South Carolina recently voted for a State Constititutional Amendment that bans same sex marriage. That’s 26 states I don’t feel welcome in.
Of the seven that had a similar Amendment on the ballot last November, only Arizona voted it down.
Next Time No Strings, Please
Another governor – this time Governor Strickland of Ohio – has given the Feds back the abstinence-only strings-attached sex education money.
That’s six states now, & the fifth (Wisconsin) only refused the impractical funding a few weeks ago.
So now there’s the other 44 to work on. Write your governor and tell him to return funding that denies a state the right to teach sex education in the way that we decide is most appropriate for our kids.
On The Road for Keroack
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for HHS’ Office of Population Affairs, Eric Keroack, has resigned. & There was much rejoicing because he was not just anti-choice, but anti-contraception.
This Bush government is really just insane. Honestly: putting someone who is against even contraception in charge of the Office of Population Affairs is like putting a wife-beater in charge of the Office of Domestic Violence.
But, that’s one nightmare over.
Mess with the AFA
The American Family Association is running an online poll about “corporations promoting homosexuality,” & since you don’t need to be a member, we have a great opportunity to screw up their numbers.
Do go take the poll now.
April Fool
Republican State Senator Dan Patrick has suggested paying pregnant women $500 so they don’t abort unwanted babies.
Sure. That’ll cover – a box of diapers and some pre-natal vitamins, maybe a vaccination or two if she goes to a sliding scale clinic.
And what’s your plan after that, Senator Patrick?
He is my April Fool this year.
Italian Anarchists on Trial, Again
A new documentary about Sacco & Vanzetti opens this weekend in New York. & No, in case you’re wondering, their case has nothing to do with gender. I’ve been a student of their case since I first read a reference to it in John Dos Passos’ The Big Money, which is the 3rd book of his U.S.A. trilogy.
Restored Funding
Reversing a decision I reported here a few weeks ago, the Women’s Health Department will now be fully funded.
Church & State
Bad policy is sometimes based not on science, but on belief:
. . . the Pentagon’s top general, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, said that homosexual acts are immoral and should not be condoned by allowing gays to serve in the military. Then . . . Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that if homosexuality were genetic, it would still be evil and should be treated prenatally.
& It’s on geniuses like these that we base the “don’t ask / don’t tell” policy, even if there is no good evidence that homosexuals make bad soldiers, and conversely, there’s plenty of evidence that sometimes male heterosexual soldiers suck: one third of female soldiers report rape or attempted rape. So no matter what Mohler thinks, is morality really the reason we don’t let (out) gays serve? Of course not.
Unplanned Stupidity
Say there’s a good pre-screening program for early detection of cervical and breast cancer that’s free to women & partially funded by the state.
Say there’s a governor of said state who, under pressure from anti-choice forces, decides that no matter how good the program, it must be stopped because the screenings are taking place in Planned Parenthood clinics.
Now say that said Planned Parenthood clinics didn’t even provide abortion procedures.
What do you say now? These kinds of politics are idiotic: a functioning, useful program that was saving women’s lives has now been gutted for no goddamn good reason. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt decided to grandstand instead of backing useful services for poor and uninsured women.
Further Thoughts on the Stanton Hearings
The first thing: it’s obvious the commissioners went in with their minds made up ahead of time, & all of the people who waited hours to testify were wasting their time & their breath. & To hell with those commissioners for being so cynical, close-minded, & pig-headed about it: those are bureaucrats, pure & simple, who don’t have a conscience to examine.
Props of course to the Mayor Pat Gerard and Commissioner Rodney Woods for making the right decision. Mayor Gerard’s wish that there would be a day when LGBT employees felt safe working in Largo was heartfelt, and her point that that is not the case now was chilling.
That said: I found this round pretty damned encouraging, to be honest. In all the time I’ve been paying attention to trans politics (something like 5 years now), this has been the most unified response to an unfair, discriminatory firing. Hearing the various lesbians and gays and trans people of Florida speak at the hearings was absolutely inspiring and heart-breaking; hearing so many ministers of various religions – the Friends, of course, but also Unitarians & others – speak so plainly against discrimination against LGBT people actually made my night. A labor organizer, a minister that wasn’t one, and ordinary citizens all came & said “don’t do this.” And that was damned cool. The testimony of the objectors was far greater than the testimony of those who wanted him fired, and they were – by far – more articulate, more heartfelt, and came off as far more rational than the bitter people who spoke about wanting him fired.
Honestly, it’s good to see “my team” in such good shape, willing to wait in line for six hours to speak, and doing so in defense of trans people – even though, as more than one speaker pointed out, they don’t necessarily understand transness.
That, my friends, is progress.
Our thoughts are otherwise with Stanton, his wife, and family. & Mine, of course, are especially with his wife. You can find a bunch of video, photos, & news articles about the hearings & initial firing at The St. Petersburg Times site.