Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chuck Hagel Pledges Equal Benefits For Gay Troops
Chuck Hagel on Thursday pledged to
“move forward expeditiously” on the issue of equal benefits for
gay troops during his Senate confirmation hearing.
Appearing before the Senate Armed
Services Committee considering his nomination for secretary of
defense, Hagel reiterated his support for open service and extending
equal benefits to the families of LGBT service members.
“As I've discussed with many of you
in our meetings, I am fully committed to implementing the repeal of
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and doing everything possible under current
law to provide equal benefits to the families of all our service
members,” said Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and
Vietnam veteran.
In a written response he added: “If
confirmed, I will work closely with the Department of Defense
civilian and military leadership to move forward expeditiously on the
issue and will inform the appropriate Congressional committees of
decisions as they are made.”
Allyson Robinson, executive director of
OutServe-SLDN, which advocates on behalf of LGBT service members,
applauded Hagel's remarks.
“After two years of equivocation and
delay by Pentagon leadership, it is gratifying to see Senator Hagel
show the kind of clear, unambiguous support for our service members
and their families we saw today,” she said in a statement. “It
is an historic day when issues critical to gay and lesbian service
members and their families take center stage in a confirmation
hearing for secretary of defense.
Hagel had been attacked as “anti-gay”
in print and television ads paid for by the Log Cabin Republicans and
an anonymous group. Both cited Hagel's poor voting record on gay
rights in the Senate and comments he made in 1998 toward James
Hormel, the openly gay former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.
Hagel recently apologized for calling
Hormel a bad fit for the post of ambassador because he's “openly,
aggressively gay.” And in a letter to California Senator Barbara
Boxer, he endorsed repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” and
committed to extending equal benefits to the families of LGBT troops.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Catholic Bishops File Briefs In Supreme Court Gay Marriage Cases
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) has filed briefs in two Supreme Court cases related to gay
marriage.
In both cases, the USCCB called on
justices to rule against marriage equality.
In United States v. Windsor,
which challenges the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), USCCB
lawyers argued that “there is no fundamental right to marry a
person of the same sex.” The brief also argues that being gay is
not an orientation but merely conduct.
“In
contrast to the classes for which this Court has applied heightened
scrutiny, what lower courts have understood to be a homosexual
'orientation' is not a trait
attributable from conception or birth. Rather, particularly as
framed by Respondents here, it involves a species of conduct.”
In
Hollingsworth v. Perry,
which challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's
gay marriage ban, the USCCB urged the court to uphold the 2008
voter-approved constitutional amendment.
“Given
both the unique capacity for reproduction and unique value of homes
with a mother and father, it is reasonable for a State to treat the
union of one man and one woman as having a public value that is
absent from other intimate interpersonal relationships.”
The
brief added that “redefining marriage … would have widespread
adverse impact on other constitutional rights, such as the freedoms
of religion, conscience, speech and association.”
The
Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in March and hand down a
decision in June.
The church is right, there isn't a fundamental right to marry a person of the same sex, but, using their own argument, there isn't a fundamental right for opposite sex people to marry either. (not according to the constitution, which doesn't grant either, but neither does it oppose)
The church is majorly wrong about sexual orientation and by insisting they know better than every major psychological organization in the world only serves to prove they are a hate group and wish nothing more than to impose and suppress a minority with it's dated religious morals.
Lets not forget, not long ago catholic priest tortured, mutilated and killed people for daring to say the Earth wasn't the center of the universe and the sun didn't revolve around our planet.
Lets not forget they burned people for being witches and thought science was sorcery.
As for heterosexual marriage being *unique*...whites thought they were *unique* and had the innate right to enslave other races for their benefit and treat them in any manner they wished.
Personally, I see absolutely nothing *unique* about reproduction, quite the opposite, millions do it every day with out any special ability or training too achieve it.
Lastly, the Catholic church, by the mere fact they filed briefs to the Supreme Court prove that they are truly a political group and are using the body and entity of their constituency to push a political agenda and should most definitely have their tax exempt status removed.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Memo To Media: Chick-Fil-A Hasn't Ended Its Anti-Gay Donations
Mainstream media outlets are echoing a report that the fast food giant Chick-fil-A has allegedly ceased its donations to anti-gay organizations and causes. In reality, the majority of the company's anti-gay donations remain unchanged.
In a January 28 Huffington Post article, Campus Pride executive director Shane Windmeyer reported that - according to the 2011 IRS 990 tax form he had seen - Chick-fil-A had ceased its practice of donating millions of dollars to anti-gay groups through its charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation. According to Windmeyer:
This past week Chick-fil-A shared with me the 2011 IRS Form 990, filed in November for the WinShape Foundation, along with 2012 financials. The IRS has not released the 990 to the public yet, but the financials affirm Chick-fil-A's values a year prior to the controversy this past July... The funding reflects Chick-fil-A's promised commitment not to engage in "political or social debates," and the most divisive, anti-LGBT groups are no longer listed.Mainstream news outlets quickly picked up on the story, including CNN, ABC, and the LA Times. On January 29, CNN reported that "Chick-fil-A had stopped donating money to anti-gay organizations"
But even if Windmeyer's claim that Chick-fil-A has stopped funding the most extreme anti-gay groups is true, the company would only have reduced its anti-gay donations by less than one percent.
As Equality Matters reported last year, Chick-fil-A donated $1.9 million to anti-gay groups in 2010 alone through WinShape Foundation. The majority of that money went to groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation, the Fellowship Of Christian Athletes, and the National Christian Foundation.
- Marriage & Family Foundation: $1,188,380
- Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000
- National Christian Foundation: $247,500
- New Mexico Christian Foundation: $54,000
- Exodus International: $1,000
- Family Research Council: $1,000
- Georgia Family Council: $2,500
Windmeyer clarified in an interview with The Advocate that when he saw IRS tax forms last week, provided to him by Chick-fil-A officials, that several of the groups identified by Equality Matters are still indeed receiving donations.Chick-fil-A gave a total of $2,000 to Exodus International and Family Research Council in 2010, which accounts for less than one percent of its total anti-gay donations:
Those groups include the Marriage and Family Foundation, National Christian Foundation and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
What Chick-fil-A was attempting to highlight by showing Windmeyer the tax documents from 2011 is that it had stopped giving to what it considers more activist groups such as Exodus International, which had practiced so-called "conversion therapy," and the Family Research Council, which is labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "hate group."
As Think Progress' Zack Ford notes, the extremely minor reduction in Chick-fil-A's anti-gay donations does nothing to change the company's abysmal track record on LGBT issues:
Chick-fil-A is not ending the bulk of its anti-gay giving. Chick-fil-A is not implementing any LGBT-inclusive policies like nondiscrimination protections, of which it has none. And Dan Cathy is not apologizing for his vitriolic comments — in fact, he's making no public comments of his own whatsoever. In other words, the company is doing nothing to improve its atrocious record on LGBT issues. Cathy's opening mind for friendships with gay people is commendable, but does not justify Windmeyer's blessing of Chick-fil-A franchises on college campuses in the face of protests from LGBT student groups.
Obama Includes Gay Couples In Immigration Reform
President Barack Obama's on Tuesday
unveiled his plans for immigration reform. And unlike a Senate
framework released Monday, Obama's plan includes gay and lesbian
couples.
Under the current law, a gay or lesbian
American citizen cannot sponsor an immigrant spouse for citizenship
due to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which prevents the federal
government from recognizing their marriage.
Speaking Tuesday on CBS This
Morning, Arizona Senator John McCain confirmed that the Senate's
plan does not address the inequity.
The president laid out his objectives
during a speech delivered in Las Vegas. Key principles include
strengthening border security, cracking down on employers hiring
undocumented workers, allowing undocumented immigrants to earn their
citizenship and streamlining legal immigration.
Under that last principle, Obama
included a “keep families together” proposal, which aims to
eliminate backlogs in the family-sponsored immigration system. One
proposal is to allow gay and lesbian U.S. citizens the ability to
seek a visa for a spouse “on the basis of a permanent relationship
with a same-same partner.”
It was not immediate clear what unions
would qualify as a “permanent relationship” since only 9 states
and the District of Columbia allow gay couples to marry.
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