Today's Cultural Warfare Update

A variety of Christians in different parts of the country launch lawsuits against workplace and school anti-discrimination codes; claim is that they cannot be Christian if they aren't allowed to discriminate against GBLT and speak out against people at work and in school;

Baptist college expels student after he said he was gay on his MySpace page;

Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher (R) removes state worker anti-GBLT bias protection from the employment code - on diversity day, presumably just to rub it in - authorising anti-gay discrimination in hiring, firing, and promotion for state workers; in particular, he wanted protections removed for transgendered people (from rosepurr

Virginia governor Kaine (D) urges voters to reject anti-marriage amendment - but only because it might remove some rights from heterosexual unmarried couples. He's fine with the anti-gay part; this guy is considered a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008; ETA: I have been reminded that the potential Democratic nominee is the previous governor (Warner), who Governor Kaine served with as Lt. Governor; thanks for the correction;

Kentucky private college with strident anti-gay politics - the one that just booted a student for saying on his myspace page that he was gay - receives state funds (ganked from Andrew Sullivan); the only gay legislator in Kentucky is taking a stand in opposition;

Focus on the Family dreams about Justice John Paul Stevens leaving the Supreme Court; revives "special rights" language for GBLT people, talks about the evils of allowing "homosexual expression";

FotF reports on impeachment attempt against President Fire Thunder of the Oglala tribe;

School prayer ballot measure passes Missouri house;

FotF condemns lesbian and gay parents for enrolling in the White House Easter Egg hunt, calls it "sacrilegious" and "appalling";

Focus on the Family Canada pushes Centre for Cultural Renewal's "Cooperation of Church and State Conference," talking about how church-state separation is bad and a product of those evil atheistic secularists, and asserts by implication that you can't be Christian and not want religious government;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage amendment in Illinois; they need to get more signatures and are getting close to deadline;

American Family Association: Europe is abandoning Christianity and it's leading to disaster;

Church-run Government-funded elderly day-care centre (for "disabled senior citizens and other vulnerable adults who need care during the day") refuses services to an elderly transwoman; county cuts off funding; AFA says the county is "punishing a church for taking a stand against sexual deviance";

AFA condemns California legislation to include GLBT people in history classes;

AFA reports on Linda Harvey of Mission America's condemnation of the First Amendment guidelines for discussion GBLT issues in schools, says no discussions should ever be held with GBLT groups because we are an "abomination," pulls out the diseased-homosexual-child-rapists rhetoric;

AFA: Arizona governor vetos "fetal pain" bill;

Traditional Values Coalition links to a real queer-baiter of an editorial column, "Gay Totalitarians Perverse Sex Education for Kids"; GBLT people are Stalinist communists brainwashing adults and children into mind-conditioning programmes; this is one amazing rant, and normally I wouldn't include it - except for the TVC link to it;

Human Events runs a Jan LaRue (Concerned Women for America) column saying porn turns ordinary men into brutal child rapists;

Concerned Women for America links to LifeNews story about upcoming anti-stem-cell-research and anti-abortion protests in DC;

CWA's Robert Knight talks with "ex-gay" ministries wonk Stephen Bennett, worries that new possible AIDS prevention drugs will "only encourage more risky homosexual behavior"; calls the possible introduction "tragic," "a trap" that is "just giving a green light to gay men to continue in your behaviour"; calls it a "morning after" pill for gay men; this is relevant because they're also against emergency contraception, calling it an abortion pill (when it most assuredly is not);

Faith and Freedom Network "talking points" article against marriage rights.

( articles, transcriptions, and excerpts )

on the way somewhere else

Getting last-minute things before Norwescon finished; I want to leave for on-site by around 6pm, to get there around 7pm. I don't have nearly as much to do as I would have last year, per sé, but I do want to help out the new librarian with the fanzine library; the shelves are a bit of a thing to put together. Plus, issue zero is still issue zero and all that.

I've been working on the poster but am not getting so far. I have something I could use, but it hasn't convinced me yet. I should whip together the other small jobs, and then pack and get the car loaded and ready to go.

Meanwhile, annathepiper already mentioned this on her LJ, but Zoe, my crazy parrot, was very unhappy being alone after Oasis died, so I went ahead and got two more budgies. They're from PetSmartCaprica! I call them...


Apollo and Starbuck

(The blonde one is Starbuck. Of course. She's trying to organise a rescue mission to get the other ones left behind. ^_^ )

It's kind of surprising; they're the most outgoing budgies I've ever had. Starbuck is a little contortionist and likes squirming between things - she hangs out on the ladders a lot, trying to wedge her way through the rungs, and keeps trying to figure out how to get under the water bin. Apollo is a little less jumpy and a little more approachable. I didn't know that when I'd picked them out; I just waited around until I could identify a pair that liked each other in the store, and bout them.

The way Zoe perked up when she saw the budgie cage coming back was awfully cute. I'd had it out of her sight for a while after cleaning it, and had thought I'd probably be putting it away for a while - but as soon as she saw it she was all, "OMG IT'S BACK IS THE LITTLE BIRD IN THERE?" and she was kind of disappointed when he wasn't - but then I got out the transport box with the New Birds, and that was even better because w00t two little birds! and that was pretty fascinating. Of course, once they were out of the box and into the cage, she was all aloof.

But she watches 'em and talks to them a lot. Clearly, she enjoys having neighbours. Birdie company makes the parrot happy. ^_^

Oh, there won't be any cultural warfare update on Friday. I'll be helping run Norwescon and probably won't pay the $10/day ( :-p ) network access charge the hotel wants.

Chinchilla You scored 28 nervousness!

You really should be more nervous. People want to make coats out of you, you know.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 45% on nervousness You scored higher than 61% on smallness

Link: The Small Nervous Animal Test written by zombieface on OkCupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test