Dubuque, Iowa amends HRO to add sexual orientation
Cool. If I ever had to move back to Iowa to live closer to my extended family, I’d have a place to live in Dubuque.
Anti-Gay Killer’s MySpace profile
Of course you’ve heard about the teenager Jacob Robida who went on a rampage at a gay bar in Massachusetts with an axe and a gun, and who was later killed in a police shootout.
Checkout his myspace web page.
Too bad none of the people he hurt and killed get to have accolades on the internet after this terrible incident. I’m sorry I can’t find my way to forgiving him.
Human Rights Ordinance Elimination Bill Withdrawn
Representative Thompson withdrew his amendment today to House Bill 1010 which would have eliminated local human rights protections in cities throughout Indiana. The House reconvened at 1:30 pm today. Rep Thompson withdrew his amendment and the House was recessed until 5:30pm tonight.
This amendment may be only temporarily dead; it could still be attached to another bill sometime during the legislative session, and rumors are that Republicans intend to try just that, potentially at a very busy point in the session to reduce the chance of it being noticed or to reduce the ability of opponents to act on it.
Indiana Equality is still asking people to attend the gathering at the Statehouse at 5 p.m. tonight, to thank legislators for killing the amendment behind the scenes and to help make legislators aware that opponents of the amendment are keeping tabs on the legislature this session.
Also, don’t forget that Indiana Equality is sponsoring a rally in the Statehouse North Atrium (indoors!) on February 9th from 1-3 p.m.
Indiana Bill Amendment Would Make Illegal Local LGBT Non-Discrimination Policies
TODAY the Indiana House of Representatives will debate an amendment to House Bill 1010 that would prohibit cities and counties from providing equal rights protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity — like the Human Rights Ordinance we worked so hard on here in Indianapolis.
Please Contact your State Representative immediately (TODAY!) and tell them you oppose this amendment. Municipalities must retain the right to pass the laws that are appropriate and needed for their community and their citizens. Seek help from sex discrimination lawyers to fight for your rights. Basic human rights should be ensured for all Hoosiers.
In reaction to the recent update of Indianapolis’ Human Rights Ordinance and other local non-discrimination laws throughout Indiana – the Religious Right, led by Advance America’s Eric Miller, tapped Representative Jeff Thompson (R) to author an amendment to HB 1010 (eminent domain). The proposal, Amendment #12, specifies that local government may not extend protections for employment or housing that is “greater than those protections or opportunities offered by the Constitution of the State of Indiana, the Constitution of the United States, or federal law, except as expressly granted by statute.”
This proposal would make illegal human rights protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including those that have been enacted in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Michigan City, West Lafayette, and Tippecanoe County.
On Tuesday afternoon Democratic House members argued that the amendment was neither acceptable nor relevant to the bill. Nevertheless, the amendment was ruled germane and debate began. After intense questioning of Rep. Thompson by a number of Representatives (both Democratic and Republican), Speaker Brian Bosma adjourned House for the day without taking a vote on Amendment #12. As there was no vote, the House will continue discussion on the proposal when they re-convene at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, January 25th.
What You Can Do
1.) Contact your State Representative immediately and tell them loud and clear that this proposal is simply not acceptable! Municipalities must retain the right to pass the laws for that are appropriate and needed for their community and their citizens.
2.) Join Indiana Equality at the Indiana State House on Wednesday evening, January 25, 2006 and deliver a message in-person to your Representative to reject Amendment # 12. Meet at 5:00 pm at the State House Rotunda.
Don’t Forget!! – Our Families Count!
Join Indiana Equality for the “Our Families Count” rally. February 9, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm at the Statehouse. Don’t miss this historic event.
NBC’s partisan double standard
Last week, NBC allowed Chris Matthews to say, on the air, that Osama bin Laden sounds like Michael Moore.
This week, though, when Rachel Maddow made a much more apt comparison on Tucker Carlson’s show, saying:
This is a global war on terror. This is a war for you or for us to win. You need patience…He sounds like Ken Mehlman when he’s saying that only less gay. I mean this is ridiculous.
NBC chose to scrub the transcript. Ken Mehlman, for those who don’t know, is the closeted gay head of the Republican National Committee. Here’s the transcript that NBC put online:
MADDOW: He sounds like Ken Mehlman when he‘s saying that. This is ridiculous.
CARLSON: I‘m going to blow by that comment. But I will say—you…
Apparently you’re allowed to dis Democrats but not tell the truth about Republicans.
ABC kills reality show because winners are gay
The television show “Welcome to the Neighborhood” was supposed to be a huge hit. Seven families compete to win a McMansion on a cul-de-sac in an suburban neighborhood, with the winners being chosen by the neighbors. Turns out, the popular couple who won, by changing the hearts and minds of the redneck republican residents, were gay men. And ABC, fearing a backlash from the religious right in the form of a boycott of their pet film Chronicles of Narnia, killed the show because they thought viewers might object to a neighborhood embracing gay people as friends and neighbors.
Now the gay couple who won the house, and the neighbors who changed their minds to support them, are speaking out about what happened.
Chris Matthews is also a homophobe
Chris Matthews also had this to say about the movie Brokeback Mountain on the Don Imus radio show:
MATTHEWS (1/18/06): Have you gone to see it yet? I’ve seen everything else but that. I just—
IMUS: No, I haven’t seen it. Why would I want to see that?
MATTHEWS: I don’t know. No opinion on that. I haven’t seen it either, so—
IMUS: So they were—it was out when I was in New Mexico and—it doesn’t resonate with real cowboys who I know.
MATTHEWS: Yeah—
IMUS: But then, maybe there’s stuff going on on the ranch that I don’t know about. Not on my ranch, but you know—
MATTHEWS: Well, the wonderful Michael Savage, who’s on 570 in DC, who shares a station with you at least, he calls it [laughter]—what’s he call it?—he calls it Bare-back Mount-ing. That’s his name for the movie.
IMUS: Of course, Bernard calls it Fudgepack Mountain…
Notice he called Michael Savage wonderful? That’s really frightening.
Osama bin Laden still alive, Chris Matthews is a jerk
(original link, no longer active – http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1221/dailyUpdate.html) Christian Science Monitor, 12/21/2005:
US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday that he doubts Osama bin Laden is in any position to command the worldwide operations of Al Qaeda. The BBC reports that Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters on a flight to Pakistan that bin Laden could still be hiding along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but it was hard to know since the terrorist leader had not been heard from in more than a year…
And the (original link, no longer active – http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200601090808.asp) National Review, January 9, 2006:
And, according to Iranians I trust, Osama bin Laden finally departed this world in mid-December. The al Qaeda leader died of kidney failure and was buried in Iran, where he had spent most of his time since the destruction of al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Nice attempt to tie bin Laden to Iran so we can invade there, huh?
Some news people, though, seemed to think it was less important to talk about what it means that bin Laden’s alive, and more important to play politics, thus prompting outrage. Chris Matthews on Hardball: “I mean he sounds like an over the top Michael Moore here, if not a Michael Moore. You think that sells…”
And Chris Matthews sounds a lot like Joseph Stalin. I’m just saying.
John Kerry responds to Chris Matthews:
“You’d think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn’t have to hear this barbarian’s voice on tape. That’s what we should be talking about in America.” — John Kerry
2022-03-15 Update:
Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1:00 a.m. PKT. Chris Matthews denied ever saying he was dead prior to that date.
Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1:00 a.m. PKT. Chris Matthews denied ever saying he was dead prior to that date.
Dane Wells: How A Straight, White, Middle-Aged Bush Voter Became A Dying Lesbian’s Staunchest Ally
The Big Gay Picture has a heart-warming story about Dane Wells, a guy who decided, when his close friend was dying