Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Apr. 22nd, 2005 09:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdNational Review: "Consumerism" and "relativism" are "just as dangerous as the totalitarianism of the East: it's just as easy to forget about God while dancing to an iPod while marching in a Hitler Youth Rally;"
Kansas senator threatens DC with retaliation if it recognises gay unions;
Thursday's Family News in Focus;
Concerned Women for America reports that Magellian has reinstated the virulently anti-gay "reparative therapist" advocate Warren Throckmorton - he's also a regular CWFA contributor;
CWFA decries UN effort by New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil to add support for recognising the rights of GBLT people;
California Democratic Party convention endorses resolution calling for marriage rights;
Another TVC news article/action item on judges;
Friday's Family News in Focus;
Plug for "Justice Sunday," the big churchcast this Sunday afternoon. Also grouped with it are more stories on the need to change the Senate filibuster rules.
Soulforce is planning an event at Focus on the Family;
LA Times article on the Texas effort to ban foster care by gayfolk;
Canada makes morning-after/emergency BCP available over the counter;
Complaints of anti-semitism and other forms of religious harassment by fundamentalists at the Air Force Academy investigated;
Seattle Times article on defeat of Washington State basic civil rights bill as "socially moderate" eastside Republicans vote in party lockstep.
----- 1 -----
April 21, 2005, 8:57 a.m.
Sin’s the Thing
What Benedict XVI learned in the shadows of the Nazis.
By Daniel P. Moloney
National Review Online
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/moloney200504210857.asp
In the media coverage of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, a number of commentators have mentioned that the young Josef Ratzinger grew up in Nazi Germany. It was a motif of John Paul II’s biography that growing up under the Nazis and the Communists influenced his theology and outlook, encouraging him, for example, to place the dignity of the human person at the center of his theological agenda. So it is natural to ask of the new pope whether his experience under the Nazis affected his theological outlook. Not to suggest that his experience with fascism taught him how to be a hard-line enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy — that line of thinking is beneath contempt. But whether having seen totalitarianism as a youth gave him an intellectual agenda comparable to that of his predecessor.
...
In this regard, the consumerism and relativism of the West can be just as dangerous as the totalitarianism of the East: It’s just as easy to forget about God while dancing to an iPod as while marching in a Hitler Youth rally. There’s a difference, to be sure, but hardly anyone would contest the observation that in elite Western society, as in totalitarian Germany, the moral vocabulary has been purged of the idea of sin. And if there’s no sense of sin, then there’s no need for a Redeemer, or for the Church.
I think that, for the new pope, the 1968 protests in Europe and the sharp decline in those partaking of the sacrament of confession in the Church after Vatican II made it clear that the sense of sin was breaking down among Western liberal Christians just as it had for Western liberal Germans between the wars. If there’s going to be a theological key to this papacy, I would locate it here.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
District Warned On Gay Marriage
Williams Fears Congressional Ire Will Affect Budget
By Spencer S. Hsu and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 21, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6007-2005Apr20.html
A leading Senate Republican warned Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) yesterday that a move to recognize gay marriages in the nation's capital would trigger a sharp backlash from Congress, and the mayor acknowledged that the District could jeopardize its budget agenda and domestic partner benefits if it mishandles the issue.
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R), the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the District, said he wanted to hear more from Williams but opposed a statement by the city's attorney general that "validly married same-sex couples" may file joint D.C. tax returns.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Family News in Focus
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Focus on the Family
Bob Ditmer
* Republicans calling for an end to the Senate logjam over judicial nominees – Democrats refuse
1. Seven freshmen Republican senators, "It's a conciliatory letter, remarkably free of partisan language." "Intended to be a nonpartisan letter," but Salazar and Obama refused to sign it. Salazar was "carrying the water" of the Democratic party, saying that the "Constitutional option" is a bad idea, et al.
* Study finds mainstream media leaning way left – with surprising results
3. "Exposes big media's self-serving examination[s]." "This is not a matter of opinion, this is a matter of facts and logic." "They need some sort of expert opinion, or they're siting some new study, they'll get a quote or paraphrase from ... some sort of think tank." "Predominantly, those sources are liberal." "No matter how you shake up the data, the media leans far to the left." "The news articles of the Wall Street Journal were just about as liberal as CBS News or the Wall Street Journal."
* Staunch supporters of life were honored in Washington D.C. last night
5. "It's probable you've never heard of them, but that's the way they like it." Richard and Helen DeVoss - for large contributions; Charles Cheppew(?), "very outspoken pro-life supporter."
* Internet Evangelism Day focuses on using the web to spread the Gospel
6. "We can reach every nation over the internet." They have a training course for online evangelists - webevangelism.org. "Spiritual searches outnumber all others online." Also internetevangelism.com.
* Public opinion favoring federal Marriage Protection Amendment is growing
2. 57% favour, 37% opposed. 2/3 say "same sex marriage should not be legally recognised." "Sends a strong message to Congress." "You can do whatever needs to be done if you've got popular support behind you."
* Texas amendment could ban homosexual foster parents
4. Robert Talton amendment to ban "homosexuals" from "adopting foster children."
* New Hampshire mall implements adult-supervised teen "escort policy"
7. "Teens need adult supervision if they want to congregate in the mall." Many teens and some parents aren't happy with the policy; quoting one unnamed parent, "Who knows what they'll be doing if they're not at the mall?"
----- 4 -----
Magellan Reverses Decision to Eject Christian from Its Board
4/21/2005
Health care provider had removed Dr. Throckmorton over his belief that homosexuals can change.
By Bethanie Swendsen
Concerned Women for America
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7958/CFI/family/index.htm
A February decision made by Magellan Health Services raised the question: Who is influencing whom in the public health sphere? But hope is restored as Magellan reversed its position late yesterday afternoon and invited Warren Throckmorton, PhD, to re-join its National Professional Advisory Council.
"I think Magellan has shown a willingness to listen to the concerns of its subscribers and employer constituents regarding my dismissal. This is a good move to get the focus back on providing quality mental-health management," said Throckmorton’s news release.
Magellan, the largest mental-health management company in the United States, repealed the dismissal of five-year national-provider advisory-board member Dr. Warren Throckmorton, which occurred because of his belief that homosexuality is treatable and reversible.
Although Magellan had succumbed to homosexual activist groups, its spokeswoman Erin Somers told the Philadelphia Inquirer that each patient “has the right to explore a variety of therapies when they are grappling with sexual orientation issues.”
Magellan, who emerged from bankruptcy in 2004 with new ownership and leadership, is responsible for mental-health care of one-in-five Americans.
“It’s good to see that shining a light on this kind of discrimination gets results,” said Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America’s (CWA’s) Culture & Family Institute. “I think Magellan realized that Dr. Throckmorton is a valued board member and deserves better treatment than a politically correct send-off. We’re proud at CWA to publish his essays on our Web site, and have noticed that they get wide distribution, such as through the Alliance Defense Fund daily bulletin.”
Throckmorton’s stellar resume includes positions as past president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association and advisor to Magellan's 63,000 mental health-care providers since December 1999.
Throckmorton’s opinion is that Magellan needs to provide counseling that reflects also the viewpoints of people who hold traditional religious beliefs.
He is a nationally known counselor, author and psychology professor at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Warren Throckmorton periodically contributes articles to the CWA Web site. For the latest one, click here.
----- 5 -----
Push to Recognize ‘Sexual Orientation’ at the U.N.
4/21/2005
Concerned Women for America
The United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland and the push is on to include “sexual orientation” as a human right. Our own Wendy Wright, Senior Policy Director, was there and brings us this report on the agenda of liberal nations and the response of the United States delegation. Click here to listen.
This is more on the New Zealand push on protecting GBLT people. "We have our allies, pro-family and pro-life organisations, that we take a week to go there and lobby... one of our UK allies, CARE of UK, has hired somebody to be there all six weeks..." "The advocates for sexual rights... homosexual, transsexual, intersex... their goal is to have their proclivities declared a human right. ... Two years ago, Brazil introduced a resolution saying that sexual orientation is a human right... there is no definition of sexual orientation, how can it be a right?" "Thankfully, that first year, it did not pass... Brazil had threatened to introduce it, but they came under tremendous opposition from the Holy See, from Islamic countries... this year, they didn't introduce it, but they did introduce a resolution on behalf of the right to physical and mental health..." Want his job extended for three years; Paul Hunt; "He's used this mandate... to promote some of the most extreme ideas we've ever seen... Paul Hunt has been very blunt in putting on paper exactly what they believe... he has decided that those treaties establish an unlimited right to abortion and an unlimited right to sexual activity... he even admitted in his papers he's the one coming up with that definition... he is going to judge countries according to that definition." Claims that he's demanding every country overturn anti-abortion law and recognise the rights of gayfolk. "Brazil's resolution to extend his mandate for three years is really rather dangerous." "Calling for an unlimited right to abortion, and unhindered sexual practices. That's one of the things we had to educate the delegates about." Canada also introduced a resolution about "sexual rights and reproductive rights and other things that are very offensive to other nations." "They intended on filing _their_ resolution with _their_ language."
----- 6 -----
Calif. Democrats Endorse Gay Marriage
by Matt Johns 365Gay.com Los Angeles Bureau
Posted: April 18, 2005 5:01 pm ET
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/04/041805calDems.htm
(Los Angeles, California) California Democrats have wrapped up their annual convention with a resolution supporting same-sex marriage.
"The California Democratic Party is now a leading partner in statewide efforts to ensure that all California families enjoy the legal protections that they deserve," said Eric Stern, National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director who addressed the convention.
The resolution calls for civil marriage to be extended to same-sex couples. It passed unanimously and as the vote was being taken many delegates displayed signs that read "AB 19" in support of an assembly bill that would extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. The legislation was recently introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno, an openly-gay Democrat from San Francisco.
The vote makes California the fourth state Democratic party to officially call for marriage equality. The Democratic parties of Massachusetts, New York and Washington State have all expressed support for marriage equality, either by resolution or through a state party platform.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, authored by Leno, is expected to pass through the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 26.
The legislation would allow gays and lesbians to marry while protecting the rights of churches opposed to same-sex marriage to refuse to perform the weddings.
It also has the support of the NAACP. (story)
Meanwhile, a legal case that involves the right of same-sex couples in California to marry is heading slowly to the State Supreme Court. Last month a San San Francisco judge ruled that state laws preventing gay marriage are illegal. (story)
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Rev. Sheldon Speaks Out On War Against Bush Judges
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2239
April 21, 2005 – The liberal war against President Bush’s judicial nominees continues—and the battle is heating up among Senate Republican leaders to bring an end to the filibustering of good judges.
Two of these fine judges are Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen and California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown. Both of their nominations have been blocked for years by left-leaning Senators.
In Rev. Sheldon’s recent commentary on the liberal efforts to keep decent judges from receiving a full vote in the Senate, he noted: “The screeching leftist special interest groups like People for the American Way have worked hand in glove with Senate liberals to lie and to distort the records of these well qualified women to serve as federal judges.”
Senate liberals fear a full vote on these women because they do not want judges on the federal bench who believe in interpreting, rather than creating laws. Liberals want activist judges who are pro-abortion, pro-pornography, pro-homosexual, and pro-big government. In short, they want judges who are anti-traditional values and who will act as judicial tyrants—so long as the tyranny supports liberal social engineering.
Senate Republicans led by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) are on the verge of restoring Senate tradition, which calls for a simple majority vote to affirm judicial nominees.
TVC joined with the National Coalition To End Judicial Filibusters in sending a letter of concern over this issue to key Senators on the Hill. In it, we stated: “The Senate must act as steward of the federal courts by returning the power to confirm judges to the Constitution’s simple majority requirement.”
Please consider the following:
The Constitutional Option: Restoring Fairness to Senate Nominations
The constitutional option is grounded in Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution that empowers the Senate to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.”
Goal: Restore the 214-year Senate tradition of approving the President’s nominations by a simple majority vote.
Means: Use a simple majority vote to set a new precedent without changing Rule XXII of the standing rules. For instance, a Senator would raise a point of order to close debate on a nominee. The presiding officer would sustain the point of order, thereby setting a new, binding precedent. The minority’s appeal of the ruling could be tabled with a simple majority vote.
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Family News in Focus
Friday, April 22, 2005
Focus on the Family
* Janice Rogers Brown and Pricilla Owen head to the Senate
1. Will there be a filibuster? If so, will the Republicans change the filibuster rules? Hearing was calm. "I think they're just saving their ammunition for the Senate floor." "We must do whatever is necessary to end this." "Then the real Nuclear Option beings - the Democrats' threat to shut down the Senate."
* Proponent of the belief that homosexuals can shed same-sex attraction now sits on health board.
2. Magellian Health Services and Dr. Throckmorton again - see above. Magellian had "bowed to pressure from the homosexual lobby." Magellian never said that was why he was dismissed, however. "I believe it's a real positive statement from the largest mental health organisation." Magellian says they are not "taking sides" in the "ex-gay" battle.
* School officials snub parents' objection to highly controversial student musical
3. "Batboy." The one based on the Weekly World News character. Fundamentalist are filing a formal complaint about the play. "High school students are letting the beast come out, we've seen that at Columbine... they also did this without notification..."
* Recent Barna study show church attendance lagging
5. "In a society that appears to be searching for spirituality, why is church attendance lagging?" FotF says, "People don't necessarily think that church attendance... is relevant, it's more performance... people don't seem to connect, and if you don't connect within a certain amount of time, you're not going to say 'this is my church.'" "A lot of churches aren't providing a good connection to the solid word of god."
* TV and radio station owners gathered at the National Association of Broadcasters to discuss voluntary decency code.
4. "We still need to have the option of going to the FCC for enforcement."
* Thirty to forty percent of the gambling revenue in Canada comes from eight percent of the poorest Canadians.
* Study out of Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia suggests a novel idea to curb the gambling addiction.
6. These two are the same short story. "Smart card" system to restrict amounts people can spend - it's a budgeting tool. FotF says it's a bad idea and will only enable problem gamblers.
----- 9 -----
Don't Miss Dr. Dobson on 'Justice Sunday'
April 22, 2005
Focus on the Family
This weekend's simulcast available to churches, individuals.
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0036275.cfm
You've heard Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson talk about the need to rein in our nation's out-of-control courts. Learn what steps you can take to help in that effort by making plans to watch this weekend's "Justice Sunday" simulcast.
"Justice Sunday" will feature Dr. Dobson and other pro-family leaders discussing the crisis caused by Senate Democrats who have blocked President Bush's federal appeals court nominees by using unconstitutional tactics.
The event will be broadcast live from 7 to 8:30 p.m. EDT from Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
Other speakers include Tony Perkins, president of FRC Action; Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship; and Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
A key point of the discussion will be the necessity of enacting the "constitutional option" — or restoring the Senate tradition to make 51 votes sufficient to confirm a judicial nominee. That tradition has been violated by the liberals' unprecedented abuse of filibusters, which require 60 votes to be overcome.
"What we have witnessed these last three years is an unprecedented manhandling of Senate tradition," Dobson said. "Never before in 216 years has the Senate employed a filibuster against judicial nominees who clearly have enough support to be confirmed. Senate Democrats are not just filibustering these nominees — they are filibustering democracy itself."
For more information on how you and/or your church can be sure to see "Justice Sunday," visit the FRC Action Web site.
----- 10 -----
Homosexual Activists Planning To Converge On Focus On The Family
By Jeremy Reynalds (04/18/05)
American Daily
http://www.americandaily.com/article/7475
A large delegation of homosexuals and others sympathetic to the so-called gay lifestyle are planning to converge on Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters.
A news release from Soulforce (www.soulforce.org) commented about the demonstration planned for May 2. "On that day James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, will have to make a moral decision. Will he receive a Soulforce delegation of gay and lesbian people of faith and families, friends, and clergy into his massive world headquarters? Or will he lock them out?"
According to the news release, the volunteers are " trained in relentless nonviolent resistance," and they plan to deliver to Focus "thousands of letters that illustrate the tragic consequences of the anti-gay rhetoric of Dobson and other fundamentalist Christian leaders."
"If we are locked out of Focus on the Family," said Jeff Lutes, MS, LPC, a psychologist and family counselor from Austin, Texas, speaking in the news release, who is heading up the demonstration, "the nation will see clearly that the truth about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is being locked out with us."
Speaking in the Soulforce news release, Mel White, the Executive Director of Soulforce, asked about Dobson.
"Does he welcome this delegation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people with supportive clergy and other people of faith?" said White. "Or does he lock us out and force us to risk nonviolent civil disobedience and arrest? We can't just go away and ignore the terrible consequences of Dobson's ignorance and bigotry."
"We are calling this a family intervention, as we are all really part of the same family," Jeff Lutes commented in the same news release. "As a member of the human family, James Dobson is our brother who has become a dangerous and misleading force to millions. We are coming to Colorado Springs to show him that his refusal to hear the truth about God's gay children leads to wasted lives and ruined families. We pray that this time, James Dobson will hear us."
FOCUS RESPONSE
A Focus on the Family spokesperson was traveling and unavailable for comment, but a staff person said the organization does appreciate everyone's prayers.
Focus has made its position on homosexuality very clear.
[more at URL]
----- 11 -----
Texas Might Ban Gay Foster Parenting
Supporters say the measure would protect traditional families. Opponents say it would violate rights and leave children without homes.
22 April 2005
By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-foster22apr22,1,1475441.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
PASADENA, Texas — Texas lawmakers are considering legislation that could make this the only state to ban gays and lesbians from being foster parents.
Conservatives have pledged to fight for the measure, part of a bill to revamp the state's Child Protective Services agency, despite concerns that as many as 3,000 children could be removed from their homes.
The proposal surfaced this week as an amendment offered by state Rep. Robert Talton, a Republican from this largely industrial city southeast of Houston. The House approved it Tuesday on an 81-58 vote. The bill will go to a conference committee, because the Senate version does not contain the foster parent provision.
Talton said his proposal was necessary to protect traditional families.
"It is my belief that the vast majority of Texans share my concerns regarding the placement of our most vulnerable children in less than ideal circumstances," he said in a statement. Talton declined to discuss the issue further.
The measure would require the state to ask prospective foster parents whether they are gay. If the answer is yes, that person would not be considered an eligible caregiver. Foster children who live with gay parents would be placed in new homes.
Eva Thibaudeau, 30, a Houston social worker, and her partner, 30-year-old Christina Rodriguez, have cared for 80 foster children in the last eight years. And they adopted four of them: an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old boy and 2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Thibaudeau is a board member of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas. She said she learned of the proposal this week from the group's organizers in Austin.
"I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me," she said. "This is being driven by misinformation, a lack of education and homophobia. It certainly isn't being driven by the best interest of children."
The measure would allow the government to conduct investigations to determine whether prospective and current foster parents were being truthful about their sexual orientations.
Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, called the provision an "outrageous breach of civil rights and privacy rights."
Even some people who otherwise support the bill said they were troubled by the provision. Cathie Adams — president of the Texas Eagle Forum in Dallas, a conservative political action group — called it a concern.
"But being in a homosexual home is a traumatic situation," she said. "The bigger focus here is on the future."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Canada Makes Morning After Pill Available Over the Counter
LiveNews.com
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 21, 2005
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- It's official. Canada has now made the sometimes abortion drug Plan B available over the counter without a prescription. The decision will likely place pressure on the United States to follow suit, and the Food and Drug Administration is considering a proposal to make it available to women over 16 years of age.
Canadian officials with Health Canada signed the order to make the so-called morning after pill available at pharmacies across the country. The drugs will be kept behind the pharmacy counter rather than on the shelves.
A new study on the usage of the drug among Canadian women, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, claims demand for the drug more than doubled in British Columbia, when it allowed over the counter sales tow years ago.
"Timely access to emergency contraception has the potential to reduce unwanted pregnancies and subsequent abortions," the study said.
Pro-life groups oppose the use of the drug and point to a recent study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, that found increased access to the "morning after" pill did not lower pregnancy rates because many women did not use the pills.
Wendy Wright, of Concerned Women for America, said the study showed "easy access to the drug increases sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates," a situation she called "alarming."
"Furthermore, studies show that the abortion rate is unaffected, and in some cases has increased," she explained.
Cathy Cleaver Ruse, speaking for the nation's Catholic bishops, said that the study, co-authored by a Planned Parenthood doctor, "blows the lid off the main argument for putting morning after pills on the drugstore shelf."
"Proponents have repeatedly claimed that making the drug available without a prescription would reduce abortion numbers by as many as half; now their own study debunks that claim," Ruse said.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada hailed the change.
Three provinces -- British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec -- didn't wait for the national government to make the change and went ahead on their own and allowed the drug to be sold without a doctor's visit.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Yale Divinity Consultants Warned Air Force
By ROBERT WELLER : Associated Press Writer
Durham, NC Herald-Sun
Apr 21, 2005 : 8:20 am ET
http://www.heraldsun.com/firstnews/37-598785.html
DENVER -- Consultants from Yale Divinity School told the Air Force Academy last summer that a Protestant chaplain had promoted Christianity with a fire-and-brimstone warning during cadet basic training.
The Yale report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, was compiled after the visitors attended the training at the academy's request in July.
Academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said Wednesday that commanders had taken the Yale report into consideration when they developed religious tolerance classes that are now mandatory for cadets and staff.
The classes were a response to complaints that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the school that anti-Semitism and other forms of religious harassment have become pervasive.
"We're making strides out here. We recognize the problem," Whitaker said.
The academy, still emerging from a sexual assault scandal, had asked the Yale team to review how the school's chaplains serve cadets.
Kristen Leslie, a Yale professor of pastoral care who led the group, said the chaplain told 600 cadets "to go back to their tents and tell their fellow cadets that those who are not born again will burn in the fires of hell."
She said the fact that the people speaking to cadets were in positions of power "suggests the cadets were supposed to assume this was the party line."
[More at URL]
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Friday, April 22, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.
Gay-rights bill falls 1 vote short of becoming state law
By Andrew Garber and Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002249302_gayvote22m.html
OLYMPIA — Legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians reached the floor of the Washington Senate yesterday for the first time in history, but fell one vote short of becoming law.
House Bill 1515, which has been around in some form for at least a quarter-century, lost 25-24 in a largely partisan split. Two conservative Democratic senators, Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam and Tim Sheldon of Potlatch, Mason County, joined all 23 Republicans to defeat the bill.
State law now bans discrimination by race, sex, religion, national origin, marital status and other categories. The bill, which had passed the House, would have added sexual orientation to that list.
Opponents called the bill a steppingstone that, once enacted, could be used to sue for gay marriage. Others said they would be condoning homosexuality by voting yes.
"I believe homosexuality is wrong," Hargrove said. "Therefore, I cannot give governmental protection of that behavior."
Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the gay lawmaker who has been sponsoring the bill for a decade, predicted his side would prevail in the long run.
"We didn't win today, but we will be back and we will win," he said, choking with emotion.
Equal Rights Washington, a group that lobbied in favor of the bill, said it plans to run radio and television ads as soon as next week attacking Republican Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, for voting against the measure.
"We want to make sure [voters] know Bill Finkbeiner voted against House Bill 1515 and for discrimination," said George Cheung, executive director of the group.
The group is considering running ads against other Republican senators, including Senate Republican Floor Leader Luke Esser, R-Bellevue. As a member of the House in the early 1990s, Finkbeiner voted in favor of similar legislation.
[More at URL]
Kansas senator threatens DC with retaliation if it recognises gay unions;
Thursday's Family News in Focus;
Concerned Women for America reports that Magellian has reinstated the virulently anti-gay "reparative therapist" advocate Warren Throckmorton - he's also a regular CWFA contributor;
CWFA decries UN effort by New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil to add support for recognising the rights of GBLT people;
California Democratic Party convention endorses resolution calling for marriage rights;
Another TVC news article/action item on judges;
Friday's Family News in Focus;
Plug for "Justice Sunday," the big churchcast this Sunday afternoon. Also grouped with it are more stories on the need to change the Senate filibuster rules.
Soulforce is planning an event at Focus on the Family;
LA Times article on the Texas effort to ban foster care by gayfolk;
Canada makes morning-after/emergency BCP available over the counter;
Complaints of anti-semitism and other forms of religious harassment by fundamentalists at the Air Force Academy investigated;
Seattle Times article on defeat of Washington State basic civil rights bill as "socially moderate" eastside Republicans vote in party lockstep.
----- 1 -----
April 21, 2005, 8:57 a.m.
Sin’s the Thing
What Benedict XVI learned in the shadows of the Nazis.
By Daniel P. Moloney
National Review Online
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/moloney200504210857.asp
In the media coverage of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, a number of commentators have mentioned that the young Josef Ratzinger grew up in Nazi Germany. It was a motif of John Paul II’s biography that growing up under the Nazis and the Communists influenced his theology and outlook, encouraging him, for example, to place the dignity of the human person at the center of his theological agenda. So it is natural to ask of the new pope whether his experience under the Nazis affected his theological outlook. Not to suggest that his experience with fascism taught him how to be a hard-line enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy — that line of thinking is beneath contempt. But whether having seen totalitarianism as a youth gave him an intellectual agenda comparable to that of his predecessor.
...
In this regard, the consumerism and relativism of the West can be just as dangerous as the totalitarianism of the East: It’s just as easy to forget about God while dancing to an iPod as while marching in a Hitler Youth rally. There’s a difference, to be sure, but hardly anyone would contest the observation that in elite Western society, as in totalitarian Germany, the moral vocabulary has been purged of the idea of sin. And if there’s no sense of sin, then there’s no need for a Redeemer, or for the Church.
I think that, for the new pope, the 1968 protests in Europe and the sharp decline in those partaking of the sacrament of confession in the Church after Vatican II made it clear that the sense of sin was breaking down among Western liberal Christians just as it had for Western liberal Germans between the wars. If there’s going to be a theological key to this papacy, I would locate it here.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
District Warned On Gay Marriage
Williams Fears Congressional Ire Will Affect Budget
By Spencer S. Hsu and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 21, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6007-2005Apr20.html
A leading Senate Republican warned Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) yesterday that a move to recognize gay marriages in the nation's capital would trigger a sharp backlash from Congress, and the mayor acknowledged that the District could jeopardize its budget agenda and domestic partner benefits if it mishandles the issue.
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R), the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the District, said he wanted to hear more from Williams but opposed a statement by the city's attorney general that "validly married same-sex couples" may file joint D.C. tax returns.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Family News in Focus
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Focus on the Family
Bob Ditmer
* Republicans calling for an end to the Senate logjam over judicial nominees – Democrats refuse
1. Seven freshmen Republican senators, "It's a conciliatory letter, remarkably free of partisan language." "Intended to be a nonpartisan letter," but Salazar and Obama refused to sign it. Salazar was "carrying the water" of the Democratic party, saying that the "Constitutional option" is a bad idea, et al.
* Study finds mainstream media leaning way left – with surprising results
3. "Exposes big media's self-serving examination[s]." "This is not a matter of opinion, this is a matter of facts and logic." "They need some sort of expert opinion, or they're siting some new study, they'll get a quote or paraphrase from ... some sort of think tank." "Predominantly, those sources are liberal." "No matter how you shake up the data, the media leans far to the left." "The news articles of the Wall Street Journal were just about as liberal as CBS News or the Wall Street Journal."
* Staunch supporters of life were honored in Washington D.C. last night
5. "It's probable you've never heard of them, but that's the way they like it." Richard and Helen DeVoss - for large contributions; Charles Cheppew(?), "very outspoken pro-life supporter."
* Internet Evangelism Day focuses on using the web to spread the Gospel
6. "We can reach every nation over the internet." They have a training course for online evangelists - webevangelism.org. "Spiritual searches outnumber all others online." Also internetevangelism.com.
* Public opinion favoring federal Marriage Protection Amendment is growing
2. 57% favour, 37% opposed. 2/3 say "same sex marriage should not be legally recognised." "Sends a strong message to Congress." "You can do whatever needs to be done if you've got popular support behind you."
* Texas amendment could ban homosexual foster parents
4. Robert Talton amendment to ban "homosexuals" from "adopting foster children."
* New Hampshire mall implements adult-supervised teen "escort policy"
7. "Teens need adult supervision if they want to congregate in the mall." Many teens and some parents aren't happy with the policy; quoting one unnamed parent, "Who knows what they'll be doing if they're not at the mall?"
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Magellan Reverses Decision to Eject Christian from Its Board
4/21/2005
Health care provider had removed Dr. Throckmorton over his belief that homosexuals can change.
By Bethanie Swendsen
Concerned Women for America
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/7958/CFI/family/index.htm
A February decision made by Magellan Health Services raised the question: Who is influencing whom in the public health sphere? But hope is restored as Magellan reversed its position late yesterday afternoon and invited Warren Throckmorton, PhD, to re-join its National Professional Advisory Council.
"I think Magellan has shown a willingness to listen to the concerns of its subscribers and employer constituents regarding my dismissal. This is a good move to get the focus back on providing quality mental-health management," said Throckmorton’s news release.
Magellan, the largest mental-health management company in the United States, repealed the dismissal of five-year national-provider advisory-board member Dr. Warren Throckmorton, which occurred because of his belief that homosexuality is treatable and reversible.
Although Magellan had succumbed to homosexual activist groups, its spokeswoman Erin Somers told the Philadelphia Inquirer that each patient “has the right to explore a variety of therapies when they are grappling with sexual orientation issues.”
Magellan, who emerged from bankruptcy in 2004 with new ownership and leadership, is responsible for mental-health care of one-in-five Americans.
“It’s good to see that shining a light on this kind of discrimination gets results,” said Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America’s (CWA’s) Culture & Family Institute. “I think Magellan realized that Dr. Throckmorton is a valued board member and deserves better treatment than a politically correct send-off. We’re proud at CWA to publish his essays on our Web site, and have noticed that they get wide distribution, such as through the Alliance Defense Fund daily bulletin.”
Throckmorton’s stellar resume includes positions as past president of the American Mental Health Counselors Association and advisor to Magellan's 63,000 mental health-care providers since December 1999.
Throckmorton’s opinion is that Magellan needs to provide counseling that reflects also the viewpoints of people who hold traditional religious beliefs.
He is a nationally known counselor, author and psychology professor at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Warren Throckmorton periodically contributes articles to the CWA Web site. For the latest one, click here.
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Push to Recognize ‘Sexual Orientation’ at the U.N.
4/21/2005
Concerned Women for America
The United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland and the push is on to include “sexual orientation” as a human right. Our own Wendy Wright, Senior Policy Director, was there and brings us this report on the agenda of liberal nations and the response of the United States delegation. Click here to listen.
This is more on the New Zealand push on protecting GBLT people. "We have our allies, pro-family and pro-life organisations, that we take a week to go there and lobby... one of our UK allies, CARE of UK, has hired somebody to be there all six weeks..." "The advocates for sexual rights... homosexual, transsexual, intersex... their goal is to have their proclivities declared a human right. ... Two years ago, Brazil introduced a resolution saying that sexual orientation is a human right... there is no definition of sexual orientation, how can it be a right?" "Thankfully, that first year, it did not pass... Brazil had threatened to introduce it, but they came under tremendous opposition from the Holy See, from Islamic countries... this year, they didn't introduce it, but they did introduce a resolution on behalf of the right to physical and mental health..." Want his job extended for three years; Paul Hunt; "He's used this mandate... to promote some of the most extreme ideas we've ever seen... Paul Hunt has been very blunt in putting on paper exactly what they believe... he has decided that those treaties establish an unlimited right to abortion and an unlimited right to sexual activity... he even admitted in his papers he's the one coming up with that definition... he is going to judge countries according to that definition." Claims that he's demanding every country overturn anti-abortion law and recognise the rights of gayfolk. "Brazil's resolution to extend his mandate for three years is really rather dangerous." "Calling for an unlimited right to abortion, and unhindered sexual practices. That's one of the things we had to educate the delegates about." Canada also introduced a resolution about "sexual rights and reproductive rights and other things that are very offensive to other nations." "They intended on filing _their_ resolution with _their_ language."
----- 6 -----
Calif. Democrats Endorse Gay Marriage
by Matt Johns 365Gay.com Los Angeles Bureau
Posted: April 18, 2005 5:01 pm ET
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/04/041805calDems.htm
(Los Angeles, California) California Democrats have wrapped up their annual convention with a resolution supporting same-sex marriage.
"The California Democratic Party is now a leading partner in statewide efforts to ensure that all California families enjoy the legal protections that they deserve," said Eric Stern, National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director who addressed the convention.
The resolution calls for civil marriage to be extended to same-sex couples. It passed unanimously and as the vote was being taken many delegates displayed signs that read "AB 19" in support of an assembly bill that would extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. The legislation was recently introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno, an openly-gay Democrat from San Francisco.
The vote makes California the fourth state Democratic party to officially call for marriage equality. The Democratic parties of Massachusetts, New York and Washington State have all expressed support for marriage equality, either by resolution or through a state party platform.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, authored by Leno, is expected to pass through the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 26.
The legislation would allow gays and lesbians to marry while protecting the rights of churches opposed to same-sex marriage to refuse to perform the weddings.
It also has the support of the NAACP. (story)
Meanwhile, a legal case that involves the right of same-sex couples in California to marry is heading slowly to the State Supreme Court. Last month a San San Francisco judge ruled that state laws preventing gay marriage are illegal. (story)
[More at URL]
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Rev. Sheldon Speaks Out On War Against Bush Judges
Traditional Values Coalition
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2239
April 21, 2005 – The liberal war against President Bush’s judicial nominees continues—and the battle is heating up among Senate Republican leaders to bring an end to the filibustering of good judges.
Two of these fine judges are Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen and California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown. Both of their nominations have been blocked for years by left-leaning Senators.
In Rev. Sheldon’s recent commentary on the liberal efforts to keep decent judges from receiving a full vote in the Senate, he noted: “The screeching leftist special interest groups like People for the American Way have worked hand in glove with Senate liberals to lie and to distort the records of these well qualified women to serve as federal judges.”
Senate liberals fear a full vote on these women because they do not want judges on the federal bench who believe in interpreting, rather than creating laws. Liberals want activist judges who are pro-abortion, pro-pornography, pro-homosexual, and pro-big government. In short, they want judges who are anti-traditional values and who will act as judicial tyrants—so long as the tyranny supports liberal social engineering.
Senate Republicans led by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) are on the verge of restoring Senate tradition, which calls for a simple majority vote to affirm judicial nominees.
TVC joined with the National Coalition To End Judicial Filibusters in sending a letter of concern over this issue to key Senators on the Hill. In it, we stated: “The Senate must act as steward of the federal courts by returning the power to confirm judges to the Constitution’s simple majority requirement.”
Please consider the following:
The Constitutional Option: Restoring Fairness to Senate Nominations
The constitutional option is grounded in Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution that empowers the Senate to “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.”
Goal: Restore the 214-year Senate tradition of approving the President’s nominations by a simple majority vote.
Means: Use a simple majority vote to set a new precedent without changing Rule XXII of the standing rules. For instance, a Senator would raise a point of order to close debate on a nominee. The presiding officer would sustain the point of order, thereby setting a new, binding precedent. The minority’s appeal of the ruling could be tabled with a simple majority vote.
[More at URL]
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Family News in Focus
Friday, April 22, 2005
Focus on the Family
* Janice Rogers Brown and Pricilla Owen head to the Senate
1. Will there be a filibuster? If so, will the Republicans change the filibuster rules? Hearing was calm. "I think they're just saving their ammunition for the Senate floor." "We must do whatever is necessary to end this." "Then the real Nuclear Option beings - the Democrats' threat to shut down the Senate."
* Proponent of the belief that homosexuals can shed same-sex attraction now sits on health board.
2. Magellian Health Services and Dr. Throckmorton again - see above. Magellian had "bowed to pressure from the homosexual lobby." Magellian never said that was why he was dismissed, however. "I believe it's a real positive statement from the largest mental health organisation." Magellian says they are not "taking sides" in the "ex-gay" battle.
* School officials snub parents' objection to highly controversial student musical
3. "Batboy." The one based on the Weekly World News character. Fundamentalist are filing a formal complaint about the play. "High school students are letting the beast come out, we've seen that at Columbine... they also did this without notification..."
* Recent Barna study show church attendance lagging
5. "In a society that appears to be searching for spirituality, why is church attendance lagging?" FotF says, "People don't necessarily think that church attendance... is relevant, it's more performance... people don't seem to connect, and if you don't connect within a certain amount of time, you're not going to say 'this is my church.'" "A lot of churches aren't providing a good connection to the solid word of god."
* TV and radio station owners gathered at the National Association of Broadcasters to discuss voluntary decency code.
4. "We still need to have the option of going to the FCC for enforcement."
* Thirty to forty percent of the gambling revenue in Canada comes from eight percent of the poorest Canadians.
* Study out of Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia suggests a novel idea to curb the gambling addiction.
6. These two are the same short story. "Smart card" system to restrict amounts people can spend - it's a budgeting tool. FotF says it's a bad idea and will only enable problem gamblers.
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Don't Miss Dr. Dobson on 'Justice Sunday'
April 22, 2005
Focus on the Family
This weekend's simulcast available to churches, individuals.
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0036275.cfm
You've heard Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson talk about the need to rein in our nation's out-of-control courts. Learn what steps you can take to help in that effort by making plans to watch this weekend's "Justice Sunday" simulcast.
"Justice Sunday" will feature Dr. Dobson and other pro-family leaders discussing the crisis caused by Senate Democrats who have blocked President Bush's federal appeals court nominees by using unconstitutional tactics.
The event will be broadcast live from 7 to 8:30 p.m. EDT from Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
Other speakers include Tony Perkins, president of FRC Action; Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship; and Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
A key point of the discussion will be the necessity of enacting the "constitutional option" — or restoring the Senate tradition to make 51 votes sufficient to confirm a judicial nominee. That tradition has been violated by the liberals' unprecedented abuse of filibusters, which require 60 votes to be overcome.
"What we have witnessed these last three years is an unprecedented manhandling of Senate tradition," Dobson said. "Never before in 216 years has the Senate employed a filibuster against judicial nominees who clearly have enough support to be confirmed. Senate Democrats are not just filibustering these nominees — they are filibustering democracy itself."
For more information on how you and/or your church can be sure to see "Justice Sunday," visit the FRC Action Web site.
----- 10 -----
Homosexual Activists Planning To Converge On Focus On The Family
By Jeremy Reynalds (04/18/05)
American Daily
http://www.americandaily.com/article/7475
A large delegation of homosexuals and others sympathetic to the so-called gay lifestyle are planning to converge on Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters.
A news release from Soulforce (www.soulforce.org) commented about the demonstration planned for May 2. "On that day James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, will have to make a moral decision. Will he receive a Soulforce delegation of gay and lesbian people of faith and families, friends, and clergy into his massive world headquarters? Or will he lock them out?"
According to the news release, the volunteers are " trained in relentless nonviolent resistance," and they plan to deliver to Focus "thousands of letters that illustrate the tragic consequences of the anti-gay rhetoric of Dobson and other fundamentalist Christian leaders."
"If we are locked out of Focus on the Family," said Jeff Lutes, MS, LPC, a psychologist and family counselor from Austin, Texas, speaking in the news release, who is heading up the demonstration, "the nation will see clearly that the truth about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is being locked out with us."
Speaking in the Soulforce news release, Mel White, the Executive Director of Soulforce, asked about Dobson.
"Does he welcome this delegation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people with supportive clergy and other people of faith?" said White. "Or does he lock us out and force us to risk nonviolent civil disobedience and arrest? We can't just go away and ignore the terrible consequences of Dobson's ignorance and bigotry."
"We are calling this a family intervention, as we are all really part of the same family," Jeff Lutes commented in the same news release. "As a member of the human family, James Dobson is our brother who has become a dangerous and misleading force to millions. We are coming to Colorado Springs to show him that his refusal to hear the truth about God's gay children leads to wasted lives and ruined families. We pray that this time, James Dobson will hear us."
FOCUS RESPONSE
A Focus on the Family spokesperson was traveling and unavailable for comment, but a staff person said the organization does appreciate everyone's prayers.
Focus has made its position on homosexuality very clear.
[more at URL]
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Texas Might Ban Gay Foster Parenting
Supporters say the measure would protect traditional families. Opponents say it would violate rights and leave children without homes.
22 April 2005
By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-foster22apr22,1,1475441.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
PASADENA, Texas — Texas lawmakers are considering legislation that could make this the only state to ban gays and lesbians from being foster parents.
Conservatives have pledged to fight for the measure, part of a bill to revamp the state's Child Protective Services agency, despite concerns that as many as 3,000 children could be removed from their homes.
The proposal surfaced this week as an amendment offered by state Rep. Robert Talton, a Republican from this largely industrial city southeast of Houston. The House approved it Tuesday on an 81-58 vote. The bill will go to a conference committee, because the Senate version does not contain the foster parent provision.
Talton said his proposal was necessary to protect traditional families.
"It is my belief that the vast majority of Texans share my concerns regarding the placement of our most vulnerable children in less than ideal circumstances," he said in a statement. Talton declined to discuss the issue further.
The measure would require the state to ask prospective foster parents whether they are gay. If the answer is yes, that person would not be considered an eligible caregiver. Foster children who live with gay parents would be placed in new homes.
Eva Thibaudeau, 30, a Houston social worker, and her partner, 30-year-old Christina Rodriguez, have cared for 80 foster children in the last eight years. And they adopted four of them: an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old boy and 2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Thibaudeau is a board member of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas. She said she learned of the proposal this week from the group's organizers in Austin.
"I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me," she said. "This is being driven by misinformation, a lack of education and homophobia. It certainly isn't being driven by the best interest of children."
The measure would allow the government to conduct investigations to determine whether prospective and current foster parents were being truthful about their sexual orientations.
Mike Gross, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, called the provision an "outrageous breach of civil rights and privacy rights."
Even some people who otherwise support the bill said they were troubled by the provision. Cathie Adams — president of the Texas Eagle Forum in Dallas, a conservative political action group — called it a concern.
"But being in a homosexual home is a traumatic situation," she said. "The bigger focus here is on the future."
[More at URL]
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Canada Makes Morning After Pill Available Over the Counter
LiveNews.com
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 21, 2005
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- It's official. Canada has now made the sometimes abortion drug Plan B available over the counter without a prescription. The decision will likely place pressure on the United States to follow suit, and the Food and Drug Administration is considering a proposal to make it available to women over 16 years of age.
Canadian officials with Health Canada signed the order to make the so-called morning after pill available at pharmacies across the country. The drugs will be kept behind the pharmacy counter rather than on the shelves.
A new study on the usage of the drug among Canadian women, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, claims demand for the drug more than doubled in British Columbia, when it allowed over the counter sales tow years ago.
"Timely access to emergency contraception has the potential to reduce unwanted pregnancies and subsequent abortions," the study said.
Pro-life groups oppose the use of the drug and point to a recent study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, that found increased access to the "morning after" pill did not lower pregnancy rates because many women did not use the pills.
Wendy Wright, of Concerned Women for America, said the study showed "easy access to the drug increases sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates," a situation she called "alarming."
"Furthermore, studies show that the abortion rate is unaffected, and in some cases has increased," she explained.
Cathy Cleaver Ruse, speaking for the nation's Catholic bishops, said that the study, co-authored by a Planned Parenthood doctor, "blows the lid off the main argument for putting morning after pills on the drugstore shelf."
"Proponents have repeatedly claimed that making the drug available without a prescription would reduce abortion numbers by as many as half; now their own study debunks that claim," Ruse said.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada hailed the change.
Three provinces -- British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec -- didn't wait for the national government to make the change and went ahead on their own and allowed the drug to be sold without a doctor's visit.
[More at URL]
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Yale Divinity Consultants Warned Air Force
By ROBERT WELLER : Associated Press Writer
Durham, NC Herald-Sun
Apr 21, 2005 : 8:20 am ET
http://www.heraldsun.com/firstnews/37-598785.html
DENVER -- Consultants from Yale Divinity School told the Air Force Academy last summer that a Protestant chaplain had promoted Christianity with a fire-and-brimstone warning during cadet basic training.
The Yale report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, was compiled after the visitors attended the training at the academy's request in July.
Academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said Wednesday that commanders had taken the Yale report into consideration when they developed religious tolerance classes that are now mandatory for cadets and staff.
The classes were a response to complaints that evangelical Christians wield so much influence at the school that anti-Semitism and other forms of religious harassment have become pervasive.
"We're making strides out here. We recognize the problem," Whitaker said.
The academy, still emerging from a sexual assault scandal, had asked the Yale team to review how the school's chaplains serve cadets.
Kristen Leslie, a Yale professor of pastoral care who led the group, said the chaplain told 600 cadets "to go back to their tents and tell their fellow cadets that those who are not born again will burn in the fires of hell."
She said the fact that the people speaking to cadets were in positions of power "suggests the cadets were supposed to assume this was the party line."
[More at URL]
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Friday, April 22, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 a.m.
Gay-rights bill falls 1 vote short of becoming state law
By Andrew Garber and Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002249302_gayvote22m.html
OLYMPIA — Legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians reached the floor of the Washington Senate yesterday for the first time in history, but fell one vote short of becoming law.
House Bill 1515, which has been around in some form for at least a quarter-century, lost 25-24 in a largely partisan split. Two conservative Democratic senators, Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam and Tim Sheldon of Potlatch, Mason County, joined all 23 Republicans to defeat the bill.
State law now bans discrimination by race, sex, religion, national origin, marital status and other categories. The bill, which had passed the House, would have added sexual orientation to that list.
Opponents called the bill a steppingstone that, once enacted, could be used to sue for gay marriage. Others said they would be condoning homosexuality by voting yes.
"I believe homosexuality is wrong," Hargrove said. "Therefore, I cannot give governmental protection of that behavior."
Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the gay lawmaker who has been sponsoring the bill for a decade, predicted his side would prevail in the long run.
"We didn't win today, but we will be back and we will win," he said, choking with emotion.
Equal Rights Washington, a group that lobbied in favor of the bill, said it plans to run radio and television ads as soon as next week attacking Republican Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland, for voting against the measure.
"We want to make sure [voters] know Bill Finkbeiner voted against House Bill 1515 and for discrimination," said George Cheung, executive director of the group.
The group is considering running ads against other Republican senators, including Senate Republican Floor Leader Luke Esser, R-Bellevue. As a member of the House in the early 1990s, Finkbeiner voted in favor of similar legislation.
[More at URL]
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Date: 2005-04-22 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-22 08:32 pm (UTC)OR ELSE YOU MIGHT GET TO BE POPE SOME DAY!
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Date: 2005-04-22 08:50 pm (UTC)