November 25–December 8 Volume 1 ■ Issue 16
Community Members Call for Protests Anger and frustration at Amendment 3 vote
9th and 9th in Need of Queer Eye Plans being discussed include roundabout
Police Investigate Possible Hate Crime Police can’t pursue hate crime angle: no such law
Idaho Right Takes Aim at Gay Marriage Will our northern neighbors face an amendment next? World AIDS Day List of events, free HIV testing
Dining Guide Café Med serves up date food
Bar Guide Where to go, when and how much
News NATIONAL AND REGIONAL
Florida Baptists Push for Marriage Amendment, Face Protests By Joselle Vanderhooft joselle@slmetro.com
Jacksonville, Fla. – Concerned that a state judge may overturn Florida’s 1997 Defense of Marriage Act that prohibits same-sex marriage, Florida Baptists voted to support an amendment banning such marriages during their annual convention, held November 9. The resolution calls for the amendment to define “marriage as a union between a man and a woman and the God-orBarbara Denman, Florida dained building Baptists spokesperson block of the family and the bedrock of civil society,” according to convention spokesperson Barbara Denman. She added that the convention’s vote was prompted by the decision of 11 states to ban gay marriage this November. President Bush’s re-election also played a part. “Baptists have been energized since the election to be more vocal about their conservatism,” she said in a Sun-Sentinel article. The 2000 delegates representing 2,800 Florida churches also called for state legislators to start work on drafting such an amendment and to throw their support behind a federal marriage amendment as well.
Governor Jeb Bush says he will also back the proposed amendment, while adding that the state may not need such an amendment. “If there is a threat that gay marriage would be accepted in our state, then I’d be supportive of [a constitutional ban],” he said, adding that Floridians would overwhelmingly vote in favor of such an amendment. In the wake of the convention, a group calling itself Equality Polk County staged a Sunday protest outside Rev. Jay Dennis’ First Baptist Church at the Mall. Dennis sponsored the November 9 motion and wrote a letter to Lakeland’s paper The Ledger urging Baptist pastors to help collect signatures to put the proposed amendment on the 2006 ballot. The group, which consisted of representatives from PFLAG, Log Cabin Republicans, the Rainbow Promise Metropolitan Community Church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland and the Christian motorcycle group Faith Riders, has vowed to continue the protests from 9 a.m. to noon each Sunday. “We were disappointed by the setbacks in the last election,” organizer Jim Narbone told The Ledger on November 17. “This not only came home to Florida. It came home to Lakeland. We said, ‘Let’s get out there and put a face to the demon. They’re demonizing gay people.’ We just felt it was important to let people in that church know we’re ordinary people.”
Gay Academy Alumni Seek Recognition By William Todd Park
4
■
SALT LAKE METRO
■
NOVEMBER 25, 2004
liam@slmetro.com
Annapolis, Md. – Leaders of an organization of U. S. Naval Academy GLBT alumni are seeking official recognition from the Academy’s alumni association. The request for recognition has already been sent to George Watt, President and CEO of the Academy’s alumni association and is awaiting a decision by the board of trustees who meet in early December. The original filing was presented to Jeff Petrie the association in 2003 as USNA Out, but was rejected by the board on the basis that the group was not geographically based. Although there is an RV chapter, the group re-named itself as the Castro Chapter to reflect its base in the predominantly gay district of San Francisco. Its bylaws and are now identical to most
other Naval Academy alumni chapters. The group formed to accommodate the growing number of alumni who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, its 67 members ranging from the class of 1958 to 2006. “In the Castro Chapter one’s sexuality is of no concern. All are welcome,” said Jeff Petrie, President of the would-be chapter. His ultimate goal is to honor the accomplishments, contributions and heroics of queer alumni to the Academy and the nation, as a whole. “We just want to support our alma mater openly and honestly.” Queers are serving today on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan in every branch of the military, according to Aaron Belkin, Director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, an official research unit at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Under the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, gays and lesbians are allowed to serve in the military, but not tell their counterparts about their sexual orientation. Twenty-four nations globally have successfully integrated queer service members into their armed forces.
Palm Springs Group Rallies Against Anti-Gay Bullying Cathedral City, Calif. – Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) members and supporters convened November 16 in Cathedral City Council Chambers to discuss creating an organization to prevent anti-gay bullying and harassment in Palm Springs schools. “This will be a community-based organization working to help promote safe schools and a hostile-free teaching and learning environment,” said Selvakumar Newton in a Desert Sun article. A retired math teacher, Newton has spearheaded the drive to create a Palm Springs GLSEN chapter, which would bring the total number of California GLSEN chapters to eight. Although the California Student Safety and Violence prevention Act of 2000 (AB 537), amended the Education Code’s nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity, gay students still face harassment at school, according to
Rick Smedstad, executive director of the Gay Associated Youth program, a Palm Springs student advocacy group. The program serves more than 150 students each week. “All of them can tell you how many times they’ve been hassled by somebody who suspected or knew they were gay,” he told the Press Enterprise. “It’s terrible.” The meetings attendees outlined a plan to make bullying and harassment unacceptable on school grounds and to ask local districts to train staff on issues pertaining to sexual orientation. Representatives from Gay Associated Youth and local PFLAG and human rights groups were also in attendance. Founded in 1990, GLSEN is a national organization working to end harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. It held its first national meeting in Utah in 1997. —JV
Univ. of Virginia Study Examines Children of Lesbian Couples Charlottesville, Va. – Teenagers with parents in lesbian relationships appear to be just as happy and as academically sound as teens with heterosexual parents, according to a recent study co-authored by a University of Virginia professor of psychology. “The central finding is that teens who have same-sex parents are doing well,” Professor Charlotte J. Patterson told The Daily Progress. “The big picture is that the two groups look alike in almost all respects.” The study focused on children 12 to 18 year old from 88 families across the United States. 44 children came from households headed by lesbian couples and the other half from households headed by opposite-sex couples. The two groups were also comparable in gender, race and household income. The participating teens were asked to rank their self-esteem, their overall happiness and the quality of their relationships with peers and teachers. The study also asked teens their dating and sexual behav-
iors. Thirty-four percent of teens in both groups said they had engaged in sex in the last 18 months. Sixty-eight percent of teens with lesbian parents and 59 percent of teens with heterosexual parents also said they were currently in a romantic relationship. But while the study asked students about their grade-point averages, it did not ask them to disclose their sexual orientation. The study also found that the teenagers did better in school and reported being happier when they described their relationship with their parents as “warm” and “close.” “More than the structure of the family, the biggest predictor of well-being was the quality of relationship with parents,” Patterson said. The study, which appears in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development, used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a school-based study of health-related behaviors. – JV
Ohio Colleges Wait to Act on Ban Cleveland, Ohio – Although 61% of Ohio voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage earlier this month, several of the state’s universities have yet to revoke benefits for employees with samesex partners. “The issue is under review, and we won’t have much to say until our legal counsel has a chance to finish that review,” Ohio State University spokesperson Elizabeth Conlisk told OSU’s student newspaper The Lantern. She added that OSU had not yet made a decision on the benefits, which cost the school approximately $340,000 each year. Other schools offering the same benefits, including Miami University, Denison University, Oberlin College, Case Western Reserve University and Ohio University, have not taken action either. Although the new law forbids the “state and its political subdivisions” from creating or “[recognizing] a legal status for relation-
ships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage,” Ohio University spokesperson Hub Burton said that this wording is broad and thus open to different interpretations. He also said that OU is currently waiting for state courts to rule on whether or not the university will still have the right to offer these benefits. Additionally, the school will continue to offer these benefits to the 11 faculty and staff members with same-sex partners until they are legally forbidden to do so. “Constitutional amendments, such as [Ohio’s] Issue 1, must be interpreted,” said Marac Spindlman, OSU assistant professor of law and researcher on GLBT rights. “[It is] no small irony that the amendment’s proponents, who advocated taking powers away from the courts, wound up multiplying them.” —JV
Idaho to see Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Next? Inspired and energized by wins in other states, three conservative Idaho leaders have launched a campaign to get a similar amendment on the 2006 ballot in Idaho, banning gay marriage and possibly any other legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. The Times-News reported on November 12 that Family Forum Executive Director Ultra-conservative Henry Dennis Mansfield, Kulczyk of Eagle, Idaho. Republican state Sen. Jerry Sweet, and former GOP state Rep. Henry Kulczyk are determined to get
it on the ballot for the next election. The group, which calls itself “Marriage Yes: One Man, One Woman,” is upset that previous attempts to amend the state constitution have been blocked at the level of the state legislature. “The nation has sent a clear message,” Sweet said to the Times-News. “We felt this was the time to carry that momentum forward.” Prior to the last election, the measure passed the Idaho House of Representatives with more than the required 2/3 votes, but failed to pass through the Idaho Senate. Opponents of the bill effectively argued that Idaho already had a ban on gay marriage and the additional steps were unnecessary. —JK
Federation of Gay Games Touts Plan to Unify Gay Sports
Nell Mullin, one of Caggiano’s lawyers, said that Essex County department had issued a “whitewashed” internal affairs report that found no merit to her client’s complaints. Mullin also told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Caggiano’s superiors had acted maliciously. Although the department has not yet filed an appeal, Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura told the Associated Press on November 16 that he expected portions of the verdict to be appealed. “We did everything we were supposed to do when it was brought to our attention,” he said. —JV
Lesbian Officer Awarded $2.8 Million in Damages
www.diversity1st.com
Co-Parenting Case Could Test DOMA
Classic Contemporary
Lindsey Kraatz
Gorgeous contemporary home with open floor plan and spectacular views. Great for entertaining ! 10 min. to downtown.
(801)-201-3571
■
lindseyrealestate@comcast.net
5
Visit CindyWood.com or call (801)-277-5445
SALT LAKE METRO
When Lisa and Janet Miller-Jenkins split up, they didn’t know that their battle for custody and visitation rights of their child could be the first major challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. While in a legally recognized civil union in Vermont, Lisa Miller Jenkins gave birth to a daughter through artificial insemination. The couple later broke up, and Lisa moved to Virginia, which has some of the most anti-gay laws on the books. The case has been tried in two separate courts. Vermont ruled that Janet must be considered a co-parent under Vermont law. Virginia ruled that Lisa is the sole parent and Janet has no legal relationship with the two-year-old child. But now the question remains, which state is correct? Must Virginia respect Vermont’s co-parenting ruling, or do family rights stop at the border of the state in which they are granted? Both judges ruled correctly according to the laws of their respective states, said Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School. “It’s this kind of jurisdictional collision that’s going to get this issue before the U.S. Supreme Court.” Under the full faith and credit clause of the US Constitution states must accept each others’ laws. Some legal scholars say the case also could bring into question federal DOMA. If the US Supreme Court chooses to hear the case, which may take 2-4 years, it could be the first serious challenge to DOMA, anti-gay adoption laws, and a variety of other gay and lesbian family law issues. – JK
■
Newark, N.J.– On November 15, a jury awarded $2.8 million to a former Essex County sheriff’s officer who said she was subject to harassment because of her sexual orientation. In the three-week trial, Karen Caggiano testified that she had to use bathrooms and locker rooms assigned to male officers during the late 1990s. Here, pictures of naked women were repeatedly posted on locker doors, and one officer repeatedly exposed himself to her, according to her lawyers.
Honesty, Integrity & Reliability in your Mortgage Lender, Think DIVERSITY 1ST!
NOVEMBER 25, 2004
Cologne, Germany—The Federation of Gay Games announced Nov. 12 it would organize an open-invitation conference discussing ways to unify the ever-growing gay sports movement in the first half of 2005. The FGG board voted 30-1-1 to organize and publicize the conference to be open to all interested parties, held in a city as centrally located as possible, and conducted by an independent facilitator. The conference is being organized in response to letters received by the FGG during the prior weeks calling for discussion about unifying the worldwide LGBT sports movement in the wake of two competing large-scale events in 2006. “We did the right thing to wait until the entire board of directors had the opportunity to meet in person and discuss these matters at our annual meeting,” said Roberto Mantaci, co-president. “We had careful and considered discussions over several sessions, including an open forum that allowed the FGG board to listen to members of our community, and we came forward with a proposal that gathered widest consensus from the board.” “I think this year’s board meeting showed how unified and committed we all are to the Gay Games legacy and its inspiration for future generations,” Mantaci said. “It warms my heart to see people travel from all corners of the world every year for our in-person meetings because they believe so strongly in the Gay Games movement.”
If you're looking for
Opinion
10
■
SALT LAKE METRO
■
NOVEMBER 25, 2004
The Least They Could Do As time passes in the wake of the passage of Amendment 3, people are angry. Rightfully so. Perhaps community leaders, including us, have put too much emphasis on the positive effects of the organized response to the campaign. Maybe we should all take the time to be angry, upset, hurt, grieving and generally pissed off. Certainly, anyone who is feeling that way is entitled to their emotional response to organized bigotry. Plus, anger and disappointment are responses that can help us in the first and most winnable battle of the new legislative session: Hate crimes. The time is right for us to win the fight to get inclusive, effective hate crime legislation passed. Recent media attention to possible bias-motivated crime has pointed out that it’s not as uncommon as we would hope. In a nation that has rarely been so divided over ideological reasons, it is time to draw a line in the sand. It is time for us to say, “You can have a different opinion, but you cannot commit violent, frightening or intimidating crimes to espouse that view.” Now is the time for each of us to call our state senators and state representatives and tell them that we want a hate crime bill passed which includes sexual orientation and gender among its protected groups. Nothing less even begins to be acceptable. On November 20, the sixth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance served to remind us that few members of our society are so routinely killed or
allowed to die simply for being different. We must insist that hate crime legislation include gender or gender identity in its language. The carefully concealed anti-gay sentiments of the Yes on 3 campaign have caused many in the state to feel that their homophobia is validated by the majority. How many unstable characters now think it will be okay to violently and aggressively attack gay, lesbian, or bisexual people? We must insist that hate crime legislation include sexual orientation in its language. Let’s not be precious about the fact that inclusive hate crime legislation is the very least our state government could do to address the inequalities, prejudice and bigotry we are faced with. The very least. After years of seeing anti-gay bill after anti-gay bill, it’s high time we demand that they begin to treat us as people who are created equal, and have the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. So we ask those people who are angry, hurt, upset, disappointed, and just generally pissed off to take action. Don’t let your feelings fade, harness them and use them to spur you to greater action. Call, write, email, fax and visit your elected officials to tell them of your support. Call, write, fax and email every elected representative to tell them of your support. With enough noise, maybe we can even drown out that little voice in the heads of our legislature telling them to glance nervously down at Temple Square.
From the Editor A Season of Giving by Jere Keys jere@slmetro.com
Let’s face it, I’m not getting rich as a journalist and activist. That was never really a life goal of mine anyway. And short of meeting that perfect sugar daddy, I doubt I’m ever going to be the kind of person who has money to burn. I mention this because we’re heading into the time of year when it’s traditional, despite your religious or spiritual persuasions, to give and exchange gifts. For those of us on the lower ends of the economic spectrum, the holiday season can add stress to already tight budgets. Yet year after year, I still manage to squeeze enough extra cash out of my wallet to let my family and friends know I care. I also find a way to truly embrace the spirit of giving by making donations to good charities. Like many people in Utah, I was raised in the predominant religion of the state. Even when I moved away for several years, my thoughts and actions were always impacted by the attitudes and beliefs of my childhood. You know the old saying, “You can take the gay boy out of Utah…” So at this time of year, I feel it’s especially important to make charitable donations, to give whatever gifts I have (time, talents or treasures) to causes that help shape my vision for what the world could and ought to be. And I’m encouraging you to do the same. On the national level, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force deserve your financial support. They have been tireless advocates for our community and, in a very real sense, we could not enjoy the lives we do today if it had not been for them. On the local level, I’m still getting to know the local community, but I can strongly recommend Equality Utah, the Utah AIDS Foundation, the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah, and the GLBT Community Center of Utah. Every one of these organizations needs your volunteer support and your financial contributions. Many of us belong to churches, temples, mosques or synagogues that can help you to find charities to support. Whether you want to shelter the homeless, adopt an impoverished family, provide relief to the ill or dying, or just offer emotional support to the vulnerable, there are places to get involved and to help. This weekend, we kick off the season of giving with a reflection and offer of thanks for all that we have. I’d like to say thanks to the community which has welcomed me in. I’m truly grateful to have met, and continue to meet, so many dedicated, wonderful and caring individuals. I encourage all Metro readers to take stock of their blessings and make a commitment to take the spirit of giving more seriously. Don’t just exchange gifts with those you expect to get gifts from in return. Make an effort to give to charities, causes and programs that truly need it. You might not get a tangible gift in return, something wrapped in paper and foil, but there will be a benefit.
Letters Let’s Set Our Own Agenda Dear Editor, How did the GLBT community allow Karl Rove & Company to hijack our issues for the last election and force us to spend all of our time, money, resources & energy fighting for their chosen issue? If you’re wondering what I’m talking about—it’s gay marriage. Let’s face it, of all of the issues currently facing our community; marriage or civil unions really belong at the bottom of the list. Don’t get me wrong, I’m appalled that eleven states opted to write blatant discrimination into their constitutions. It’s anti-ethical to the concept so brilliantly outlined by the framers of the Constitution. Honestly, I was shocked by the feelings of desolation & disenfranchisement I felt the morning after the election because of those states. But, I am a pragmatist. I know, legally & constitutionally these should never stand up in court, if the justices are truly objective. It boils down to discrimination and we don’t legislate that in this country; contrary to any individual’s actions or belief system. I’ve been asked by acquaintances & excoriated by friends for not giving what they deemed the proper amount of time to the Don’t Amend Alliance here in Utah. My immediate gut reaction was I wasn’t thrilled by the message of Don’t Amend. That’s the short answer. I believe the focus we should have placed on this issue was that it is discrimination and we don’t sanction that
The Spin Doctor is In by William Todd Park liam@slmetro.com
Deborah A. Pavek Murray
Letters to the Editor Salt Lake Metro welcomes letters from our readers. Write us at: Metro Publishing, Inc., Suite 350, 352 S. Denver St., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 or email letters@slmetro.com or fax 801-323-9986 We reserve the right to edit for length. Letters are run at our discretion. Full name must accompany letter, even if you wish to remain anonymous.
Editor Jere Keys Arts Editor Eric J. Tierney Arts Greg Harrison Sports Editor David Nelson Contributing Brandie Balken Writers Lee Beckstead Janice Eberhardt Beau Jarvis Lynette Malmstrom Laurie Mecham LaDonna Moore Rob Orton William T. Park Jim Pitts Nicholas Rupp Mandy Q. Racer Ruby Ridge Joel Shoemaker Jim Struve Eric J. Tierney Darren Tucker JoSelle Vanderhooft Ben Williams Proofreader Nicholas Rupp Contributing Lucy Juarez Photographers William H. Munk Shauna Sanchez Joel Shoemaker Art Director Michael Aaron Graphic Designer Kris Kramer Sales Director Steven Peterson Sales Executives Sebastian Cruz Janis Gardner Bob Tubbs Distribution Steven Peterson Courtney Moser Copyright © 2004 Salt Lake Metro. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner, including electronic retrieval systems, without the prior written permission of the publisher. One copy of this publication is free of charge to any individual. Additional copies may be purchased for $1. Anyone taking or destroying multiple copies may be prosecuted for theft at the sole discretion of the publisher. Reward offered for information that leads to the arrest of any individual willfully stealing, destroying or trashing multiple copies. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers or staff.
Salt Lake Metro is published bi-weekly on alternating Thursdays by
Metro Publishing, Inc. 352 S. Denver Street, Suite 350 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 (801) 323-9500 Fax: (801) 323-9986 President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer:
Michael Aaron Steven Peterson Steve Whittaker Larry Tanner
SALT LAKE METRO ■
11
and in four years, we’ll elect someone else to pillage the treasury under the guise of a new cause célèbre. In the meantime, I, for one, have no desire to throw my hands up in surrender and I hope you don’t either. This isn’t the time to play the victim. We have too many self-proclaimed victims running around and not enough of us who are willing to make a difference. Perhaps having Bush in the White House for another four years is what it will take to wake us from our apathy. Perhaps being on the receiving end of open and ‘legal’ discrimination will be what it takes to get us angry enough to stand up for what’s right. Perhaps we’ll log off of the chat room long enough to log into reality. Locally and nationally, we must come together around what is important and raise up candidates who are willing to champion justice and fairness. We have to recognize and lobby for important issues such as economic recovery so that stagnant unemployment improves. We have to prove to our allies in the community that being gay is not an immoral sickness, but a human quality so that gay unions aren’t a debate topic, but obvious and normal institutions. We have to be citizens and participants in the process rather than whiners. Internationally, we can no longer be embroiled in Iraq. We must bring our troops home. After all, the only thing we can say about the difference between Iraq and Vietnam is that is that at least for Vietnam, Bush had an exit strategy. My friends, the Spin Doctor is in and while I wouldn’t mind one of those prescriptions, the only way to get it filled is through less expensive Canadian pharmaceuticals manufacturers.
Publisher Michael Aaron
■
Behind the bravado of bullets and beer, we Americans tend to be a fearful people. We lock our doors against would-be thieves, we air segments on the nightly news about the dangers in very own homes, and we immediately cast suspicion upon people who are different from us. Right-wing politicians appealed to those fears and won the election by styling themselves as saviors instead of the demagogues that they truly are. Dick Cheney insisted that if we didn’t re-elect Bush, “we’ll get hit again.” Instead of being afraid of the national 50% divorce rate, social conservatives are afraid that the issue of gay marriage will somehow destroy the sanctity of marriage, notwithstanding the sterling examples of cultural icons like Britney Spears and eighttime altar veteran Mickey Rooney. Some have even suggested that Western civilization could crumble if gay marriage became legal. Talk about homophobia! More than conservatives who mindlessly contributed to the delinquency of a nation, it is nothing short of astounding how someone who has vocally campaigned against gay families won 23% of the gay vote. The 18-24 crowd didn’t help like we had hoped, either. MTV won out over real life and just like the 2000 election, only 17% of the country’s youth thought it was important enough to get themselves off the couch long enough to give a damn. We can be thankful the drama of the election is over, but the truth remains: for the next four years, the United States has someone at the helm who has proven himself to be inept, dishonest, and bigoted. While emigration to Canada sure looks attractive, it shouldn’t be the first course of action. The USA belongs to every American
for or that important items previously agreed upon by both houses of Congress were removed. Current federal hate crimes legislation only covers crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin. That should have been a huge issue toward the end of this election cycle, maybe then we wouldn’t have lost so many seats. Moving forward, the GLBT community and its leaders need to garner the political savvy and backbone to set their own agenda and not allow the “hot-button” fear tactics of Karl Rove and those who emulate him to set our political battles for us. Else we will forever be distracted by the “shiny” object twirled by the homophobic minority on the right. We are so fortunate here in Utah to have friends of our community like Dave Litvak, who continues year after year to introduce hate crimes legislation to the State Legislature; who year after year defeat it due to the inclusion of the words “sexual orientation.” If that doesn’t prove we need a hate crimes bill, I don’t know what does.
NOVEMBER 25, 2004
What does it say about a man who campaigned as a “uniter, not a divider” and then with 51% of the popular vote, proclaim that he received a mandate from the people? What does it say about a man who commits more money to rebuilding a country he destroyed than to key facets of security infrastructure of the one he was elected to protect? What does it say about a man who fervently insists that a fertilized cell is a human life—untouchable and sacrosanct—yet destroys lives by the tens of thousands in a war of choice? What does it say about a man who claims to champion morality by spearheading a national objective to promote bigotry and discrimination? In my mind, it speaks volumes. At the very least, the man is delusional, in serious denial, or a pathological liar. Amazing, but thanks to the Washington spin doctors and millions of lemmings, this single man was just re-elected to the most powerful office in the free world. A more important question though, is what does it say about the people who have instant access to this damning information—and a whole lot more in glorious detail—yet state with their votes that George W. Bush makes the better president? The answer really comes down to simple fear consummated by willful ignorance.
in this country. I felt there was too much emphasis on the fact that straight couples would also be affected. It seemed for a while there the message was this can hurt straight folks so you can’t do it. The biggest piece missing for me was I never heard anyone come out and say that by not passing this amendment gay marriage or civil union would still not be legal in this state. Those are some of my biggest objections to the way the campaign was handled. My larger reasons for only donating funds and not my time are more complex. We need to focus our energies and resources on larger issues facing this community. It is now over six years since the brutal torture and murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo. and by and large there is still no comprehensive hate crimes legislation in this country. Not on the local, state or national levels. Personally, I think this issue affects more members of the community than concern over marriage. There are no comprehensive equal opportunity employment protections nor is there comprehensive fair housing legislation to protect us. Again, I think we need to put these basic, albeit, important civil rights well ahead of civil union or marriage. By focusing our attention on the marriage initiatives around the country this election season; the Republican House Leadership was able to avoid being called to task for removing legislative language strengthening hate crime prosecution from the 2005 defense authorization bill. The media didn’t cover this, where were the ACLU & HRC? Most people I don’t even know that the defense authorization bill is designed