Kicked Out For Marrying His Son!

Pastor defrocked for performing son’s gay wedding will appeal

Pastor Frank Schaefer

This news is actually a few days old, but as I'm still hearing deeply emotional conversations about it I decided to throw my .2 cents worth in.

 A man's son, a minister, asked him to perform his wedding ceremony and he did, as most ministers (that I know of anyway) would. After performing the ceremony, he was asked to "give up his credentials" by his church (in effect taking away his ability to minister to that denomination). He refused. The church then basically kicked him out; sort of 'ex-communicated' him, to use the Catholic terminology, because his son was gay, and was marrying his partner.

In my opinion we are in a battle for our society's ethics and morals; we're no longer in the age where it was a shock to find people living together without benefit of marriage. Children are no longer routinely raised by two people who love them and who are committed to one another, they grow up in households with one parent who struggles to raise them while dating various people and presenting a horrible example for the child of what they have to look forward to. Weren't we not long ago bemoaning the fact that people didn't get married anymore? Ministers get up in the pulpit and preach every Sunday against fornication and promiscuity, yet here is a minister who has brought up a child that believes in marriage but because he doesn't marry who the church thinks he should, his father is punished for doing the ceremony!! Come on!! What kind of example does this set? You are telling the clergy in your church that if their child comes to them and wants to be married to someone they love, they should turn their back on him and say no? I don't see any difference between this man marrying his son and a man, and marrying his son and a woman that he didn't approve of. While he may not approve in either case, he has to support his son; if he doesn't, he's made a mockery of everything that the church teaches. God embraced the sinners, why can't the church? I know a lot of people are pointing their fingers and saying "See, this is why I don't attend church, why I no longer believe in religion; they are hypocrites and liars." I can't exactly dispute that either, not in this case. What kind of example does it set when we have so many cases of priests being 'outed' as pedophiles yet the church kept them on, but because this man performed one ceremony for his same-gender loving son, he was kicked out. What does that say about the church? It would be difficult to be comfortable in a place where you are constantly overshadowed with the ugly spectre of discrimination and ostracizm by the people around you. Is this their plan for rebuilding our society, by telling people that it's okay to be a member of a church and volunteer your time and donate your money, but if you want to get married, you're going to have to take it somewhere else because they won't marry you if the person you love is not someone they approve of! Is the church ever going to stop this close-mindedness, and learn that there is more to God's love than always standing in judgement of others?? It's this singleminded purposeness that has contributed more to the decline of the church than anything else ever conceived in the name of God.

I'm sorry; I didn't mean for this post to go in the direction it has. After all, the point of the article is about a man, his son, and his church, not about the church and its role in tearing down our society. It's just such a shame to see an institution that weilds so much power in our society misusing it like this. Instead of taking advantage  of every opportunity to bring people together,  they are alienating people from one another. Having a man tell his son he can't perform his wedding because of who he chooses to marry is not the way to rebuild the family structure. Those who made the decision to 'defrock' Pastor Shaefer need to be defrocked themselves.

Of course this is strictly the opinion of the author, coming to you Live From Bikini Bottom.....

Bachmann Feared Abduction by Lesbian, Ex-Nun

And she's running for the Republican nomination for the PRESIDENCY??? This is a joke right? It might not be so bad if there had been any kind of truth at all to the allegation, but to not even have charges filed because there is no basis to it? How does she dare to try for the nomination in a time when gay rights is one of the hottest topics on the ballot?

by Jeffrey Hartinger
Rep. Michele Bachmann, who is now seeking the Republication presidential nomination, had claimed in 2005 that she was almost abducted by two women in a bathroom, according to The Daily Beast.

The pair consisted of a lesbian and an ex-nun.

At the time of the alleged attempted kidnapping, Bachmann was a state senator from Minnesota and had already started to campaign against LGBT rights. She had previously been caught hiding in the bushes of a gay rights event.

When she refused to speak about gay rights at a constituent forum, the two women encountered Bachmann in the bathroom and questioned her on the subject.

Pamela Arnold, a 5-foot-tall lesbian now in her 50s, began a conversation with the then-senator, when Bachmann screamed out, “Help! I’m being held against my will!”

Arnold stepped aside and opened the door. Bachmann rushed to an SUV waiting outside and shortly after, filed a police report stating that she was “absolutely terrified and has never been terrorized before as she had no idea what the two women were going to do to her.”

No charges were filed in the case, as the Washington County attorney deemed the incident to be a simple conversation between a politician and her constituents.

Bachmann, a vocal adversary of gay rights, has a lesbian stepsister, Helen LaFave. It is reported that the two had a close relationship growing up. Recently, LaFave and her same–sex partner of 20 years attended one of Bachmann’s anti-gay rallies in Minnesota.

In addition to her crusade against LGBT equality, she and her husband, Marcus Bachmann, own a Christian counseling practice in Minnesota.

Posted on Advocate.com June 15, 2011 02:50:00 PM ET

Anger over 'transphobic' columnist

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • July 14, 2009 - 14:38

Dozens of members of the Queer Youth Network have written to complain about Sun columnist Jon Gaunt, who described gender reassignment as "misguided" and "slightly sick".

The LGBT youth organization has also lodged a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission.

The article in question focused on Kim Petras, the German 16-year-old trans singer. She underwent gender reassignment a year ago, having fought to have the law changed. Usually, only those over the age of 18 are permitted to undergo the surgery.

Columnist and radio presenter Jon Gaunt described her as "sad and slightly sick". He went on to describe her gender reassignment surgery as "drastic body mutilation" and compared her with Michael Jackson.

In a subsequent SunTalk radio show, Gaunt spoke to Erica Davies, the Sun journalist who first interviewed Kim.

Davies explained that Kim had felt she was "trapped in the wrong body" since the age of two, adding that the "bright" teenager was accepted by her family.

Gaunt said he had no problem with those over the age of 18 undergoing gender reassignment but was "not comfortable" with a child having the procedure, saying it could set "a dangerous precedent".

He added: "I'd love to get Kim on the show but after what I've just said, she probably won't come in."

David Henry, of the Queer Youth Network, has said Gaunt should apologise.

He said: "We accept The Sun is a tabloid newspaper and celebrity gossip mixed with sensationalism is part of what it does best, however demeaning and dehumanising young people in this manner is absolutely unacceptable and potentially damaging to thousands of people, many of whom have strikingly similar experiences to those of Kim Petras.

“Transgender people and those who do not conform to gender norms experience more than their fair share of ridicule and social torment in their every days lives as it is - we do not need this continued abusive onslaught from the mainstream media.

"We accept many people will not be surprised by this offensive and inaccurate comments made by Jon Gaunt in this article, but as Britain's most read-newspaper we would like to hear at least an acknowledgment from the editor of the upset this has caused our community by printing one of the many letters sent in by our members, if not a full apology from Jon Gaunt himself.”

TransPeople are Not Deceptive - Like This Ad From LACarGuy Implies We Are

by: Autumn Sandeen
Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 04:00:00 AM EDT
From Pam's House Blend

Y'know, the trans panic strategy used in the Angie Zapata Hate Crime Murder Trial is way to fresh in my mind, where the defense implied (as defense attorneys always do when the trans panic defense is used) that the victim was deceptive in their presentation (usually male-bodied trans women presenting as women), and therefore is a mitigating factor in the commission of a violent "crime of passion."

There is a commercial from a Los Angeles group of auto dealerships that is literally showing a trans gender woman as being incredibly deceptive -- not telling her husband that she was male-bodied, and he discovering the surprise on a desert road to what we're left presuming would have been the honeymoon. (Really!)

There is an uncut version of the commercial here, and there is no question what the driver is seeing in his mirror before he drives off, leaving the bride alone in the desert without anyway to get home.

No violence there, eh?

The slogan that ends the commercial is:

Getting what you want isn't always easy. Finding the car you want should be.

So trans people are unwanted people, in LA Car Guy's eyes. Swell! And add that commentary to the lyrics of the song playing in the commercial's background, which begin:

Changing,
Not for better,
Feeling tired,
looking wetter.

Broken
Like a promise...

No commentary saying trans people are horrible, deceptive people there, whose transitions are "not for better," eh?

Nice.

I get tired of constantly having to defend my humanity to people who don't perceive me as fully human. Well guess what? I am fully human, and this commercial angers me.

If you, like me, want to comment to the LA Car Guy dealerships about their commercial, the contact information for these nine dealerships are below the fold.
Autumn Sandeen :: Trans People Are Not Deceptive -- Like This Ad From LA Car Guy Implies We Are
LA Car Guy Dealerships:

• Lexus Santa Monica
Contact page
1501 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Sales: Sales 800-859-4081

• Volkswagen Santa Monica
Contact page
2440 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
New Car Sales: (888) 394-4903

• Pacific Audi
Contact page
20550 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503
New Car Sales: (888) 212-1009

• Pacific Volkswagen
Contact page
14900 Hindry Ave., Hawthorne, CA 90250
New Car Sales: (888) 267-0056

• Pacific Porsche
Contact page
2900 Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance, CA 90505
New Car Sales: (888) 214-7874

• Toyota Santa Monica
Contact page
801 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
New Car Sales: (888) 565-1166

• Scion Santa Monica
Contact page
888 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Contact Telephone: (888) 873-0431

• Toyota of Hollywood
Contact page
6000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028
New Car Sales: (888) 245-2815

• Scion of Hollywood
Contact page
6000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California 90028
New Car Sales: (888) 627-3449

The Contact page links are to pages where you can send the dealerships' emails.

Partner and Children Denied Visitation of Dying Woman

Aggrieved Janice Langbehn, with her children, Danielle, 15; David, 13; and Katie, 12 (back to camera), has sued the hospital that treated her partner.

When a loved one is in the hospital, you naturally want to be at the bedside. But what if the staff won’t allow it? That’s what Janice Langbehn, a social worker in Lacey, Wash., says she experienced when her partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond, collapsed with an aneurysm during a Florida vacation and was taken to a Miami trauma center. She died there, at age 39, as Ms. Langbehn tried in vain to persuade hospital officials to let her visit, along with the couple’s adopted children. “I have this deep sense of failure for not being at Lisa’s bedside when she died,” Ms. Langbehn said. “How I get over that I don’t know, or if I ever do.” The case, now the subject of a federal lawsuit in Florida, is being watched by gay rights groups, which say same-sex partners often report being excluded from a patient’s room because they aren’t “real” family members.

To read the whole story… Kept From a Dying Partner's Bedside

"God hates fags" preacher joins calls to block gay Scottish minister

Fred Phelps, the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church which picket dead soldiers' funerals with chants of 'God hates fags', has said the ordination of openly gay minister Scot Rennie to a Scottish church would be an "abomination".

Phelps and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper were banned from entering the UK this week by home secretary Jacqui Smith for their extremist views.

Phelps weighed in on the row over Rennie's ordination after a prankster added his name to a petition calling for the Kirk's decision to be overturned.

Eight thousand people, including a fifth of Church of Scotland ministers, have signed the petition.

Rennie was elected to Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen by more than 80 per cent of his congregation but 12 members of the Aberdeen Presbytery complained over his lifestyle as an openly gay man. The Church's General Assembly will debate the appointment on May 23rd.

Speaking on her behalf of her father, Phelps-Roper said he was relaxed about his name being added to the list as he agreed that Rennie should not be appointed.

“God has set a standard for who can be a preacher in a church of the Lord Jesus Christ and they would be kicked to the kerb if this man, Scott Rennie, is appointed.

“We don’t need a petition to say this is an act of disobedience and rebellion against the standards of God," she said.

Phelps and his daughter are on a list of 16 individuals banned from entering the country since October due to their extremist views.

Home secretary Jacqui Smith said she had decided to make the list public in order to make clear what behaviour would not be tolerated in the UK.

Jury reaches verdict in Colo. transgender slaying

Apr 22, 2009

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of a Colorado man charged with beating a transgender woman to death with a fire extinguisher.

The verdict was expected to be read Wednesday afternoon in Greeley. Jurors deliberated for only about two hours.

Thirty-two-year-old Allen Andrade is charged with murder and a bias-motivated crime in the death of 18-year-old Angie Zapata.

Prosecutors say Andrade knew for 36 hours that Zapata was biologically male and killed her out of his dislike for homosexuals. Andrade's attorneys argue Zapata deceived him, and that he snapped when he discovered Zapata was biologically male.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — The case of a Colorado man charged with beating a transgender woman to death with a fire extinguisher has gone to the jury.

Prosecutors and the defense made their closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of Allen Andrade, who is charged with murder and a bias-motivated crime in the death of 18-year-old Angie Zapata.

Attorneys for the 32-year-old Greeley man say Zapata deceived him, and that Andrade snapped when he discovered that Zapata was biologically male. But prosecutors say Andrade had known for 36 hours that Zapata was biologically male before he killed her out of a dislike for homosexuals.

The trial is believed to be the first under Colorado's bias-motivated crime law involving a transgender person.

I AM HOMOPHOBIA

I found this posted on another blog....

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the p*****tute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn't have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

Homophobia is wrong.

Author - Unknown

A Voice Against Proposition 8

When the Proposition 8 campaign was going on, one of the most effective weapons in their arsenal was children's education; "Same-sex marriage will be taught in public schools." The proponents of Proposition 8 blasted this all over TV and radio, and in newspapers, trying to convince people that if Proposition 8 failed to pass, the next day the teachers would be in schools teaching kindergarten students on up about homosexuals getting married, and what a terrible thing this is. They also claim that homosexuals are incapable of being monogamous or of giving a child a stable home; (From Contraries, by Margot Schulzke on August 13, 2008)

Lest anyone suffer the illusion that any equivalency between the sexual practices of homosexual relationships and traditional marriage exists, the statistics regarding sexual fidelity within marriage are revealing: In Sex in America, called by the New York Times “the most important study of American sexual behavior since the Kinsey reports,” Robert T. Michael et al. report that 90 percent of wives and 75 percent of husbands claim never to have had extramarital sex. …

While the rate of fidelity within marriage cited by these studies remains far from ideal, there is a magnum order of difference between the negligible lifetime fidelity rate cited for homosexuals and the 75 to 90 percent cited for married couples. This indicates that even “committed” homosexual relationships display a fundamental incapacity for the faithfulness and commitment that is axiomatic to the institution of marriage.

Where do they get this garbage from??? Who are these heterosexual husbands and wives claiming to have never had extramarital sex? How many was it 90% and 75% of?

Here is an article from someone that we rarely heard from during that whole Proposition 8 campaign: one of the children. This is the kind of thing we should have been hearing more of!

"My moms are amazing."

A 16-year old supports her parents' right to marry.
Wed, 02/11/2009 - 9:34pm by Jeff

Adrienne is a student at The Urban School of San Francisco, and is a reporter for The Urban Legend. In the online PBS NewsHour Extra: Student Voice, Adrienne writes that same-sex couples like her parents should be allowed to get married.

My parents have been married twice and may have to get married a third time. I don't come from a broken family, my parents love each other and always have. The only problem is, they're lesbians.

In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could wed. More than 18,000 same-sex couples, including my parents, were married.

In the November elections, however, voters passed Proposition 8, which amends the California constitution to "eliminate [the] right of same-sex couples to marry." Now a legal battle is being fought to determine if voters can alter the state constitution in such a drastic way.

'Misleading methods'

It is not only the attack on civil rights that is offensive to me, but also the misleading methods the supporters of Propisition 8 employed. Supporters of Propisition 8 used children's images in campaign videos without permission, and argued that same-sex marriage would be taught in schools. They used children, highlighting them continuously, but giving them no voice.

In reality, "nothing mandates teaching [same-sex marriage]," says Kate Belcsak, co-president of Urban High School's Gay-Straight Alliance. Unfortunately "there was no [public] response to the scare tactics," said Boone Epstein, GSA co-president. He added that children of gay parents need to "come out and say they are regular human beings, and not some devil's spawn."

Demonstrating against 'Prop 8'

After Proposition 8 passed, outrage generated demonstrations across the country. I went with my family to a rally in San Francisco. Protesters carried signs with slogans such as, "Don't mess with Dumbledore's rights," or "No more Mr. Nice Gay," and "Get your church out of my state." Members of Urban High School's Gay-Straight Alliance were at the rally. They came out on a Saturday for an issue that is more important than a day off from school.

Many families brought their children. I talked with a lesbian couple who are raising a child together and their love for the child was clear. Another heterosexual couple talked about the anger they felt that their gay and lesbian friends could have this basic right taken away. Their ten-year-old son called the Propisition 8 campaign "lies."

Urban High School Spanish Teacher Esteban Speier agreed, saying, "It was a scare tactic used by the right that we were going to teach gay marriage as a unit in social studies."

My moms are amazing, and I know how much it hurts them every time people are homophobic. I see this issue as simple. It's a civil right. My parents love each other, and they want to marry in a country that says everyone is equal under the law.

As their daughter, I am standing up and saying that there are no reasons that could be argued in a courtroom that could stand against the undeniable fact that we are a family, like any other.

From Box Turtle Bulletin: Prop 8 Exit Polling

Despite the enormity of Barack Obama's historic win to become the 44th President of these United States, I have never been more depressed about the "state of the union" than I am now. (Except maybe when Bush started sending troops to Iraq and most of America agreed with him.)The 4 initiatives that concerned my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters all passed. I cannot believe that the same country that would elect a black man President will not allow same-sex couples to enjoy the same rights everyone else has.

I saw this article on Box Turtle Bulletin this morning, and read the comments afterward...I ended up posting a comment myself. I've copied the article and my comment below (if you'd like to read the rest of the comments, please click here);

Jim Burroway
November 5th, 2008

CNN also has some interesting exit polling on California’s Prop 8:

As in Arizona, women are more supporting of same-sex marriage than men:
Men: Yes: 51%; No: 49%
Women: Yes: 50%; No: 50%

We have done a very poor job in reaching out to the African-American community:
White: Yes: 47%; No: 53%
African-American: Yes: 70% No: 30%
Latino: Yes: 51% No: 49%
Asian: Yes: 47%; No: 53%

The youth are our future:
18-24: Yes: 34%; No: 66%
25-29: Yes: 40%; No: 60%
30-39: Yes: 50%; No: 50%
40-49: Yes: 58%; No: 42%
50-64: Yes: 50%; No: 50%
65 or Over: Yes: 59% No: 41%

There’s a reason our opponents distrust education:
H.S. Graduate: Yes: 54%; No: 46%
Some College: Yes: 56%; No: 44%
College Graduate: Yes: 48%; No: 52%
Postgraduate: Yes: 39%; No: 61%

Marriage Amendments are a GOP thing:
Democrat: Yes: 35%; No: 65%
Republican: Yes: 81%; No: 19%
Independent: Yes: 44%; No: 56%


As a black lesbian, I am subjected to many of the criticisms leveled against these 3 groups; "my race" did not vote against Prop 8 and doesn't care about anyone's civil rights but our own; "my sexual orientation" has civil unions and domestic partnerships, isn't that enough; "my gender" is always out there trying to stir up something when we should be home in the kitchen. Instead of trying to find someone to blame for anything that's considered a "failure", why can't we look at these things as just another hurdle to be jumped; another pothole to avoid; another mountain to climb, a river to cross, a valley to climb out of. We are ALL going to need each other to get where we want/need, no, DESERVE to be, and that's on an equal footing with everyone else. United we stand and divided we fall; an old cliche to be sure, but a true one nonetheless. We can only get to the Promised Land if we stand together, side by side, and that means ALL OF US who experience inequality. I am a black woman who loves another woman, but more than that I am a PERSON who is no different from anyone else. We are all what God made us to be; His children, made in His image, and NO ONE, not California, not Arizona, not Arkansas or Florida; not the State Courts or the Federal, not the Mormons or the Jehovah Witness', not even the President himself is gonna tell me otherwise.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that ALL men [including the gay ones] are created equal." (Thanks Michael R)

It's 'self-evident' to me, and I'm going to keep on fighting until it's 'self-evident' to everyone else!!

Woman forced from Fed building for lesbian shirt

I sometimes wonder what makes people think that they can commit senseless acts of stupidity and get away with it? If you work for someone else, what is it that drives you to do something that you know your company is not going to back you on? Is homophobia really such a driving force that you will do something you know will probably get you reprimanded, if not fired? I think back to the heyday of the Klan, and lynching; those people knew that for the most part, society would allow them to get away with the things they did, through ignoring the situation, saying it was the victim's fault because of some small action, or just getting rid of the situation through intimidation and murder. In this situation though, what made this security guard think that he could get away with this? He cites a policy which he evidently had not read; if he had, he would have known that it did not mention clothing, and he would not have made even more of a fool of himself than he already had. It is amazing to me that someone's bigotry/homophobia could run so deep that a word on a shirt could make him react that way. I have seen people react to some strange things in some strange ways, but this one takes the cake. I wonder what that guard would do if I went in with a rainbow pussy t-shirt on....

Jamaican lesbian, facing homophobia, will not be deported

So finally, a story about something being done right for a gay person! (Although there's no guarantee it will stay that way.) When I went to Jamaica for a week for my birthday, I wanted to go with my wife; I couldn't though. She's what's known as a "dyke" in some circles, or a "stud". Basically, she's a very slim woman who at certain times and in certain clothing could at first look be mistaken for a man. (As a matter of fact, the year we were married, we went to a live entertainment supper club, and she almost became involved in an altercation with a 'bouncer' because he was told by a woman who was in there that a man had gone into the ladies room.) I couldn't go to Jamaica with her because she's a very affectionate woman, and she probably would have gotten us killed. Even if she didn't overtly do anything, I am sure there would have been trouble, because the first time someone said something to her that she didn't like, she would have let them know in no uncertain terms, and then it would have been 'on'. Whether the person was male or female would have made no difference to her either.

It really bothers me that I have to let society determine where I can go with the person I've chosen to spend my life with in order to have a life to spend with her! Jamaica is one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen, and to not be able to it to the love of my life because of the ignorance and hatred of some narrow-minded people...people who are otherwise some of the nicest people I've ever met...well it's just got me tongue-tied. I just don't know what to say.