oppression is connected you dick!