General: April 2006 Archives

Schools in the western United States can forbid a high school student from wearing a T-shirt that denigrates gay and lesbian students, a sharply divided federals appeals court in San Francisco ruled today.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that a T-shirt that proclaimed “Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned” on the front and “Homosexuality Is Shameful” on the back was “injurious to gay and lesbian students and interfered with their right to learn.” The court said that the shirt can be barred on a public high school campus without violating the 1st Amendment. [...]

“Public school students who may be injured by verbal assaults on the basis of a core identifying characteristic such as race, religion, or sexual orientation have a right to be free from such attacks while on school campuses. As Tinker clearly states, students have the right to ‘be secure and to be let alone,’ ” Reinhardt said. (source)

I found this ruling interesting, and a relief. It is an interesting mix between free speech and what is harmful to others. It’s interesting to see how things are changing. I look at issues like this, and I’m energized by the fact that just ten years ago, the court would probably have not taken into account the fact that many gay students would just drop out of school rather than face the hate and intolerance of their peers.

For a long time these students had no ally. It’s good to see the court finally realize that there is more at stake here than free speech. What is at stake is the future of these children who are marginalized. The other thing I think is wonderful is that more and more of these kids are fighting back. They are fighting the oppression they face when a school district doesn’t protect them by filing a lawsuit against that school district, along with those who have tormented them, sometimes for years.

In some ways, it makes me want to re-live my high school years today. Maybe I would have some pay back. On the other hand, it was Idaho and I’m not sure we are to this point in Idaho. But who knows? Things are changing every single day!

Catholic adoption agencies in Worcester, Fall River, and Springfield will not be sanctioned at this time by Governor Mitt Romney’s administration over their refusal to accept gays and lesbians as prospective adoptive parents, even though the policies violate state antidiscrimination laws. [...]

Meanwhile, a major gay rights organization also cited a future change in the political landscape to explain why it has not publicly protested the refusal of those agencies to accept gay applicants. Gary Buseck, legal director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston, said his group realizes that Massachusetts will have a new governor next year, and it expects that he or she will aggressively enforce the state’s antidiscrimination laws. (source)

At the very least, wouldn’t you expect the Governor of the State of Massachusetts to uphold the laws of the state?

Maybe this is a Republican trend. After all, President Bush seems to pick and choose which laws he will uphold and which laws he will break - apparently with no penalty what so ever. And now, Romney is doing the same thing.

This came after complaints by a leading homosexual MP who claimed that the number plate H 8 GAY was offensive to homosexual people. [...]

Jocelyn Carr a businessman from Notting Hill, West London, made the initial complaint to the DVLA after he spotted the number plate on a car. He told the Daily Mirror: “I was amazed. I just couldn’t believe it had been allowed and I assumed it was being driven by a right bigot.” It turns out the car and its number plate is owned by a homosexual couple, who now live in France.

Not to be outdone by common sense and the law, Mr Carr referred the matter to Mr Bryant who is a well known homosexual MP who claimed: “If the DVLA sold H8 JEW or H8 WOG, there would rightly be a public outcry”. As a result the DVLA did withdraw the number and the homosexual couple who owned it said it was purchased as a joke and that they did not intend to offend fellow homosexuals. (source)

It amazes me just how stupid some of us are. This license plate says only one thing to me - that the owner hates gays. Pretty logical. So, some people in Britain complained that it was espousing hatred, and should be revoked. Authorities disagreed at first, but changed their minds after being asked if “H8 Jew” and the like would be allowed.

As it turns out, a gay couple who now live in France got the license plate as a joke. What kind of sick joke is that? Hating gays leads to violence and death to gay people. For gay people to come up with this as a joke is pretty sick. Or perhaps they have a warped sense of humor and have never been on the receiving end of that hatred?

Sometimes I think we are our own worst enemies.

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) — The city council agreed to host a rowing event for gay athletes this summer, despite opposition from residents who see it as a threat to their small-town way of life.

The council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to allow the race, planned as part of the Gay Games competition in Chicago in July, according to the (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald. [...]

Opponents have argued that the games are an inappropriate attempt to legitimize and celebrate the gay “lifestyle,” and that organizers are more interested in making a social statement than competing.

Supporters have criticized the resistance as discriminatory and hateful, and say such opposition underscores the Gay Games’ mission of tearing down gay stereotypes. [...]

One look at the angry letters to the editor that have frequently appeared in the local newspaper reveal it isn’t the logistics of the race that’s on residents’ minds.

“Make no mistake: The purpose of the Gay Games is to legitimize homosexuality and make it appear as a wholesome lifestyle choice,” wrote Tim Coakley, a critic of the games.

In the same day’s paper, Perry and Christine Koste dismissed such views. After wondering if Crystal Lake’s motto should be “homophobic capital of the Midwest,” they asked, “How proud are we to live in such a narrow-minded, backward hateful community?”

One of the Gay Games’ missions is to raise awareness about gays to reduce stereotypes — a point organizers kept discussing during the park district hearings, said spokesman Kevin Boyer.

“It is very difficult to disregard what these people said and just deal with how boats are unloaded and loaded,” Boyer said. “You are going to say this is not right and this is why the Gay Games are needed.” (source)

The only way to grow in life is to actively confront things that are a challenge to you. That can come in many forms.

It can be the accomplishment of a piece of art.

It can be overcoming the loss of someone you cared very deeply for.

It can be coming to terms with that loss.

It can be bringing yourself out of your own little existence and seeing how others live their lives, even when the way they live their lives goes contrary to what you were taught and believe, or are repulsed by.

It can be overcoming an ignorance that you dearly held on to, because it gave you security in not knowing, or not wanting to know the truth about others.

Some people don’t want that growth. As Crystal Lake resident Sunita Stone stated, “Crystal Lake is a G-rated place. There’s no reason to start making things racy. If you want to go to Chicago to do that, that’s fine. I’m not going to go there.”

That is ignorance. Perhaps things will get “racy” when the gay rowers come to town. Perhaps there will be some hugs and an occasional kiss, but I doubt it will be much more than that. In other words, it won’t be anything more than straight people do all the time in public.

The challenge for Crystal Lake will be to overcome that ignorance and intolerance, assuming they even want too. There are people in the town who have been turned off by all the hateful letters in their paper that have used very denigrating terms to describe the visitors to the town. At the end of the day, this will challenge the town to talk about this a lot. I suspect that after the gay visitors have come and gone, many will wonder what all the excitement was about, as they sit back and count the money that the gay visitors brought to their economy. Assuming they will accept it of course. It is after all, “gay money”. My bet is they won’t have such a problem with the money!

In terms of “promoting the gay lifestyle”, that one resident stated, there is absolutely no reason that this group of gay rowers should come to Crystal Lake to “act straight”, as it were. They are gay, and part of this experience should be about acceptance and tolerance.

I’ll tell you something about this country. We are in a state right now of great volatility. We have a choice to start making the effort to understand and accept each other and start to build a stronger nation (and part of that is finding a new President who won’t shamelessly use a political wedge issue to garner a few more votes), OR...

We can continue the hateful and mean spirited comments (all wrapped up in “Christian Love - hate the sin but love the sinner” bullshit), and let the country fall apart. The “union” will fall, and you will end up with people who are labeled as different, or we can use the term “outcasts” if it suits you better, moving to more accepting parts of the country (the conservatives’ “four letter word” for this is “liberal”) where they can live out their lives in relative happiness and...

We already have gay people moving from state to state, trying to find a more accepting place to live. Many are leaving Texas, after it passed a sweeping constitutional amendment against gay marriage and civil unions. Following that, the Governor of Texas actually said that perhaps it was better for gay veterans to leave the State of Texas and look for some other place that would want them. Or, as Andrew Sullivan put it...

I missed some context about Texas governor Rick Perry’s comment that gay Texan couples who want to form stable relationships should go to another state. He was actually responding to a question about gay war veterans. Insult to injury. What do you call a gay man who risks his life to serve his country? A faggot.

I’ve read of people moving out of Virginia and of one gay man thinking of leaving Ohio because he fears he may lose his adopted child becasue the state is considering outlawing gay adoption. And when and if an amendment to the U.S. Constitution passes (or even mention of trying for it again) goes forward, how many will leave this country altogether.

I know... many of you reading this will say, “...let ’em go. We don’t need queers in this country.” What you don’t understand is what a fool you are. At the core of this issue is anyone who doesn't fit the Ozzy and Harriet model of what a citizen should be. This time, it’s homosexuals. Who will be the next group? Mexicans? Jews? These attitudes are tearing us apart, day - by - day.

I leave you with this...

The Left today widely acknowledges the emergence in the United States of three fundamentals of Fascism: corporatism, imperialism, and repression. What is forgotten is the fourth, equally critical prop to a Fascist state: scapegoats. Without them, even “good” citizens will question themselves and their government. With them, the frustration of the volk can play itself out on the scapegoats, without threat to the state. (source)

Related Article
March 8, 2006 - Crystal Lake gives OK to Gay Games