"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
April 16, 1953

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS…
…and all through the nation
fundamentalists joined in glad celebration.

Jerry was jumping. Pat was outspoken.
Jim had the airwaves virtually smoking.

Bishops were chanting. Baptists were singing.
High Church and Low Church their voices were ringing.

‘If gays get the rights the rest of us do,
marriage is doomed, the family is too.’

Their warnings were false and their threats outrageous
but lies like a virus are terribly contagious.

Now they’d amend the Law of the Land
to support and enforce their antigay stand.

This isn’t about Lesbians, Gays, T’s or Bi’s.
This isn’t about sex, creed, or color of eyes.

Our freedoms are threatened. Our rights are at stake.
To do nothing at all‘s mistake we can’t make.

We can’t let them do it. We can’t just stand by
while the nation’s deceived by their antigay lie.

If we don’t confront them. If we sit and wait
we’ll wake up one morning and find it too late.

So take up the banner. Join in the fight.
Awaken your neighbors on left and on right.

Give time and give money. Write letters and call
politicians and pastors, please, contact them all.

Buy presents for children. Eat, drink and be merry.
But don’t let your guard down, be wise and be wary.

For if you’re a hetero, bi, T or gay
you’ll work for your rights or see them taken away.

The tools of nonviolence are ready and waiting.
Do justice with Soulforce. Let love stop the hating.

A Seasonal Parody by Mel White, Executive Director of
Soulforce

Coexistence
It was a special moment Thursday, December 18th to be at the dedication of Florida Holocaust Museum's "Coexistence" outdoor exhibit in South Straub Park and see the banner unfurl noting the corporate and community sponsors -- including St. Petersburg Gay Pride.

I hope y'all will take the time to visit "Coexistence," now on exhibit through the end of January -- with the vandalism remaining intact making it all the more powerful.

Ed. Cassidy
Marketing Director
St. Petersburg Times

Bring It Home For The Holidays
Talk Turkey with Your Family & Friends
A Message From the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

On November 18, 2003, the highest court in Massachusetts declared that denying same sex couples the right to marry violates the state's constitution. The court gave the legislature 180 days to change state law to end this discrimination. This means that in a few months, history will be made: same sex couples will be able to be married in the eyes of the law in Massachusetts.

In response to the court's fair-minded decision, anti-gay organizations across the nation have gone into overdrive, mobilizing thousands of their supporters to contact members of Congress and state legislators. Their goal is to bombard legislators during the end-of-year recess with demands that they move anti-marriage legislation as soon as they go back to work early in 2004. (Most state legislatures are recessed for the rest of the year; Congress will be on break through most of January.)

It is important to understand the gravity of this situation and that the attacks are not only about "gay marriage." Our opponents seek to permanently enshrine our second class citizenship in the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions across the country. They want not only to preclude the recognition of marriage for same sex couples, but to restrict or eliminate other forms of partner recognition such as civil unions and domestic partnerships. They plan to poison the national debate with lies and distortions about our lives and relationships as a divisive wedge issue in the 2004 elections.

Simply put, this is a watershed moment in our civil rights movement; we cannot prevail without help.

Over the next few days, many of us will be fortunate enough to celebrate the holidays with loving families and straight friends. Because we so rarely talk about it, most of our relatives and friends have no idea how few rights LGBT people have or that the religious and political right are launching this vicious and dehumanizing campaign against us. Moreover, most of us have never asked our family and friends to take a stand for us or do anything to help us win equal rights.

Now is that time. The next few weeks are critical. Over the holidays, we encourage you to summon up the courage to reach out to your family and friends and ask for their help. Let each one of them know what's going on and the way in which our lives are being distorted for political gain. Let them know that this is not some abstract political debate. Let them know that it's personal, that it affects you, your future, your civil rights, and the lives of people close to you. Ask each one of them to stand beside you and to speak out for you when the attacks and jokes come, as they inevitably will.

And finally, ask each one of them to contact their state legislators and their representatives in Washington to oppose all efforts to ban marriage for same sex couples, including the so-called "Federal Marriage Amendment." The most effective thing to do would be to have your family members and friends request meetings with their elected officials in their home districts. (Phone numbers for home district offices can be found in the blue pages of your phone book. Contact information for your representatives in Congress may be obtained by calling the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 or by logging on to the House Web site and the Senate Web site.

If you aren't able to see family and friends in person, give them a call or send them a letter or email. A sample script for calls and a sample letter also appears at [Click Here].

You can do it. We know this will be difficult for many of us, so some helpful tips follow.

Please, bring it home for the holidays and talk turkey with your loved ones.

CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL TO HONOR MEMORY OF TRANSGENDER MURDER VICTIM RESHAE (LUCUS) McCAULEY

LARGO, Florida, December 19, 2003. Please join Transgender FORGE, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Florida, and the friends and family of Reshae (Lucus) McCauley in honoring her memory at a silent candle light vigil to be held on Sunday, December 21, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. at Largo Central Park, 101 Central Park Drive, in the heart of Largo.

Nearly two weeks ago, Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was shocked and saddened to learn of Reshae’s brutal murder. Although Reshae’s murder was widely reported in the media, it took a while before the word got out that it was a member of our LGBT community who had been killed. The media reports all listed the murder victim as Lucas McCauley. Many of her LGBT friends new her as Reshae.

On the night she was killed, Reshae spend the evening at Z109 (formerly Lost Boys and Lost & Found), a Largo club that caters to the gay and transgender community. She was seen at the bar that night with William McHenry, a man who witnesses reported they had never seen before. A few days later, McHenry was arrested at his girlfriend’s house, where McHenry also lived, and charged with Reshae’s murder. Police also found a knife and a pair of jeans splattered with what looked like blood at the home of McHenry’s girlfriend.

The undercurrent of vulnerability and fear that often pervades our community has suddenly leapt to the surface.

Please join us on Sunday, December 21, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. for a silent candlelight vigil in Reshae’s memory. The vigil will be a silent testimony to peace, dignity and acceptance for all people.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Janice Carney, E.D. Transgender FORGE 727-399-0305

BUSH DECLARES WAR ON US - Crossing this line in the sand will provoke civil disobedience across country, says National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

December 16, 2003 - President Bush told Diane Sawyer in an interview that aired this evening that he would support a Constitutional amendment (known as the Federal Marriage Amendment or FMA) that denies same-sex couples the right to equal marriage.

PRESIDENT BUSH: "If necessary, I will support a constitutional amendment which would honor marriage between a man and a woman, codify that, and will - the position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they're allowed to make, so long as it's embraced by the state or [?] start at the state level. Let me tell you, the court I thought overreached its bounds as a court. It did the job of the legislature. It was a very activist court in making the decision it made. As you know, I'm a person who believes in judicial restraint, as opposed to judicial activism that takes the place of the Legislative Branch." [Click Here] to see remainder of transcript.]

"To support a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would blatantly discriminate against a group of Americans is unconscionable," said Matt Foreman, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director. "We consider this a declaration of war on gay America. We cannot and will not be silent in the face of this attempt to enshrine our community with second class citizenship in this nation's most sacred document. The President is clearly pandering to the political and religious extremists that are his base. We did not ask for this fight, but if the President wants one, he will have one. And that fight will involve civil disobedience across this country."

Making 'Room at the Inn' For Transgender People
A new guide from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Transgender Civil Rights Project provides concrete recommendations for shelters on how to make shelters safe for Transgender people.

"I don't think most Americans have any idea how much discrimination transgender people face," said Matt Foreman, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director. "If they did, more people would be doing something about it. Transgender people who lose their jobs because of discrimination, then lose their homes because they can no longer pay the rent or mortgage, are still likely to get a 'your kind is not welcome here' from an emergency shelter. I am hopeful that this guide will be a tool for shelters to make changes so that all people have a safe and warm place to stay."


"Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People" is a joint publication of the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Earlier this year, the National Coalition for the Homeless adopted a nondiscrimination resolution covering transgender people. The guide combines the transgender expertise of the Task Force with NCH's expertise on shelters to produce a usable guide that is suitable for homeless shelters across the country.

Most homeless shelters are segregated by sex, and, most shelters, if they accept transgender residents, require that they be housed with members of the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender women who identify and live as women but were born male report that male residents harass, sexually proposition, and sometimes even assault them. Transgender men who identify and live as men but were born female are sometimes placed in men's shelters that do not have privacy in bathrooms (no stall doors) or in showers. Gender-based dress codes are also a significant problem, especially for transgender youth in shelters who can face discipline for simply dressing according to their own gender identity.

The problem of unsafe shelters for transgender people is especially alarming given the frequent and pervasive discrimination that transgender people face. For example, many transgender people are not welcome in their family home, have been harassed out of school, and cannot acquire employment. Due to this discrimination, transgender people have an increased need for social services including homeless shelters. Unfortunately, when shelter policies, other residents, and the service providers themselves discriminate, which is an all too common reality, transgender people often have no where to go.

The Guide is designed for shelters that want to provide safe shelter for transgender people but are not sure how to do so. The Guide provides many answers to concerns about safety and privacy for all shelter residents, including transgender residents, the bulk of which are addressed without monetary expenditures.

"Our goal was to ground our policy recommendations in the reality of shelter life. That is why the recommendations are based on successes at real shelters across the country," said Lisa Mottet, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Legislative Lawyer for the Transgender Civil Rights Project and lead author of the Guide. Recommendations in the Guide are primarily derived from solutions forwarded by shelters and advocates in Boston, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, DC.

Mottet developed her expertise on making shelters safe for transgender people while working with a coalition of groups in Washington, DC. For her work, she received the "Human Services Award" from Transgender Health Empowerment, Inc., a local transgender organization.

In addition to its own distribution, the Task Force and NCH are encouraging local activists to share this guide with local homeless shelters, assist them with policy development, and provide transgender-sensitivity training for shelter staff.

"Transitioning Our Shelters: A Guide to Making Homeless Shelters Safe for Transgender People" is available for free download from the Task Force publications library.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Transgender Civil Rights Project provides legislative and strategy assistance, including evaluation of legislative language, to activists and organizations working to pass trans-inclusive anti-discrimination bills or to add transgender protections to existing laws.

Be Prepared for Ruling on Florida’s Antigay Adoption Ban
an Equality Florida Action Alert
(Tampa, FL) Any day, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to hand down a decision on the legality of Florida’s ongoing antigay adoption ban. Florida is the only state in the country that specifically excludes gay and lesbian individuals or couples from adopting children.

While 3,500 children await adoption in Florida, Gov. Bush argues that the ban should be upheld, and thousands of families eliminated from consideration.

Approximately 30% of all Florida adoptions are single parent adoptions. In fact, the Department of Children and Family Services recently changed its internal policy to reflect this reality and discontinued the practice of showing favoritism for married couples over single parents.

Regardless of how the court rules, Equality Florida is asking our citizen activists to make every effort to join us in celebration or protest at a rally in major cities across Florida.

We will gather at the below listed location at 6:00 PM on whatever day the decision is handed down. We will notify you through Equality Florida’s Action Alert e-mail listserv as early in the day as possible.

Please be prepared to join us in celebration or protest for a decision that has national implications. If Florida’s adoption ban stands, many other states are prepared to implement similar measures to deny lesbian and gay parents the right to adopt. Thousands more children from across the nation could be without future adoptive families as a result of this ruling.

Equality Florida Office / The Center
3708 Swann Ave, Tampa, FL 33609
(813) 870-3735 (x214)

"Speaking to Power"
a NOW with Bill Moyers Special Edition
PBS Airdate: December 26, 2003 at 9 p.m.
(check local listings)

In an American religious climate growing increasingly fundamentalist, increasingly conservative, and increasingly intolerant of difference, Manhattan's Riverside Church is a beacon, and a remarkable house of God. A tower of steel and stone, it has become a monolithic skyscraper in America's religious landscape and a towering comfort to those who worship there. An oasis of diversity, Riverside is a thoroughly American Protestant church.

In its preeminent pulpit resides Reverend James Forbes, shaped by the inequities of racism, guided by a different religious impulse than many of his contemporaries, and buoyed by a seemingly boundless spiritual reserve.

On December 26, 2003 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), in "Speaking to Power" NOW with Bill Moyers tells the story of this extraordinary place of worship and profiles its spiritual leader, whose candid observations of contemporary public policy and religious doctrine stand in marked contrast to fundamentalist Christianity. Revealed in this compelling sixty-minute documentary are subtle and profound changes in the religious fabric of America, and the prospects for peace and tolerance in troubled times.

This received from AU.

Unmasking Ex-Gay Myths
by Kevin Spence
Washington Blade 12/5/03

Wayne Besen, former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, radio show host, prolific author and MCC friend, is currently on a 7-month, 55-city tour to promote his new book, "Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth," which the Harrington Park Press recently published.

Besen, A former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, first captured the national media's attention in September 2000, after
snapping a photo of "ex-gay" poster boy John Paulk in Mr. P's, a gay bar in D.C.

Paulk, an outspoken advocate for "ex-gay" ministries, appeared on the cover of Newsweek with his "ex-lesbian" wife in 1998. But after widespread news reports about his apparent aberration from Exodus International, a conservative Christian group for individuals who support the controversial claim that the sexual orientation of gay people can be changed with counseling and prayer, Paulk was removed as board chair.

"This, to me, is more than a book tour. I have this feeling that the right wing is going to use this more than ever this year," says Besen, 33, of a potential backlash from the religious and conservative right.

Referring to opposition gays in the U.S. are facing from the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches, as well as the recent Massachusetts ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, he says: "The right wing base might turn to these ministries as evidence in their favor. I want to make sure people have this resource in case conditions produce a rebirth of the ex-gay ministries."

Besen is no novice when it comes to unearthing the foibles of ex-gay ministries, or what he termed, "politics under lies." His introduction to reparative therapy happened at home when he was 18. After he told his parents he is gay, they left a disturbing cassette on his bed for him to listen to. "Gay and Unhappy" was a combination of new age music and anti-gay monotone messages. Besen listened to the tape three times. He came up with this conclusion in his book: "All I've got to do to become straight, according to the tape, is figure out when you and Mom became lousy, distant parents." Since then, Besen said his parents have not subjected him to reparative therapy. Besen, who says he has a happy and healthy relationship with his parents - and always has - even dedicates his book to them.

While working for HRC, the largest national gay political organization in the nation, Besen published "Finally Free," an exposé on the "ex-gay" movement. He has spent four years examining "ex-gay" ministries and reparative therapies. After interviewing leaders such as Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, a Columbia University professor who, in 1973, helped persuade the American Psychiatric Association to stop defining homosexuality as a mental illness, but then reversed this stance in a more recent study, Besen concluded, "it was a stunt to possibly get him back into the news."

Spitzer's latest study claims that through therapy gay men and lesbians can change their sexual orientation. "Dr. Spitzer recruited the vast majority of his subjects in his terribly flawed study from the right wing," says Besen. "It really amounted to the Family Research Council who sent him [Spitzer] ex-gays on the payroll."

Spitzer defended his sampling by saying: "There's no doubt that large numbers of gays who enter [reparative therapy] are unsuccessful. These people [in the study] were recruited because they were claiming benefit, and had offered to be in the study," he told the Columbia Spectator.

Others, who also considered the subjects too biased, criticized his findings. Ninety-eight percent of the subjects described themselves as "devoutly religious," pointing to recruitment of the subjects by the ex-gay ministry. Of Spitzer's most recent findings, Besen added: "Once [Spitzer] was very well-respected. Now, he tarnished his image."

Besen also immersed himself in meetings of "ex-gay" groups. Although he would not divulge which group he infiltrated, he references Love in Action, Exodus International, and Homosexuals Anonymous in his book. "One woman comes to mind who exemplified what's going on here. She talked of committing suicide - she thought she was going to hell. She knew [reparative therapy] wasn't working but she was afraid to leave the ministries. She was stuck in a purgatory of pain. The conversation was heartbreaking. She thought it was her fault, for not praying enough," Besen said. Techniques like playing sports to make one heterosexual, Prozac prescriptions and gaining weight were brought forth as cures from the ex-gay
ministry, wrote Besen.

Randy Thomas, a spokesperson with Exodus International, does not agree. "What I can say is that gender-affirming role modeling is way simplistic. I don't think that is an elemental part of the ex-gay ministry," said Thomas of the 125 ex-gay ministries dotting North America.

Besen said, "Exorcism is a hallmark of these ministries. People go through many exorcisms and spend a lot of money on doctors who give them." He insists that many figureheads for the ex-gay ministry enjoy working with the media - the gay media, in particular - because it is the only contact with gay men and lesbians they can still retain as ex-gays.

"I think what the culture war has done was try to make ex-gays the opposite of the gay community," Thomas said. "The media and a few people have made us into the perceived enemy. Just because I'm ex-gay doesn't mean that I haven't faced discrimination." Thomas, who is a "reformed" gay man of 11 years, said that, in fact, he faces more persecution from the gay media than from the straight media. "I think there's a lot of intolerance in the gay community - because they don't accept I'm living my life for myself. They think I would rather attack them," he said.

As for Besen's assertion that most prominent ex-gay leaders are substance abusers, Thomas said: "I know a number who have, including myself, abused drugs, until we turned to our faith. If they're in Exodus leadership, they do not suffer from that today."

Reaction to the book from the right has been muted. David Gasak, with Focus on the Family, said: "I'm not in the capacity to give you a comment about it." Even Thomas said he has not read the book yet, although he talked of the ex-gay ministries, in general. "The people who are seeking our help do so of their own free will. They're grown adults. We don't inhibit someone's self-determination in any way," Thomas said.

As for Paulk, the person who, in many ways, caused Besen to embark on his current nationwide book tour, Thomas said: "I think he made a mistake three years ago. He's doing quite well. He just celebrated the birth of his third son."

But for Besen, subversion is the ex-gay antidote for homosexuality. "They rule by mudslinging, fear and bully tactics," he says. "But that's okay. I'm confident with my message."

AMERICANS UNITED BLASTS HOUSE FOR APPROVING D.C. SCHOOL VOUCHER SCHEME
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today criticized the House of Representatives for approving a wide-ranging legislative package that includes voucher subsidies for religious and other private schools in the District of Columbia. The House voted 242-176 to approve the omnibus spending package Dec. 8.

Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said the House has made a serious mistake. “Voucher schemes divert scarce dollars from our public school system to private religious schools,” Lynn said. “They are bad for religion, bad for public education and bad for the taxpayers.”

The voucher provision of the bill would earmark $14 million for a five-year plan described as a pilot project. If passed, vouchers worth up to $7,500 will be used to pay for tuition for some students to attend religious and other private schools. The plan will be administered by a private organization selected by U.S. Education Secretary Roderick Paige.

Lynn said the scheme is fraught with constitutional problems and asked AU members and other voucher opponents to urge senators to reject the omnibus legislation. “This bill has become a pork-laden Christmas tree that threatens to catch fire and burn up the Constitution,” Lynn said. “Americans United calls on the Senate to extinguish this dangerous legislation and focus strictly on improving D.C.’s public schools.”

Lynn called on the Senate to reject the omnibus bill. The $328-billion legislative package is controversial because it contains many pork-barrel provisions. The Senate is not scheduled to debate the legislation until next month.

Support Gay and Lesbian rights in Gulfport reported by CUSP
There will be a Gulfport organizing meeting Tuesday, Dec 9 from 7-9PM at the home of Karen Gates, 4920 27th Ave S in Gulfport.

It will be an informational meeting to get people organized around the Gulfport ordinance relating to discrimination regarding gender identification and sexual orientation. Anyone who visits, lives, or spends money in Gulfport may attend. There will be someone here from Equality Florida to do the presentation and answer any questions. If you have any questions, please contact Karen gates at 727-327-6826.

National Black Justice Coalition Announces National Campaign for LGBT Civil Rights

The National Black Justice Coalition, an ad hoc consortium of African American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community leaders, held a press conference this afternoon at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to announce a new national campaign to generate support for the civil rights of LGBT people, and to call upon African American civil rights organizations and political leaders to take a strong position against the proposed discriminatory Federal Marriage Amendment. The leaders announced a major fundraising drive and a targeted ad campaign to generate African American support for marriage equality.

Statement by National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman: "The national campaign announced today is a welcome and essential step to counter the organized campaign of the religious and political right to use 'gay marriage' to pit the African American community against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender community. The people and organizations who are behind this callous manipulation are masters at using wedge issues to divide America. If you take their hoods off, you'll see the same faces who vehemently oppose affirmative action, strongly support capital punishment, gleefully ridicule welfare recipients, and consistently block hate crimes and non-discrimination legislation.

"As today's press conference shows, our two communities cannot be divided. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender African Americans have been key leaders at every juncture of our movement's progress and non-gay African American elected officials have been our staunchest allies. This is more than rhetorical posturing. The proof of our shared values is the way in which our communities vote: time and again, exit polls show that African Americans and gay people are the most loyal supporters the Democratic party has."

Those speaking at today's press conference included: Ken Reeves, City Councilor, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Rev. Michaele Moore, God's Living Spirit Church; Donna Payne, Human Rights Campaign; Keith Boykin, Bestselling Author; Mandy Carter, Freedom To Marry Steering Committee and Southerners on New Ground; Alicia Toby and Saundra Heath, black lesbian couple from New Jersey; and, Dr. Alvin Williams and Nigel Simon, black gay couple from Washington.

AU Charges Towey Remarks Show Bush Administration Does Not Intend To Be Even-Handed In ‘Faith-Based’ Initiative

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has criticized White House “Faith Czar” James Towey for suggesting that “fringe” religious groups won’t get funding under the Bush administration’s “faith-based” initiative.

During a Nov. 26 online “Ask the White House” question-and-answer session, Towey was asked about the possibility of Pagan groups getting tax funding to provide services to the poor and needy.

According to the White House transcript of the session, Towey replied, “I haven't run into a pagan faith-based group yet, much less a pagan group that cares for the poor! Once you make it clear to any applicant that public money must go to public purposes and can't be used to promote ideology, the fringe groups lose interest. Helping the poor is tough work and only those with loving hearts seem drawn to it.”

In a letter delivered to Towey today, Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn asked the administration official to apologize to members of the Pagan community and reaffirm his support for the principle that government will treat all religions equally.

“Your reply is problematic for several reasons,” Lynn wrote to Towey. “Most troublingly, it implies that the Bush administration intends to discriminate against certain faith-groups from the outset. This is a curious stand for you to take, as you have repeatedly insisted that the administration will not play favorites among religious groups under the faith-based initiative.”

Lynn urged Towey to retract the comments, writing, “I urge you today, first of all, to apologize to the members of America’s Wiccan/Pagan community and, secondly, to reaffirm the administration’s commitment to the principle that no religious groups will be summarily excluded from faith-based programs because of prejudicial or inaccurate perceptions of any religious organization.”

Lynn charged that Towey and other administration officials have misled the American people by claiming that the faith-based initiative will be open to all religious groups but then asserting that certain groups will be summarily denied funding.

“Government can’t play favorites when it comes to religion,” Lynn said. “If religiously affiliated social services are funded, it must be done on an even-handed basis. Mr. Towey’s recent comments indicate that the administration does not seem to understand this basic principle.

“This incident demonstrates once again that the ‘faith-based’ initiative is a bad idea,” Lynn concluded. “When government tries to fund religious ministries, constitutional problems are inevitable.”

Positive Peacemaking
from MaryLee Valenti

Martin Luther King, Jr., said it well: "True peace is more than the absence of war; it is the presence of justice."

Many peace activists are tired of playing the old tapes of reaction and response to war and warmongers. They are working on positive peace-building initiatives based upon justice and reducing the disparities in wealth around the world. One important project, endorsed by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Bread for the World, Pax Christi USA, and others, is The Global Wellness Fund Treaty, which would shift nations' resources from military expenditures to development projects.

Now that's turning swords into plowshares.

Government Surveillance of Peaceful Protestors
from: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

A confidential FBI memo confirms that the federal government is targeting innocent Americans engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent. In the memo the FBI advocates spying on peaceful protesters and indicates that protesters who engage in civil disobedience or other disruptive acts should be treated like potential terrorists. It confirms that the government has monitored the actions of peaceful protestors and wants intelligence about protestors to be reported to the nearest FBI field office or terrorism task force.

The ACLU believes that peaceful protestors should not be treated as potential terrorists nor spied upon by federal government agents. Not only is this a misuse of public funds that could be used to find real terrorists, it chills free speech activities and inhibits the public debate on important issues. The ACLU wants to let Attorney General Ashcroft know that they oppose government surveillance of peaceful protests.

Click here for more information.

US Senate Joins Attack on GLBTIQ
HRC reports that yesterday, two days before Thanksgiving, five US Senators (Wayne Allard, R-Colo.; Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Jim Bunning, R-Ky.; James Inhofe, R-Okla.; and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 26, a harmful and divisive Senate counterpart to the anti-gay "Federal Marriage Amendment" that has been unfortunately gaining support in the House since May. This resolution seeks to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate against GLBT families by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

The amendment seeks to permanently deny the right to marry, as well as virtually all other forms of legal recognition to same-sex couples, including the most basic legal protections. It further seeks to circumvent the right of state legislatures and courts to make decisions on basic government-administered protections, thereby forever denying gay and lesbian Americans fundamental rights and benefits such as hospital visitation, Social Security, inheritance and health care benefits.

Click here to visit HRC’s full press release on S.J. Resolution 26.

The Power of Marriage
By DAVID BROOKS, OP-ED COLUMNIST
Published: November 22, 2003 in the New York Times

Anybody who has several sexual partners in a year is committing spiritual suicide. He or she is ripping the veil from all that is private and delicate in oneself, and pulverizing it in an assembly line of selfish sensations.

But marriage is the opposite. Marriage joins two people in a sacred bond. It demands that they make an exclusive commitment to each other and thereby takes two discrete individuals and turns them into kin.

Few of us work as hard at the vocation of marriage as we should. But marriage makes us better than we deserve to be. Even in the chores of daily life, married couples find themselves, over the years, coming closer together, fusing into one flesh. Married people who remain committed to each other find that they reorganize and deepen each other's lives. They may eventually come to the point when they can say to each other: "Love you? I am you."

Today marriage is in crisis. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. Worse, in some circles, marriage is not even expected. Men and women shack up for a while, produce children and then float off to shack up with someone else.

Marriage is in crisis because marriage, which relies on a culture of fidelity, is now asked to survive in a culture of contingency. Today, individual choice is held up as the highest value: choice of lifestyles, choice of identities, choice of cellphone rate plans. Freedom is a wonderful thing, but the culture of contingency means that the marriage bond, which is supposed to be a sacred vow till death do us part, is now more likely to be seen as an easily canceled contract.

Men are more likely to want to trade up, when a younger trophy wife comes along. Men and women are quicker to opt out of marriages, even marriages that are not fatally flawed, when their "needs" don't seem to be met at that moment.

Still, even in this time of crisis, every human being in the United States has the chance to move from the path of contingency to the path of marital fidelity — except homosexuals. Gays and lesbians are banned from marriage and forbidden to enter into this powerful and ennobling institution. A gay or lesbian couple may love each other as deeply as any two people, but when you meet a member of such a couple at a party, he or she then introduces you to a "partner," a word that reeks of contingency.

You would think that faced with this marriage crisis, we conservatives would do everything in our power to move as many people as possible from the path of contingency to the path of fidelity. But instead, many argue that gays must be banished from matrimony because gay marriage would weaken all marriage. A marriage is between a man and a woman, they say. It is women who domesticate men and make marriage work.

Well, if women really domesticated men, heterosexual marriage wouldn't be in crisis. In truth, it's moral commitment, renewed every day through faithfulness, that "domesticates" all people.

Some conservatives may have latched onto biological determinism (men are savages who need women to tame them) as a convenient way to oppose gay marriage. But in fact we are not animals whose lives are bounded by our flesh and by our gender. We're moral creatures with souls, endowed with the ability to make covenants, such as the one Ruth made with Naomi: "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried."

The conservative course is not to banish gay people from making such commitments. It is to expect that they make such commitments. We shouldn't just allow gay marriage. We should insist on gay marriage. We should regard it as scandalous that two people could claim to love each other and not want to sanctify their love with marriage and fidelity.

When liberals argue for gay marriage, they make it sound like a really good employee benefits plan. Or they frame it as a civil rights issue, like extending the right to vote.

Marriage is not voting. It's going to be up to conservatives to make the important, moral case for marriage, including gay marriage. Not making it means drifting further into the culture of contingency, which, when it comes to intimate and sacred relations, is an abomination.

ARE YOU GLBT AND OVER 70?
Elizabeth Stewart (aka The Bitch Of Dupont Circle) has a new research project. She is conducting a research survey on sexual satisfaction among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people 70 years of age and over. This will be the substance of an article she is writing for the magazine, IN THE FAMILY, a serious publication which explores the lives and relationships of GLBTs. Their Winter 2004 issue will be taking a look at those senior citizens. She has been doing lots of research, and there is very little, if anything at all, published on this important topic. The editor says the article will be read by thousands of mental health professionals around the country who work with senior citizens in the gay community.

Are you eligible and interested? If so, please contact her to participate in the survey, which is 13 really interesting questions and will take about 10 minutes to complete, depending on how much you care to write. Others, please spread the word about the survey to any 70+ GLBTs--including seniors' organizations or online seniors' communities. The more people who respond, the more accurate picture she will be able to draw about sexuality among our elder community.

All responses will be anonymous. She doesn't need to know names or any other identifying information. Snail mail responses are also acceptable, but she needs them all by Dec. 5. For the actual survey form and any other information, email: Elizabeth F. Stewart

Uhuru Group Staging Demonstration Tomorrow
St. Petersburg's CUSP has broadcast notice that they are sponsoring a demonstration Friday, November 21st from 8:30-10:00 AM at the corner of 2nd St and 2nd Ave N (Baywalk) to "call for an end to police violence against Africans and to stand up for free speech in the face of this brutality.

"Three men's lives are at stake. All are charged with felonies. Two for inciting to riot because they challenged the police as they brutalized a man they were arresting.

"These men are CIVIL RIGHTS HEROES who had the courage to say no to this kind of behavior by police. There was no riot. This is a strategy by the police to intimidate the African working class in our community."

please note the disclaimer at the end of the links

Help Ensure Proper Judicial Oversight from Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

Congress is very close to giving government law enforcement agents even broader powers to force businesses to turn over sensitive private information about their customers without any judicial review.

Part of a little-noticed provision that is pending before a conference committee, the expanded powers would allow the government to access your travel records, car purchases, stock trades or other purchases and stop you from finding out that these records have been searched. The government could undertake these searches for loosely defined 'national security' purposes even if it has no reasonable suspicion that you were involved in a crime.

Click here for more information.

Will Massachusetts' Governor Implement the Court's Decision on Marrriage? from Sheri A. Lunn, NGLFT Director of Communications

Washington, D.C., November 19, 2003 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force yesterday called upon Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to uphold his oath of office by working to implement - rather than oppose - yesterday's landmark court decision finding that denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry violates the state's constitution. Immediately after the decision, Romney said that he would do all he could to stop marriage licenses from going out to "nontraditional" couples.

NGLTF's Executive Director Matt Foreman writes "On January 3, 2003 - just over 10 months ago - Mitt Romney swore to faithfully discharge all the duties incumbent on him under the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts. Yesterday, the state's highest court found that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates that constitution and gave the legislature 180 days to facilitate the inclusion of same-sex couples in the state's marriage laws. The language of the decision is clear and unambiguous and does not - as Governor Romney claims - give the state the option of creating some separate and inherently unequal framework for same-sex couples.

By saying he will do all that he can to prevent the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the Governor is violating his oath of office. Under his oath, the Governor has only one option - to faithfully and agreeably discharge all the duties incumbent on him under the state constitution - and that means working to implement the decision. As important, he is falling into the hands of those who will use this decision to divide the people of Massachusetts and America. We urge him to step back and do his constitutional duty."

Oath of Office for Governor of Massachusetts:
"I do solemnly swear and affirm, that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as: according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably, to the rules and regulations of the constitution, and the laws of this commonwealth -- So help me, God."

November 18 Statement from Gov. Romney:
"Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. The exact equivalent to marriage is also reserved to a man and a woman. Over the next several months, I will work with legislative leadership and other legislators and community leaders to decide what kind of statute we can fashion, which is consistent with the law. We obviously have to follow the law as provided by the SJC. Even if we don't agree with it, we are going to follow it in terms of preparing legislation. We will initiate a constitution amendment process that will be consistent with what I think the feelings are of the people of the commonwealth."

ACLU Opposes Writing Intolerance into the U.S. Constitution from Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

In issuing a bold ruling against discrimination yesterday, the Massachusetts State Supreme Court has emboldened those who want to amend the U.S. Constitution to deny the right to marry to same-sex couples in committed relationships.

The Massachusetts ruling recognized that gay and lesbian Americans serve in our military, keep our communities safe as firefighters and police officers, staff our hospitals, build our cities and pay taxes. The Massachusetts court ruled that the state cannot deny to gay couples the same marital legal rights in pensions, health insurance, hospital visitations and inheritance that other committed couples enjoy.

Click here for more information.

Massachusetts Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage!
A Message From Rev. Troy D. Perry, MCC Founder and Moderator

Today, gays and lesbians took another historic step forward in the march for equality as the Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruled 4-3 that same-sex couples are legally entitled to marry under the state constitution.

In its decision, the Court stated, "The state has no reason to ban same-sex marriage."

Unlike the Canadian marriage court decision which was immediately implemented, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling ordered the state Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days. The decision stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the couples who challenged the law.

In July of this year in Toronto, Canada, I legally wed my partner of 18 years, Phillip Ray DeBlieck. During our wedding, I told the press I believed that at least one state in the United States would rule in favor of same-sex marriage within five years. I had no idea this would happen in five months.

I salute community leaders and activists in Massachusetts who have worked tirelessly to bring equality to that state's marriage laws. I am especially pleased to recognize MCC clergyperson Rev. Joan Saniuk, whose work on behalf of marriage equality has made a profound difference in that state.

Our work is not done, and this victory is not final. There is already a strong movement in the Massachusetts Legislature to circumvent this court ruling with an anti-gay amendment to the state constitution.

History will view today's decision in Goodridge et al. vs. Department of Public Health as one of the most significant steps in our ongoing struggle for GLBT equality under the law.

Metropolitan Community Churches, which performs more than 6000 same-sex weddings each year, celebrates today's decision and reaffirms its work to assure that equality under the law is provided to all citizens.

"Education Policy: Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth" by Sean Cahill and Jason Cianciotto

This report, released November 17, 2003, provides a comprehensive overview of the school experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth, and existing policy interventions aimed at making schools safe and affirming environments for all students. It also examines recent federal policy changes that complicate these efforts, and offers a research agenda to fill these gaps in our understanding of the experieinces of LGBT youth and children of LGBT parents.

You can find this with other Reports & Research at the NGLTF Library as .pdf files. Other recent titles include: "Marriage Protection Week' Sponsors: Are They Really Interested in 'Building Strong and Healthy Marriages?" (10/15/03); "Gay Pride Survey: 2004 Presidential Election" 8/1/03); "Know Thy Enemy: Quotes About the Sodomy Ruling and the Same-Sex Marriage Backlash" (7/28/03); and "Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People: A National Perspective" (5/1/03).

Metropolitan Community Churches Declared Apostate
In response to an MCC press release a news story was posted on the Radical Right's WorldNetDaily.com website on November 12, 2003. WorldNetDaily is a major supplier of news to far right-wing radio talk shows and ultra-conservative magazines and websites.

In the news story, Radical Right leaders attack both MCC, for its pro-gay theology and commitment to same-sex marriage, and U.S. President Bush, for sending 35th anniversary congratulations to MCC in the midst of the anti-gay Marriage Protection Week.

Of special concern is the harsh and vicious language used by the Radical Right about Metropolitan Community Churches: 'MCC is evidence of a growing apostasy within Christianity' and 'MCC is an apostate denomination.'

Also, please note this is not a 'political' story -- it as an example of MCC's long history of holding government leaders accountable -- whether it was Clinton's support of the Defense of Marriage Act and the Clinton Administration's restrictive immigration policies for people with HIV, or President Bush's mixed message of congratulating a gay denomination that performs 6000 gay weddings annually during the same week he also publicly supported the anti-gay Marriage Protection Week.

In any event, this story is picking up significant media coverage in the United States and Canada.

Americans United Protests North Carolina School Official's Promotion of Anti-Gay Religious Event

A public school official in North Carolina violated the First Amendment when he encouraged his staff to attend a fundamentalist Christian presentation on homosexuality, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has said.

In a letter sent Nov. 10 to Don Martin, superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Americans United said the principle of church-state separation was compromised when Martin encouraged administrators and principals in the district to attend a presentation that said conversion to Christianity can turn gays into heterosexuals.

“By promoting this event, you effectively sent the message that you and the School District on whose behalf you write are endorsing a religious perspective on a social issue and are encouraging other District employees to do the same,” Ayesha Khan, AU’s legal director, wrote. “While you are certainly entitled to hold your personal religious views (and to speak about them in your personal capacity, to members of your church, for example), the Constitution prohibits your use of your public position to advance them.”

Martin had sent an e-mail earlier this year to administrators and principals promoting an event by an organization called Living in Freedom Eternally (L.I.F.E.) Ministry. Joanna Highley, one of the group’s founders, was to speak at a local Presbyterian church about how Christianity can convert gays into heterosexuals. In his e-mail, Martin said Highley had “worked with a number of practicing homosexuals about returning to a heterosexual lifestyle” and that he would like “to encourage you to come hear about her program.…”

At the presentation, Highley said her group believes “that homosexuality is a Satanic counterfeit to God’s created design,” according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

“Government officials have no right to promote a religious agenda,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, AU’s executive director. “The public school superintendent clearly took advantage of his position when he encouraged his subordinates to attend the event.”

AU’s letter urged Martin to “refrain in the future from advocating staff attendance at religious events” and asked him to respond to AU’s complaint within 30 days.

“We want to make sure this sort of thing does not happen again,” Lynn said.

ACLU Wants to Stop the Expanded Use of Secret Searches
Congress is very close to giving government law enforcement agents even broader powers to force businesses to turn over sensitive private information about their customers without any judicial review.

Part of a little-noticed provision that is pending before a conference committee, the expanded powers would allow the government to access your travel records, car purchases, stock trades or other purchases and stop you from finding out that these records have been searched. The government could undertake these searches for loosely defined 'national security' purposes even if it has no reasonable suspicion that you were involved in a crime.

Click here for more information.

Catholic Bishops’ Marriage Document Condemened by Soulforce as Confusing, Harmful, and Spiritually Violent

(Washington, DC) - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today approved a document condemning loving relationships between people of the same gender, and defining marriage as “between a man and a woman”. The document, entitled Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-Sex Unions, is intended to be made into a pamphlet and circulated among Catholic parishes and parishioners.

Soulforce, a national interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people, denounced the document as confusing, harmful, and spiritually violent. Soulforce has been seeking to dialogue with the Bishops and vigiling outside of the USCCB meetings for the past 4 years.

This document is being released at a time when the country is divided over the issue of civil marriage rights for same-gender couples and the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which seeks to amend the US Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, thereby codifying discrimination against GLBT individuals, unmarried couples, and their families. Although the Catholic document does not mention the FMA, Soulforce believes it is meant to influence Catholics to support it.

“The Catholic Church has always been free to decide which marriages it will or will not recognize,” said Kara Speltz, grandmother, lifelong Catholic, and Soulforce Catholic Denominational Team leader. “However, it is painful and morally wrong that the bishops of my church have set aside their role as shepherds to try to influence parishioners and the government to discriminate against me and my family.”

The document states that Christians should “oppose as immoral both homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons,” then goes on to say that “the state has the obligation to promote family,” and that it would be “wrong to redefine marriage for the sake of providing benefits to those who cannot rightfully claim marriage.”

Additionally, the Catholic document does not address the difference between the 1000+ rights granted though civil marriage vs. the religious ritual of marriage, nor does it site specific examples of how granting the rights of civil marriage to couples of the same gender will harm the institution of marriage.

“This document is not only discriminatory, harmful, and confusing, it is a thinly veiled attempt to influence Catholics to support the proposed anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment by inserting their politics into a religious document,” declared Laura Montgomery Rutt, spokesperson for Soulforce.

“Although the Catholic Church is free to discriminate against whoever they choose,” Montgomery Rutt continued, “the U.S government has a higher obligation to Americans to insure equal rights and protections to all individual, couples, and families – to do less is not only discriminatory, it is anti-family and un-American.”

“How dare the Catholic Church attempt to install their ant-gay teachings into the US Constitution that would make second class citizens of millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals,” stated Rev. Mel White, co-founder and executive director of Soulforce. “When will the Catholic Church learn that this kind of spiritual violence leads to great pain, suffering and even death for GLBT people.”

Soulforce Press Release, November 12, 2003
Contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt
Cell: 717-278-0592

White House Sends Mixed Signals During Bush-Endorsed Anti-Gay "Marriage Protection Week"

West Hollywood Call it a mixed-message at best. Or maybe politics at worst. During the same week that U.S. President George W. Bush endorsed the anti-gay Marriage Protection Week, he sent enthusiastic 35th anniversary congratulations to the predominantly gay and lesbian Metropolitan Community Churches, a group that performs more than 6000 same-sex weddings annually.

Metropolitan Community Churches is one of the world's largest gay organizations, and was founded by openly gay Rev. Dr. Troy D. Perry in 1968. Today, MCC provides almost 300 local churches for its 43,000 members and adherents in 22 countries.

In his letter dated October 14, 2003, to MCC Los Angeles, the founding congregation of Metropolitan Community Churches, President Bush wrote, "By encouraging the celebration of faith and sharing of God's love and boundless mercy, churches like yours put hope in people's hearts and a sense of purpose in their lives. This milestone provides an opportunity to reflect on your years of service and to rejoice in God's faithfulness to your congregation."

The letter was written during the anti-gay "Marriage Protection Week, "an effort endorsed by President Bush and organized by such Religious Right leaders as Jerry Falwell, Dr. James Dobson, the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Family Association to deny equality under the law to gays and lesbians. In his proclamation endorsing "Marriage Protection Week," President Bush wrote, "Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection is essential to the continued strength of our society. Marriage Protection Week provides an opportunity to focus our efforts on preserving the sanctity of marriage and on building strong and healthy marriages in America."

Rev. Troy Perry, human rights activist and Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches, expressed alarm at President Bush's proclamation in support of "Marriage Protection Week," which was designed "to preserve the sacred institution of marriage" by denying the right to marry to gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people.

Of President Bush's proclamation, Perry, "President Bush was wrong in his endorsement of a week dedicated to denying equal rights to gay s and lesbians. And while we appreciate the sentiments he expressed on MCC's anniversary, the President has sent a very mixed message that makes his effusive praise of MCC's 35th anniversary all the more puzzling."

President Bush's letter to MCC Los Angeles left Rev. Neil Thomas, senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles, baffled.

"How does one denounce the right of gays and lesbians to marry in their churches and suggest they are incapable of having healthy marriages in one moment, and in the next rejoice in God's faithfulness to a gay and lesbian congregation that perfoms such same-sex mariages?" Rev. Thomas asked.

Photos of Rev. Troy Perry and Rev. Neil Thomas with the Bush letter are aviailable online at www.MCCchurch.org.

An Urgent Email Warning from
Mel White, Co-Founder of Soulforce, Inc
The front page photo (not available online) in the November 6,2003 New York Times tells it all. Watching President Bush sign the bill banning the so called 'partial birth' abortion procedure are Adrian Rogers, a past President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, right wing televangelist, Jerry Falwell, Janet Parshall, the extremist fundamentalist radio talk show host, Jay Sekulow, with the American Center for Law and Justice, Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The article makes it clear: The fundamentalist Christian strategy is one of "incrementalism, restricting abortion rights step by step as a part of the larger battle to turn public opinion against Roe v. Wade."

These same fundamentalist Christian leaders are using the exact same strategy to turn the public against GLBT Americans and to deny us our civil rights. The Federal Marriage Amendment, gaining strength daily, is a blatant attempt to superimpose their fundamentalist morality on the nation and permanently deny us the 1047 rights and protections that go with civil marriage.

For ten years I've been warning that the nation is the midst of a fundamentalist takeover and that if we don't do something now, GLBT people will be the first victims.

Please, go to www.soulforce.org and sign the Petition opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment. You'll find the reasons you should act and act now on that page.

Second, donate to help Soulforce continue making our stand against the Fundamentalists. This year, only 700 people have sent a contribution or made a monthly pledge. Our adversaries are making and spending millions to end our rights. If we don't confront their lies, who will? And if you don't help us, we can't do it either.

Please, sign the petition and donate to Soulforce today. Time is running out. The photo on the front page of the NYTimes makes that perfectly clear.

Voters in Ohio Create Domestic Partner Registry
Cleveland Heights, OH - November 4, 2003 - In an historic victory for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, voters in Cleveland Heights, OH, today voted overwhelmingly in favor of Issue 35, a measure establishing a domestic partner registry. (With 98% of the vote in at press time, the count was 55% in favor, 45% opposed). While domestic partner registries exist in more than 60 localities across the country, today's win marks the first time a domestic partner registry - or any other pro-gay measure - has ever been adopted through a ballot initiative. A dynamic collaboration between Heights Families for Equality (HFE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force helped secure the victory.

'This is a landmark victory for our movement,' said Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman. 'With the extraordinary dedication of the people involved with Heights Families for Equality, we were able not only to turn back anti-gay attacks but convince the majority of voters that our families deserve recognition.'

'The Task Force was essential to our victory in Cleveland Heights,' said David Caldwell, the leader of Heights Families for Equality. 'Their organizing and training staff brought critical organizing and voter ID expertise, and their financial support carried us through some tough times.'

APEDF Town Hall Meeting Wednesday, November 6th
The African People's Education and Defense Fund is sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting on Economic Development on Wednesday, November 6th at 6:30pm at the Bartlett Park/Frank Pierce Rec Center gym, 2000 7th St. So. in St. Petersburg.

Come out to this important discussion with an open mike to formulate the PEOPLE'S PLAN that puts economic development in the hands of the African community, and creates equal prosperity for the entire city.

The Town Hall Meeting includes speakers Omali Yeshitela, Uhuru Movement leader; statements by concerned business owners from south St. Pete and Central Ave.; Ironiff Ifoma, President of African People's Education & Defense Fund; Lou Brown, Realtor; and Penny Hess, African People's Solidarity Committee.

For more information call the African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) at 727-821-2437.

E-mails Received Nov 3rd
Two important announcements came in yesterday. First that Cheryl Jacques, a Rhode Island State Senator, will replace Elizabeth Birch as Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign at the end of this year. It's interesting that in addressing her as "Senator" we imply the added status of a Federal position.

The other e-mail delivered the lengthy results of a political survey by Equality Florida of candidates for two positions on the St Petersburg city council. I had hoped to link you to that very long survey, but Equality Florida did not post it on their website. Bottom line: only Uhuru's Dennis Homol bothered to respond. Mr. Kriseman who has the backing of most of the local GLBTIQ community did not consider the survey worthy of response. Nor did his fellow councilman, Mr. Foster, nor Mr. Foster's opponent, who could be anybody as long as he's not our local basher, Mr. Foster.

SOULFORCE Invites People of Faith to Sign the Soulforce Petition opposing the FMA
Soulforce, Inc. is pleased to announce that we will be focusing time and energy to educating supporters and working with other organizations to defeat the anti-gay, anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA).

Fundamentalist religious organizations and right-wing televangelists have vowed to work toward passing this amendment, spreading spiritual violence across the land.

Fueled by these religious zealots, politicians are making this the wedge issue for the 2004 elections, using gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, couples, and families, as fodder for fundraising letters and campaign speeches, creating a climate of hostility and hate.

Therefore, we are introducing:
* a change in the focus of our website;
* an online Soulforce Petition for people of faith who oppose this dangerous piece of legislation;
* talking points and language use recommendations regarding equal civil marriage rights and the defeat of the FMA;
* a Soulforce alert/flyer about the FMA for you to download, copy, and distribute;
* a sample sermon by Unitarian Universalist minister Don Southworth;
* and other resources to help you educate others about defeating the FMA and securing equal civil marriage rights. All are easily accessible from our homepage at www.soulforce.org

Please go to our website.
Please educate yourself.
Please sign the petition online.
Please educate others.
Please download the flyer and make copies.
Please help Soulforce financially if you are able.

Let’s work together to make the world a better place for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their families, and stop the spread of spiritual violence.

Thank you for your support,
Rev. Mel White, Executive Director
Karen Weldin, Director of Operations
Laura Montgomery Rutt, Director of Communications

(and Please check the Archives here. Let's remember that UFMCC did all of this weeks ago. - george)

SOCIAL SECURITY
(This is worth the read. It's short and to the point.
- Harry Harcourt)

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:

Q: Which party took Social Security from an independent fund and put it in the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic party.

Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.

Q: Which party decided to give money to immigrants?
A: That's right, immigrants moved into this country and at 65 got SSI Social Security. The Democratic Party gave that to them although they never paid a dime into it.

Then, after doing all this, the Democrats turn around and tell you the Republicans want to take your Social Security. And the worst part about it is, people believe it! Pass it on please!

2004 Election Issue - This must be an issue in "04." Please! Keep it going.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and Congress men and women do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it. You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan. For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.

For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. Nada. Zilch. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds-our tax dollars at work!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into-every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000. monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made. That change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us ... then sit back and watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.

Racial Profiling by Police
from Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

Hundreds of thousands of people have been stopped by police simply because of their color, religion or national origin.

Stopping or interrogating someone simply based on the color of their skin, religion or ethnicity not only violates the 14th Amendment, it also detracts law enforcement resources from the detection of real threats. It furthermore builds a wall of distrust between minority communities and police departments.

New legislation soon to be introduced in Congress would address this practice and ensure people are not unlawfully singled out because of their skin color, religion or ethnicity.

Click here for more information.

Check out the what the Human Rights Campaign is doing this
Halloween.

"THE ART OF PEACE"
Thursday, Dec. 4th, 7:00 p.m.
Mahaffey Theater--General Reserved: $35.00

Learn the art of raising peace from internationally acclaimed author and lecturer: Marianne Williamson. Ms. Williamson has published four books including the mega-bestsellers, "A Return to Love" and the new "Everyday Grace". Just as there is the so-called art of waging war, so there is an art to visioning peace.
For more information: (727) 898-2100 Ticketmaster

Cut the emmissions: sign the petition
The McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act is a bipartisan reaction to the dangers of global warming, and the Bush administration's policy of indifference toward them. The petition urges political leaders in the U.S. to support the McCain-Lieberman Act and the creation of national caps on greenhouse gas emissions.

The goal is to get one million people around the world to sign the petition, thus demonstrating to Washington, the nation and the rest of the world that global warming is an issue of utmost importance that demands immediate and meaningful action. Be part of the first million, sign the petition.

CHURCH-STATE WATCHDOG GROUP URGES RUMSFELD TO FIRE CONTROVERSIAL GENERAL
Americans United executive director charges "An official who says U.S. is engaged in holy war against Satan should not be making policy."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should fire a top-ranking Pentagon official who has repeatedly told evangelical Christian audiences that the U.S. struggle against terrorism is a religious conflict against Satan, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Gen. William G. Boykin, who recently was named deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, said the United States is being attacked because we are a Christian nation, insisted that Muslims worship idols and said the real enemy of America is not Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein but Satan.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said, “Boykin literally believes that the United States government is engaged in a holy war. That’s totally unacceptable for someone in a top government post.

“A man who sees the conduct of U.S. foreign policy as some sort of Christian religious crusade should not be making policy. I urge Secretary Rumsfeld to remove Lt. Gen. Boykin from his post and distance the Bush administration from Boykin’s extreme views.”

According to NBC News and other sources, Boykin has repeatedly appeared before evangelical Christian groups, often in uniform, and characterized the U.S. war with terrorism in stark religious terms.

In a June appearance in Oregon, Boykin reportedly said that Islamic extremists hate the U.S. “because we’re a Christian nation, because our foundations and our roots are Judeo-Christian.” Boykin said the real enemy is not Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. “The enemy,” he said, “is a guy called Satan.”

In a January speech in Daytona, Fla., Boykin recalled his efforts to capture an Islamic militant in Somalia who had said he would be protected by Allah.

Said Boykin, “Well, you know what I knew, that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.”

After the militant was captured, Boykin told him, “Mr. Atto, you underestimated our God.”

This is not Boykin’s only venture into inappropriate religious activity.

Earlier this year, Americans United protested strongly when Boykin tried to bring a Baptist pastors’ evangelism group to Ft. Bragg for special training and overnight accommodations. After the AU protest, military officials scaled back the visit to the same level given other civilian groups.

SOULFORCE TO PROTEST “UNHOLY CRUSADE”
(Washington, DC) – Soulforce leaders today publicly announced plans to protest and vigil November 9 -13, 2003 outside of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for the fourth year in a row. The demonstrations will again take place at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue NW, in Washington D.C, beginning Sunday, November 9 from 3 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Vigils will continue Monday – Thursday, starting at 7 a.m. each day.

The purpose of the demonstrations is to protest the escalation of Catholic anti-gay policies and teachings, the expulsion of gay Catholics from the Church, and the Church’s support of an anti-gay “marriage” amendment to the US Constitution that would deny same-gender couples and families the same protections afforded to families headed by mixed-gender couples.

“The Catholic Church is conducting an unholy Crusade against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their families, both inside and outside the church,” said life-long Catholic Kara Speltz, chair of the Soulforce Catholic Denomination Team. “Not only is the church imposing its superstitious and unscientific attitudes against GLBT people in an attempt to deny us our civil rights, but they are actually kicking us out of the church for exercising our rights.”

The Catholic Church has been the subject of much criticism and media attention recently involving two gay men who were legally married in Canada, then kicked out of the Catholic church after serving for decades in the church choir.

Historically, the Catholic Church has not tried to impose it’s dogma against divorce and remarriage on the rest of America in an attempt to deny civil marriage rights to divorcees and their families. However, the anti-gay “marriage” amendment, which is supported by the Catholic Church, seeks to codify discrimination against same-gender couples and their families by imposing one narrow “religious” definition of marriage on all Americans.

Soulforce leaders have written a letter to Bishop Gregory, President of the USCCB, asking him not to support the anti-gay “marriage” amendment. Individuals are also being asked to write to their local bishops with the same request.

Last year, three Soulforce life-long Catholics were arrested when they refused a police order to leave the Hyatt lobby while seeking to be served communion, which had been denied to them the night before during a public mass at the National Shrine. They spent over 30 hours in jail after their arrest and were found guilty of trespassing, but a judge refused to impose sentencing. Two of the three arrested, Mike Perez of Seattle and Kara Speltz of Oakland, will be returning to protest again this year.

Contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt Cell: 717-278-0592

Walk As One
Lykes Gaslight Square Park at Franklin and Madison in Downtown Tampa
Saturday, November 8, 2003, 9:00am

Join NCCJ and hundreds of Tampa Bay residents at our inaugural
Walk-As-One walk-a-thon. Express your commitment to ending bias, bigotry and racism in your community while meeting new friends and getting some fresh air and exercise. Through the Walk, individuals, businesses, organizations, and community leaders can support NCCJ and promote respect and understanding for all people. Click here for important Walk information.

The 5k walk will bring people together from diverse backgrounds to demonstrate that we are 'better together.' So, put on your walking shoes and join us as we Walk As One.

Tampa Bay's Walk will raise money to support the Anytown youth leadership program. All money raised will directly support the operation and services provided through NCCJ. Less than two percent (2%) of NCCJ's budget in spent on fundraising.

Click here for online registration. For more information please call the NCCJ office at 727-568-9333.

This is something that as a church we need to think about our responsibility as Christians to aid others in gaining their dignity and rights as humans.

November 9 has been designated as a day for international action and education against Israel's building of a security barrier - fence and wall - on Palestinian land inside the West Bank. Churches for Middle East Peace is encouraging participation by the congregations and church members of its member national churches and organizations.

The CMEP website has a number of resources that will be helpful to us in planning programs and activities for November 9. These can be found on CMEP website at http://www.cmep.org/documents/documents.htm under "Resources on the Wall."

Boca Gay Couple Win Housing Lawsuit
Lambda Legal Declares Victory in Housing Discrimination Case
as reported by the Gay Lauderdale Weekly News

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced that a favorable settlement agreement has been reach in an anti-gay housing discrimination case in Boca Raton, Florida. The agreement requires Royal Colonial Apartments to post a nondiscrimination statement in their office and on housing application forms. The statement makes it clear that Royal Colonial will not discriminate against gay and lesbian individuals or couples

In addition to the nondiscrimination policy, the housing complex will pay $75,000 in damages and legal fees.

“Housing discrimination against gay people is a widespread problem that often goes unaddressed. This case shows that anti-gay discrimination won't be tolerated,” said Greg Nevins, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Atlanta office. “In places where gay people have protection from discrimination, like Palm Beach County, it is important to enforce those laws.”

Before showing Fred Sternbach several units in Royal Colonial Apartments, the property manager, Peggy Watson, asked him to complete and return a file card that asked, among other questions, how many people would live in the apartment and what their relationship to Sternbach was. Sternbach wrote that he would live with his partner. He was shown a number of available units and expressed interest in one of them. An hour after Sternbach left Royal Colonial Apartments, Watson called him to ask what “partner” meant and whether it was a wife or fiancé. Once Sternbach explained that partner did not mean wife or fiancé, she said that Royal Colonial Apartments would not be able to accommodate him because it only rents to couples who are married. Although Sternbach and his partner, Stephen Miller, have been together 16 years, there is no state, including Florida, where state officials will grant them a marriage license.

A Palm Beach County law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and marital status. In Florida, four other counties (Broward, Leon, Miami-Dade and Okaloosa) and eight cities (Gainesville, Key West, Miami Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa and West Palm Beach) have similar ordinances prohibiting anti-gay discrimination in housing. Nationwide, more than 145 cities or counties have such laws.

Greg Nevins, Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's Atlanta office is handling the case. He is joined by co-counsel Agnes Hollingshead of Agnes Hollingshead P.A. who was instrumental in litigating the case and securing the settlement.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and people with HIV or AIDS through impact litigation, education and public policy work. It is a national organization with offices all over the United States.

Why Social Action?
contributed by Mary-Lee

"Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality--not as we expect it to be but as it is--is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love."

by Carl Frederick Buechner, Jr.

A C T I O N A L E R T For US-Based Activists
From Roman Cardenas, Associate Director of Communications
The Communications Department of Metropolitan Community Churches

There is a movement underway that is gaining increasing political support from social and religious conservatives--the movement to deny civil rights and equal benefits to GLBT people by using the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment. This amendment proposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. Not since Prohibition has a constitutional amendment been proposed that would take rights away from Americans, rather than protect their freedoms.

Adding fuel to the fire is Marriage Protection Week (Oct. 12-18) a week being organized by Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and the Southern Baptist Convention and which is dedicated to "preserving the sacred institution of marriage" and defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

To make matters worse, President George W. Bush recently signed on as a supporter. In his proclamation, the president states: "Marriage Protection Week provides an opportunity to focus our efforts on preserving the sanctity of marriage and on building strong and healthy marriages in America. ... We must support the institution of marriage and help parents build stronger families. And we must continue our work to create a compassionate, welcoming society, where all people are treated with dignity and respect." Despite his words, President Bush's endorsement denies compassion, dignity and respect to millions of GLBT couples.

MCC is responding to these growing attacks with Marriage Equality Week (Oct. 12-19). That's right, the same exact week--a week we are dedicating to same-sex marriage recognition.

Here is where your help is needed!
I am inviting you to participate in Marriage Equality Week by taking relatively simple and concrete actions.

Take a few minutes to learn more about the movement for same-sex marriage rights. A great starting place is the MCC website. Click on "Same-Sex Marriage" and take a look at the resources available to you. Some other excellent and helpful websites include: Alliance for Same-Sex Marriage, Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Marry and NGLTF.

Sign the on-line petitions in support of our community. There is power in our unified actions. Check out the following on-line petitions: Don't Amend, Million for Marriage and Alliance for Same-Sex Marriage.

Forward this Action Alert to your friends, your e-mail lists, and LISTSERVS to which you belong. Print this information and place it on bulletin boards at community centers, bookstores, etc. Insert this action alert in your Sunday worship folder. Send it to open and welcoming congregations in your area. Help us get this message out.

What it comes down to...
...is the same thing you hear every Sunday in your MCC congregation: WE ARE ALL MINISTERS. These five action steps are vital ways you can minister on behalf of everyone in our community. Please take some time today and do your part. We can all make a difference!

P.S. Let me encourage you to take one additional step.
I have created the Same-Sex Marriage Propeller, a PDF file which is posted on the MCC website. This is one of the many resources MCC is offering to our allies to gain speed and distance in the movement for the legalization of same-sex marriage. This document can be easily downloaded, printed and reproduced for use in your community.

Uhuru Movement to Announce Planned Response to Racial Profiling at Baywalk

What: Press Conference
Where: BayWalk, corner of 2nd St & 2nd Ave N
When: Thursday, October 9, 2003 at 11:00am
Contact: International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement) 1245 18th Ave S, St Petersburg, FL 33705 (727) 502-0575 / inpdum_international@hotmail.com

On Friday, October 3, 2003, St Petersburg police arrested the son of International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) leader, Alvelita Donaldson. Keith Stewart, who is also a member of InPDUM, was arrested on charges of "inciting to riot" and "resisting arrest without violence."

InPDUM has received reports that at least 8 people were arrested for verbally complaining about excess force used by police against a couple of young Africans at the mall.

The next day, the St. Petersburg Times ran a story that characterized the young African mall-goers as a criminal mob and slandered Stewart.

On Thursday at 11am InPDUM will hold a press conference in front of BayWalk to discuss its plans to mount an organized response to these events.

by email from CUSP

Marriage Equality Week October 12-19, 2003
from Rev. Troy Perry, MCC Founder and Moderator

This is a powerful opportunity for every MCC congregation to provide a positive countervoice to the so-called "Marriage Protection Week" being organized at the same time by Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, the Family Research Council, the Southern Baptist Convention and 18 other conservative and right-wing groups.

I am writing today to encourage you to take two very specific steps:
1) Visit the MCC website at www.mccchurch.org. Click on "Marriage Equality Week," and you'll find a resource kit and background materials you can use to promote your event in your community.
2) While you are at the site, click on the button marked "Participation." Take a moment to fill out the form that will notify us that your church is taking part in cause.

Let me emphasize that there is an urgency to this. The Religious Right has launched a massive campaign to oppose same-sex marriage rights. Stories are beginning to show up in newspapers and media outlets--they are putting major effort to oppose the GLBT communities and deny us equality under the law.

I am pleased to report that many GLBT groups are following our lead on this issue. Just a few days ago, PFLAG forwarded the MCC same-sex marriage resource kit to their entire e-mail list, and they wrote to all the major GLBT groups asking them to support MCC's "Marriage Equality Week." The Human Rights Campaign has agreed to take out full page ads in mainline newspapers--and DontAmend.com is preparing ads in key media markets to support MCC's Marriage Equality week.

To directly register your church's participation, or if you need an e-mail version of the "Marriage Equality Week" resource kit, you can e-mail Roman Cardenas, MCC's Associate Director of Communications, at romancardenas@mccchurch.org and he will make sure your involvement is recorded for MCC's historical archives.

I hope you sense the urgency of this project. For 35 years, MCC has been involved in the struggle to achieve equality under the law--and your church's participation will inspire hope throughout our community and help to mobilize our allies.

God bless you for your tireless work and efforts.

ACLU Wants to Stop Congress from Hindering Law Enforcement
From: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU

Congress should not hinder law enforcement agencies' ability to do their job nor create laws that will inevitably lead to civil rights violations of American citizens. Unfortunately new legislation before the House of Representatives will do both.

The proposed legislation would put state and local law enforcement agencies in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws--a role for which they lack training and resources. This would also lead to inevitable civil rights violations as "foreign-looking" citizens and others would face inevitable questioning by local police officers trying to do the job of federal immigration officials.

Numerous law enforcement agencies have indicated that this new role would destroy hard-won trust between them and the local immigrant populations. They argue this would lead to lower success in investigating and solving crimes.

Click here for more information. For more information on other issues and the latest ACLU news, please visit the ACLU website