Existential Punk

Followup To Bay Area Gang Rape of Lesbian

In a followup to the horrendous hate crime of the gang rape of a Bay Area lesbian, the AP reports:

RICHMOND, Calif. - Two men and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Thursday.

Officers arrested Humberto Hernandez Salvador at his Richmond home Wednesday night, Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said. The 31-year-old is being held without bail on gang rape, kidnapping and carjacking charges..... Josue Gonzalez, 21, turned himself in Thursday after police announced they were searching for him.

Police on Wednesday also arrested a 15-year-old Richmond boy and a 16-year-old Hercules boy, who were being held at a juvenile detention center on similar charges. Their names were not released.

i really hope they find the fourth man and that justice is served. i am really sorry for the woman who was the victim of deep-rooted hate. i hope she finds help, healing and closure.

Weekly Political Roundup from Mombian

HT Mombian for the following Weekly Political Roundup:

• Gen. Colin Powell told CNN “We definitely should reevaluate [Don't Ask, Don't Tell],” in his strongest statement yet against the policy.
• In related news, a federal appeals court refused to reconsider a ruling that raised doubts about the constitutionality of DADT. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied the Air Force’s request for a rehearing of a decision that allows a challenge filed by Maj. Margaret Witt, who claims she was unfairly dismissed because she is a lesbian. The San Francisco Chronicle reports, “The Air Force has 90 days to appeal to the Supreme Court. . . . Even if the Bush administration appeals before leaving office, Obama could withdraw the appeal.
• Barack Obama has chosen Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles and an open lesbian, to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
• Brandon McInerney, the California 14-year-old accused of killing gay classmate Larry King, was found competent to stand trial. McInerney is charged with murder as a hate crime and is being tried as an adult. If convicted, he could serve 51 years to life.
• David Campos, who is openly gay, was sworn in as a San Francisco supervisor a month early because former Supervisor Tom Ammiano left for his new job as a state assemblyman. Campos came to the United States as a 14-year-old undocumented immigrant from Guatemala.
• The city commission of Miami Beach, Florida, tabled a proposal to reaffirm the city’s domestic partner ordinance, after some LGBT activists claimed it did not go far enough in condemning lack of marriage equality.
• Impact Florida, a chapter of Join the Impact, plans to protest at the wedding of Gov. Charlie Crist today.
• Illinois legislation to allow civil unions for same-sex couples has little chance of coming to a vote as the state deals with the economy and the scandal involving Gov. Rod Blagojevich, reports 365gay.com.
• The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could legalize marriage in the state for same-sex couples.
• The American Family Association of Michigan has been backing efforts to distribute petitions aimed at rescinding a new city ordinance banning discrimination against LGBT individuals in housing, public accommodations and employment. The petitions are being circulated in local churches.
• Conservative activists in Michigan have suggested the Big 3 automakers could save money by eliminating benefits for same-sex partners. Dubious economics, and even more dubious morals.
• New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine responded to the final report of the state’s Civil Union Review Commission, saying that the civil union law “hasn’t done enough to narrow the gap” and same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in New Jersey “sooner rather than later.” Some other politicians fear that next year’s state elections for the governorship and Assembly may interfere with action here.
• Cleveland’s city council voted in favor of a domestic partnership registry. Mayor Frank Jackson has said he will sign it.
• In perhaps the most depressing news of the week, a West Virginia lesbian couple has brought a case to the state Supreme Court, after a lower-court judge ordered that the girl they have been fostering and were about to adopt should be placed with a married, man-woman family instead.
• The Wisconsin State Journal has a nice profile of Jim Yeadon, elected to the Madison City Council in April 1977, the fourth openly gay man to hold elected office in the U.S. (Harvey Milk was fifth.)

Around the world:

• The city council of Hobart, Australia, apologized for a 1988 ban on a stall that was distributing information about decriminalising homosexuality. The ban led arrests and to “arguably the largest act of gay civil disobedience in Australian history.”
• Durham Regional Police in Canada say a hate crime charge won’t be filed in connection with an alleged assault on two lesbian moms at their son’s school in Oshawa last month, as they do not meet the narrow definition of such a crime. The women have admitted to having some history with the man; it is unclear to what extent this impacted the hate-crime decision.
• The Prime Minister of Nepal has told his country’s UN Ambassador to support a statement on the universal rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, which will be read at the UN General Assembly next week.

 

Xtreme Christianity!

Ok, like i just read something REALLY, REALLY scary on Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish about Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Southern California. i have NEVER been a huge fan of Warren and his Purpose Driven Theology.

Wednesday night he appeared on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes where it is revealed he backs the assassination of foreign leaders. This is along the lines of Pat Robertson aka P. Ro. Remember Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. This is NOT the kind of Christianity i adhere to, and in my opinion, is very dangerous. Talk about a slippery slope. This IS insane and not the kind of interpretation of the Bible i would understand God advocating.

Here is part of their conversation:

Last night, on Fox News, Sean Hannity insisted that United States needs to "take out" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Warren said he agreed. Hannity asked, "Am I advocating something dark, evil or something righteous?" Warren responded, "Well, actually, the Bible says that evil cannot be negotiated with. It has to just be stopped.... In fact, that is the legitimate role of government. The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers. Not good-doers. Evildoers."

Sullivan comments saying,

"Some insist that Warren is a centrist, moderate type. He is, in fact, a very hard-core Christianist integrated firmly into the GOP. As such, he sees government as a divine institution authorized to punish evil and promote good - as fundamentalist Christians view those things."

Read more on this problematic story at The Washington Monthly.

1st Openly Gay Cabinet Member?

Huffington Post reports that community organizer, single mom, and open lesbian, Mary Beth Maxwell is being vetted for Labor Secretary by President-elect Obama. If she is  asked to serve, she would become the very first openly gay cabinet member. This is very exciting news for the LGBTQ community! Even if she ends up not being asked, the fact that Obama is vetting her is more encouraging news from a LGBTQ-friendly President-elect!

"For the rainbow cabinet of the nation's first African American president, Mary Beth Maxwell is the perfect labor secretary you've probably never heard of: a gay woman, community organizer and labor leader with an adopted African American son. And this founding executive director of American Rights at Work is about to get the full-court press.

Maxwell already had the strong backing of former Rep. David Bonior, who despite repeated attempts to get his name removed from consideration continues to be on the short list of potential labor secretaries. Bonior, 63 years old, says it is time for his generation to turn over power to a new generation, and Maxwell, whose labor-backed organization pushes for expanded collective bargaining rights, is his pick"

North American Anglicans To Split

 BBC News is reporting that,

    "Traditionalist Anglicans are to formally announce that they are setting up a new church in the US and Canada.

The move will make the long-discussed split in the Anglican Church in North America a reality.

It means in each country there will be two competing churches, both claiming allegiance to the Anglican Communion.

The American Church's liberal stance on homosexuality has led some traditionalists, including some whole dioceses, to leave the Church.

They have instead formed a range of new alliances, often with Churches in Africa.

On Wednesday those disparate groups are uniting to form a new North American Church.

During a celebration service in Illinois, its leaders will unveil a draft constitution for the new Church"

This may be a sad but necessary thing to happen. What do you think?

 

"Scream Bloody Murder"

This Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 9 p.m. EST, CNN presents the documentary "Scream Bloody Murder", reported by Christiane Amanpour. She "reports on the genocide of the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from Armenia in the early 20th century to the Holocaust to present-day Darfur, plus Bosnia, Cambodia, Iraq and Rwanda." (Comcast Cable menu description) PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT DOCUMENTARY!

"I Love Abortion Part Deux"

i had several posts on my "I Love Abortion" post from adamant hard-line pro-lifers. i find it to be a circular argument that is so polarizing, divisive, and really gets us nowhere. But, then i came across my friend's post that i linked to that i felt enlightened the debate and brought another angle in which to view the issue. Yet, these pro-lifers seemed to miss the forest for the trees and spoke the same tired responses from over the years. The same arguments without thinking about or considering the new view. Peter's view that i was trying to convey was not even shot down. IT WAS IGNORED ALTOGETHER! i don't have much patience for that! One of the commenters even left a link to a horrible abortion video that i quickly removed. i told the person to never post something like that again or i would ban them.

A few days ago i found and read this heart-breaking story of a Serbian woman who was raped everyday for a year during the Serbian War. So i wondered then, "Would some of the people who commented on my abortion post REALLY want to force this poor woman who was tortured and raped everyday for a year to have the baby that was the product of rape? Are they really THAT fanatical? If so, that blows me away." She did not want the child even though she knew the risks involved. We have not walked in her shoes and to tell her "abortion is murder" after the ordeal she has been through is heartless in my opinion. If you would tell this woman or another like her that abortion is murder, i find you to have more balls than me and one heartless human being.

Here is part of her story in her own words:

"Every day we were raped. Not only in the house -- they would also take us to the front line for the soldiers to torture us. Then again in the house, in front of the children," Jasmina said through a translator, remembering the 10 other women who were brutalized with her.

"I was in such a bad condition that sometimes I couldn't even recognize my own children. Even though I was in a very bad physical condition they had no mercy at all. They raped me every day. They took me to the soldiers and back to that house.

"The only conversation we had was when I was begging them to kill me. That's when they laughed. Their response was 'we don't need you dead.' "

Once at the front line, there were female soldiers who tortured her with a bottle and then slashed at her throat and wrist when it broke. Then the troops cut one of her breasts with a bayonet, said Jasmina, now looking older than her 35 years.

"It lasted for a year. Every day. ... Not all the women survived." . . .

Jasmina was safe but scarred. "I felt ashamed. I wanted to die, to disappear somehow. I couldn't take care of my children; others did that. I just didn't have the strength or the will."

A new low came when doctors began to treat her in one of the refugee centers around the city of Tuzla.

"They discovered that I was pregnant, six months pregnant, and I didn't know that. It was too late for any abortion, but I kept saying I didn't want that child."

The gynecologist pleaded with Jasmina to have the child and give it up for adoption, saying it was too dangerous to try anything else. But that was no option for Jasmina. "I didn't want to hear about that, about giving birth to that child at all."

Gay Penguins Get Cold Shoulder

Penguins are very cute and whenever i go to a zoo or aquarium, they are some of my favorites to spend time oohing and ahhing over! It's widely known that gayness, and i don't mean happiness here, runs in the animal kingdom. Penguins are a large segment that are gay. Thank you to Terra at Questionable Rationale for a story about Gay Penguins getting the cold shoulder.

"In China, there’s this gay penguin couple living at a zoo. They recently had to be segregated from the rest of the penguins because they kept STEALING eggs from the straight penguins:

“Keepers have segregated the couple after they caught them trying to trick straight birds into parting with their offspring by placing round stones at their feet and then running off with an egg.”

“One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there,” explained a keeper.”

Zoo officials explained that this isn’t discrimination or homophobia, it’s just a safety precaution because who knows what those gay penguins will do once the eggs hatch."

Full story here.

World AIDS Day

HRC reports that today is World AIDS Day and honors those who have suffered and urges support of research and treatment. Please talk to your friends, family and loved ones about AIDS.

12/1/2008

WASHINGTON–On the 20th annual World AIDS Day, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, today called for a renewed focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment policy at the federal level. The organization encouraged the new Administration, along with the Senate and House leadership, to bring a more concentrated approach to the epidemic through the development of a National AIDS Strategy.

“Far too many across the world are still suffering from this terrible and preventable disease,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It is time for a coordinated federal response to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS as well as programs designed to lower HIV incidence, increase access to HIV care, and reduce racial disparities in the epidemic and integrate HIV with STD, viral hepatitis and TB programs at the local level.”

Solmonese urged partnership among advocacy groups, the new presidential administration, and Congress.

“Our allies in Congress understand that a comprehensive effort must, among other things, rely on evidence-based policy and programming, set ambitious and credible targets for improved outcomes, and address social factors that increase vulnerability to infection.  The President-elect and his team know how critical it is to work across communities.  Reaching out to multiple sectors, to those most affected, will be key to the development of a National Aids Strategy,” continued Solmonese.

HRC also urged its members and supporters to participate in a global effort to donate unused computing power to researchers fighting HIV/AIDS around the world by participating in the World Community Grid Challenge. Grid computing joins together many individual computers, creating one of the world’s largest “virtual supercomputers” with massive, fast computational power that far surpasses that of other stand-alone supercomputers.

“World AIDS Day serves to increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education around HIV/AIDS issues,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “So many of us who care about this too-long-unresolved epidemic are looking for ways we can address this crisis. By simply participating in the World Community Grid, you can help those doing critical research access the resources they need to do their work.”

HRC has taken part in the World Community Grid since 2006. During that time, the HRC Team has contributed over 414 years of total run time, at a rank of 35 out of over 20,000 participating organizations.  The HRC Team alone donates 160 days of humanitarian research per calendar day.

HRC is challenging all teams on the World Community Grid to increase their participation and grow the amount of Run Time, which can be translated into years of research time and donated to vital humanitarian research. This is an easy way to volunteer and a way to give back, at no cost, during the Holiday Season and on World AIDS Day.

To participate, please take the following steps.

• If you already participate in the World Community Grid, all you need to do to join the HRC team is to  click on the web address below and then click on the “join now” button on the page that appears.
  http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=LDRMH21ZP1 
• If you have not yet joined World Community Grid, just click on the link below. When you register, our team will be automatically selected for you. You will still need to download and install the World Community Grid software. 
  http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/reg/viewRegister.do?teamID=LDRMH21ZP1

The World AIDS Day Challenge starts on December 1 and ends on December 31, 2008.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

"FindingThe Silver Lining In Defeat"

The Advocate has a great article by HRC President, Joe Solmonese, on the post-election news on the marriage equality fight. It is an op-ed about moving beyond Prop 8 and looking ahead to the new presidential administration and Congress

What follows is an excerpt and the entire article can be read here.

"Three weeks ago, like many LGBT Americans, I woke up with, to say the least, mixed feelings. The euphoria of Barack Obama’s election and the expansion of the pro-LGBT majority in Congress was tempered by sadness and anger at our devastating losses in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, and, of course, California. The silver lining of these defeats has been a renewed focus nationwide on the issue of marriage equality. . ."

California has made progress. In 2000 the anti-gay ballot initiative passed by 21 points. 8 years later, Prop 8 ONLY passed by LESS THAN 5 points. So, in a short time, we HAVE made progress. This past Tuesday night Newt Gingrich's sister, Candace Gingrich, HRC Youth and Campus Outreach Program director, was on MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olbermann to discuss Prop 8 and the fight for marriage equality. The clip is below: