Their Movement - 2005

Legislative & Cultural Issues 

Homosexual Manifesto

U.S. Legislation for July 04

Children Recruited into the Homosexual Lifestyle

Oregon Court Tosses out Three Thousand (3000) Gay Marriage Licenses 


PORTLAND, Ore. - Ap 14/05 - The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday nullified nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year ago by Portland's Multnomah County, saying a county cannot go against state matrimonial law. 

"Oregon law currently places the regulation of marriage exclusively within the province of the state's legislative power," the high court said in its unanimous ruling. 

The court said state law bans gay marriage. It also noted Oregon voters approved a constitutional amendment last November (04) that even more explicitly prohibits the practice. 

Kelly Clark, attorney for the Defense of Marriage Coalition, which represented gay marriage opponents, said the ruling "sends a signal to the rest of the country." 

"Two West Coast liberal states now, both California and Oregon, have both said that local governments don't have authority to take the law into their own hands," Clark said. 

Kevin Neely, spokesman for the state attorney general's office, said the court left the big issue — civil unions for gay couples — for another day. "I suspect the issue will be resolved by either legislation or by additional litigation," he said. 

Legislators had been waiting for the court's ruling for guidance. On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will push for a law allowing gay couples to form civil unions that would give them many of the rights and privileges of marriage. 

Couples whose marriages were scrapped by the ruling said they were disappointed but hoped the civil-unions proposal will become law. 

A judge stopped the practice about six weeks later, but not before nearly 3,000 gay couples had wed. 

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How are Christians today responding to homosexuality?

Marriage Laws: State by State: April 2005

To date, 43 states have laws that bar recognition of same-sex "marriages," defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Twenty-six states have only statutes defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, and 17 have constitutional language. This table includes each state's DOMA language where applicable.

Seven states - Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin - do not have a DOMA on the books and are at a great risk of being forced by the courts to recognize counterfeit marriages that grant the benefits and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples.

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Dated: April 12, 2005

Orlando, FL- Orlando residents will see two new billboard signs today that feature pictures of former homosexuals who challenge the permanence of homosexuality and offer a message of hope and change. Exodus International, the largest network of former homosexuals in the world, sponsored the billboard ads hoping to counter mainstream media messages and offer the public a considerate, alternative message about homosexuality. 

The ads question the immutability of homosexuality and feature seven former homosexuals with the words, “We questioned homosexuality. Truth brought freedom,” and “Rethink homosexuality.” 

The billboards have already generated local controversy. Originally slated to appear above a local gay resort, the ads were in the process of being put up when the owner, protested the content and threatened bodily harm to the crew contracted to post the signs. The ads have since been moved to an alternate site.

Alan Chambers, a former homosexual featured on the billboard and President of Exodus International, responded, “While it is disturbing to see the inconsistency in the gay community’s call for tolerance and diversity, our message does not change. Our existence offers hope to others who feel trapped by homosexuality and gives the public a reason to question what they see and hear about this issue every day in the media. 

“There are hundreds of thousands of individuals, like myself, who experienced emptiness and isolation in homosexuality and through Jesus Christ, we found the strength to leave it,” said Chambers. “Popular culture says we don’t exist, but we do and we want others to hear our stories and consider a side to this issue they may have never heard before.” 

Exodus International is a resource and referral organization with over 125 member chapters across North America that offer help to the over 400,000 people who contact the ministry each year. 

Homosexual Parenting: Placing Children at Risk

by: Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D. 

FRC Nws- 2005 - A number of studies in recent years have purported to show that children raised in gay and lesbian households fare no worse than those reared in traditional families. Yet much of that research fails to meet acceptable standards for psychological research; it is compromised by methodological flaws and driven by political agendas instead of an objective search for truth. In addition, openly lesbian researchers sometimes conduct research with an interest in portraying homosexual parenting in a positive light. The deficiencies of studies on homosexual parenting include reliance upon an inadequate sample size, lack of random sampling, lack of anonymity of research participants, and self-presentation bias.

The presence of methodological defects--a mark of substandard research--would be cause for rejection of research conducted in virtually any other subject area. The overlooking of such deficiencies in research papers on homosexual failures can be attributed to the "politically correct" determination within those in the social science professions to "prove" that homosexual households are no different than traditional families.

However, no amount of scholarly legerdemain contained in an accumulation of flawed studies can obscure the well-established and growing body of evidence showing that both mothers and fathers provide unique and irreplaceable contributions to the raising of children. Children raised in traditional families by a mother and father are happier, healthier, and more successful than children raised in non-traditional environments.

David Cramer, whose review of twenty studies on homosexual parenting appeared in the Journal of Counseling and Development, found the following:

The generalizability of the studies is limited. Few studies employed control groups and most had small samples. Almost all parents were Anglo-American, middle class, and well educated. Measures for assessing gender roles in young children tend to focus on social behavior and generally are not accurate psychological instruments. Therefore it is impossible to make large scale generalizations . . . that would be applicable to all children.[1]

Since these words were penned in 1986, the number of studies on the subject of homosexual parenting has steadily grown. The fact that these studies continue to be flawed by the methodological errors warned about by Cramer has not inhibited the proponents of homosexual parenting from their sanguine assessment of the outcomes of children raised in homosexual households.

Silverstein and Auerbach, for example, see no essential difference between traditional mother-father families and homosexual-led families: "Other aspects of personal development and social relationships were also found to be within the normal range for children raised in lesbian and gay families." They suggest that "gay and lesbian parents can create a positive family context."[2]

This conclusion is echoed in the official statement on homosexual parenting by the American Psychological Association's Public Interest Directorate, authored by openly lesbian activist Charlotte J. Patterson of the University of Virginia:

In summary, there is no evidence that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any respect. . . . Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.[3]

PROBLEMS WITH HOMOSEXUAL PARENTING RESEARCH

Upon closer examination, however, this conclusion is not as confident as it appears. In the next paragraph, Patterson qualifies her statement. Echoing Cramer's concern from a decade earlier, she writes: "It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children is still very new and relatively scarce. . . . Longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay families over time are badly needed."[4] The years have passed since Patterson's admission of the inadequacy of homosexual parenting studies, and we still await definitive, objective research substantiating her claims.

In addition, Patterson acknowledges that "research in this area has presented a variety of methodological challenges," and that "questions have been raised with regard to sampling issues, statistical power, and other technical matters (e.g., Belcastro, Gramlich, Nicholson, Price, and Wilson, 1993)." 


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Connecticut Hangs... in the Balance

SENATE VOTE TODAY [Peter Wolfgang]

From  Family Institute of Connecticut - April 6 2005 - Yesterday, over 50 pastors representing thousands of people—Protestant and Catholic; African-American, White and Hispanic; male and female—joined FIC at a press conference on the steps of the state capitol to express their opposition to the same-sex civil union bill that will be voted on in the state Senate today:

The Family Institute of Connecticut, which opposes civil unions and gay marriage, said Tuesday it hopes to turn out 25,000 demonstrators on the state Capitol grounds on April 24 to persuade Rell to reconsider her endorsement of civil unions.

"We are going to let her know we want her to veto the bill if it gets off the House floor," Brian Brown, the group's executive director, said at a press conference, during which he was accompanied by clergy opposed to the legislation…Connecticut's [possible legalization of civil unions] would run counter to a national trend of prohibiting gay marriage or civil unions. Kansas voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a ban on gay marriages and civil unions.

Persuading Gov. Rell was not the only point of the press conference. As several speakers made clear, pro-family citizens want their lawmakers to vote “no” on civil unions and “yes” on Sen. DeLuca’s amendment to allow a referendum to let the people decide. In a speech that was garbled by the Republican-American and ignored by the Courant, Sen. DeLuca asked why, if Love Makes a Family believes its own poll showing majority support for civil unions/same-sex “marriage,” it opposes a referendum? “Maybe they don’t really believe their own poll,” he said.

As the Courant reports,

The Rev. Davida Foy Crabtree, conference minister for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, held a press conference later Tuesday to reiterate that other clergy support civil unions.

What the Courant neglects to mention are the numbers. FIC’s press conference—an idea that originated with pastors who attended last Thursday’s Lunch—had at least 50 clergy in attendance. Rev. Crabtree’s press conference “to reiterate that other clergy support civil unions” had four—and one of them was a layperson. This is a glaring omission. If the numbers had been reversed, would the Courant have neglected to mention it?

At Rev. Crabtree’s press conference, Sen. Mary Ann Handley dismissed concerns about holding the civil union vote the week of the Pope’s death. “I don’t think we need to concern ourselves with that.” Rev. Crabtree referred to FIC’s press conference as “a few people”—perhaps she, like the Courant, did not notice her own tiny numbers—and said the civil union bill “is not about marriage, it’s about civil rights.”

Rev. Crabtree’s assertion is rebutted in a quote from an article that appears on the Courant’s front page today:

Gay rights activists have framed the debate over same-sex marriage as a question of civil rights, but Charles Giampietro, a 46-year-old tool-and-die maker from Meriden, doesn't see it that way.

"There's something much bigger going on," says the married father of five. "They're really trying to change the structure of society."

Although she cites the UConn poll done a year ago and ignores last month’s FIC poll conducted by Harris Interactive, Daniela Altimari’s story is a more-balanced profile of pro-family citizens than normally appears in our state media.

Rev. Crabtree’s claim to speak for a large number of pro same-sex “marriage” clergy was undermined by another piece in today’s Courant. According to the article by Frances Taylor, it is not clear that Rev. Crabtree even speaks for her own UCC denomination. While Rev. Crabtree complains about an alleged attempt to persuade churches to leave the UCC over this and other issues, others question that view of things:

The Rev. David Runnion-Bareford, executive director of the Biblical Witness Fellowship, a Candia, N.H.-based evangelical organization within the United Church of Christ, denied that his group's mission was to lead churches away from the UCC.

The theological tension between evangelical and liberal churches in the UCC follows a trend common among mainline churches over the past 25 years. The gulf between the two camps within the United Church of Christ has widened in recent years over issues such as same-sex marriage. Three Connecticut churches left the UCC in the past year over such issues, including First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, the largest Congregational church in New England and previously one of the largest UCC congregations in the country…

The Rev. Peter Smith, who leads First Church of Christ in Thomaston, a conservative church, complained that the state UCC conference adopts official positions even when not all member churches agree. He said he doesn't think Biblical Witness Fellowship members are attempting to lead churches out.

"Just by the fact of [their] being evangelical in UCC means they are more willing to talk with people with whom they differ," Smith said…

[Said Rev. Runnion-Bareford,] "This is like blaming the boy for the fact that the emperor is naked," he said.

The Senate will vote today. FIC supporters should meet in the LOB lobby at 11:00 AM. Last week, a Hartford judge ruled that she could not grant a divorce to a lesbian couple “married” in Massachusetts because CT does not recognize same-sex “marriage”—but hinted that she would rule differently if the state legalized civil unions. This is further evidence that if this bill becomes law, the courts may use it as a pretext to impose same-sex “marriage” on CT. Please join us today, if you can.

Posted at 10:37 AM

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Kansas Overwhelmingly Backs Gay Marriage Ban

TOPEKA, Kan. -AP 6/06 - AP - Kansans overwhelmingly voted to add a ban on gay marriage and civil unions to their state constitution, but both sides predicted court battles over the amendment.

The ban reaffirms the state's long-standing policy of recognizing only marriages between one man and one woman. It also declares that only such unions are entitled to the "rights and incidents" of marriage, prohibiting the state from authorizing civil unions for gay couples.

With final, unofficial results from 104 of the state's 105 counties on Tuesday, 414,235, or 70 percent, voted "yes," and 178,167, or 29 percent voted "no."

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Supporters of the ballot measure said the ban must be in the Kansas Constitution to insulate it from legal challenge.

Heteronormative: Involutary Speech Codes and the new Coercive Political Conformity Movement

A New Word, a New Day

Where "gay marriage" is leading us

by David Frum

NRO

March 11, 2005

‘Heteronormative”: There’s a word to add to your vocabulary. Very, very soon you’ll be hearing it a lot. 

On February 26, Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Hollywood star Will Smith, sparked a fierce little controversy at Harvard after receiving an award. In her thank-you speech, Pinkett Smith told the story of her life. She described how she had grown up as the child of two teenage heroin addicts and overcome adversity to build a successful career and a happy marriage. She concluded: 

“Women, you can have it all — a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career. They say you gotta choose. Nah, nah, nah. We are a new generation of women. We got to set a new standard of rules around here. You can do whatever it is you want. All you have to do is want it.” 

What could possibly be offensive about this message? 

According to a complaint issued by the Harvard Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance, as reported by the Harvard Crimson, Pinkett Smith’s words “implied that standard sexual relationships are only between males and females.” “Our position is that the comments weren’t homophobic, but the content was specific to male-female relationships,” said one of the Alliance’s co-chairs. The other added: “I don’t think [Pinkett Smith] meant to be offensive, but I just don’t think she was that thoughtful.” 

The organizers of the award ceremony agreed to apologize for the offensive remarks. PC silliness from an out-of-the-mainstream campus? Possibly. But then there’s this: On March 3, the Boston Globe took Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to task for “insisting that every child ‘has a right to a mother and a father . . . ’” In today’s context, the Globe argued, praise for the traditional family can be understood only as “ignorance” or “mean-spirited politics.” 

And finally, this: Prodded by its famously high-handed courts, Canada is now amending its laws to accommodate same-sex marriage. The province of Ontario has passed a law deleting the words “wife,” “husband,” “widow,” and “widower” from every statute in which they appear. The federal same-sex-marriage bill now before the parliament voids the term “natural parent” wherever it occurs in Canadian law and replaces it with the term “legal parent.” Should the federal bill pass, motherhood and fatherhood will have been deprived of all juridical meaning in Canada — and children will belong to any adult or group of adults to which the state may wish to assign them. 

These three events, which are simultaneously comic, grotesque, and sinister, add up to an important glimpse into our future. 

For years, advocates of same-sex marriage have pledged that their big idea will have little or no effect on the 97 percent or so of the population that is not gay. All they wanted, they said, was that marriage rights be “extended” to a very small minority: What possible difference could that make to anyone else? But as same-sex marriage advances from slogan to reality, we are learning that it will make a very big difference to us all. 

Same-sex marriage does not extend marriage. It transforms marriage. 

To make same-sex marriage a reality, as the Canadians are demonstrating, the law must abolish the concept of “husbands,” “wives,” “mothers,” and “fathers.” The law does not abolish these concepts just for a previously excluded few. The law must abolish these concepts for everybody. 

True, marriage in its old form will continue to be consecrated for many years to come. Priests, ministers, and rabbis will pronounce their ancient words over eager young brides and grooms. But the old words will not long disguise the new realities. 

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Drawing The Line At Gay Marriage

Courrant - Ap 6/05 - Donna Scales, a 62-year-old grandmother from suburban Portland, Ore., never had much interest in politics.

But last year, when the state's voters were asked to approve a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, Scales enthusiastically planted a lawn sign in her yard proclaiming her support for the ban.

It's not that Scales has a problem extending some form of legal recognition to gay and lesbian couples. "Of course, if you've spent your life with someone and that person is in the hospital, you should have the right to visit them," she says. "That's just human compassion."

But Scales draws a hard line at marriage, a line she is unwilling to cross.

"It has nothing to do with rights," says Scales, who has been married to the same man for 33 years. "It goes much deeper than that."

Scales is part of a broad swath of the American public - a decisive majority, according to polls - that believes marriage should remain what it has long been: a union between a man and a woman.

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Pro-family group slams new GOP co-chair
Claims pro-choice Republican supports homosexual agenda

Jan  20/05 - A pro-family group is criticizing the Republican National Committee for nominating as its new co-chair an Ohio Republican who the organization says is not only in favor of abortion rights but also has failed to oppose the homosexual agenda.

Joann Davidson was speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives for four years and, according to RNC spokesman Brian Jones, "one of the top grass-roots activists and leaders in the entire country."

The Pro-Family Network of Ohio, however, says Davidson "does not represent the values of the rank and file of the GOP."

Greg Quinlan, executive director of the group, disputes part of a New York Times story in which Davidson says the issue of homosexual rights "had not come up" during her tenure as speaker.

"Ms. Davidson is suffering from a lapse in memory," said Quinlan in a statement. "Legislation to add sexual orientation to the existing hate-crimes laws in Ohio went down to defeat when three former homosexuals testified against the measure while Ms. Davidson was speaker. She told her Republican caucus at that time that she supported the sexual orientation legislation, even though it was introduced by a Democrat."

Quinlan also goes after Davidson for not killing a bill on marriage.

"Davidson's memory loss becomes even more suspect with the Defense of Marriage Act in Ohio," he said. "Not once, but twice, the measure was introduced and never had a vote in committee because, as speaker, Ms. Davidson had the measure killed and is on record calling the legislation 'unnecessary.'" 

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Appeals court upholds Indiana's gay marriage ban

INDIANAPOLIS - Jan 20/05 - The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today that the state's ban on gay marriages can stand, rejecting a challenge by three homosexual couples to a law prohibiting even the recognition of legal same-sex marriages from other states.

A decision was not immediately made on whether to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, but supporters of the ban said they would continue their push for Indiana to join others states with constitutional amendments banning the unions.

The appeals court upheld a ruling by a Marion County judge who dismissed the couples' lawsuit on the grounds that state law clearly defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

"What we decide today is that the Indiana Constitution does not require the governmental recognition of same-sex marriage, although the Legislature is certainly free to grant such recognition or create a parallel institution under that document," the court said in its ruling.

Charlotte Egler, who with her partner Dawn Egler were plaintiffs in the case, said she was not discouraged by the ruling.

"Temporarily, this is a disappointment and a defeat, and in the long run attitudes change and people get to know their neighbors," she said. "Opinion is going to change, and laws are going to change to reflect that."

Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, said the group would continue to push for passage of the state constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. He said lawmakers should not let the issue take a back seat to other proposals from Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who did not mention gay marriage in his State of the State address on Tuesday.

"The tendency among some legislators would be to ignore the issue now that the court has uphold the law, but that would be a mistake," Clark said.

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said he was pleased with the court's decision, but that Republican lawmakers still planned to advance a state constitutional amendment to specifically ban gay marriages

"It does not positively protect marriage from future courts," Bosma said of the ruling. "That certainly is not the end of the battle."

The ruling comes more than a year after judges Michael Barnes, James Kirsch and Ezra Friedlander heard arguments in the case.

The court said that opposite-sex couples were distinguished from same-sex couples because they can produce children and that the couples who filed the lawsuit did not establish that they had a "core value" right to marry.

"Opposite-sex marriage furthers the legitimate state interest in encouraging opposite-sex couples to procreate responsibly and have and raise children within a stable environment," the ruling said.

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Judge upholds traditional marriage
Affirms federal law, rejects extending Massachusetts policy to Florida

Jan 20/05 - WND - A federal judge in Florida yesterday rejected an effort to extend a Massachusetts same-sex marriage to the Sunshine State, thereby upholding the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

Judge James Moody Jr. dismissed a challenge to Florida's marriage laws, ruling in the first case to uphold the DOMA against challenge from same-sex marriage advocates, said a statement from Liberty Counsel, which filed to intervene in the case. 

The DOMA, passed by Congress in 1996, says one state does not have to recognize an out-of-state, same-sex marriage.

The suit was filed by two lesbians, the Rev. Nancy Wilson and Paula Schoenwether, who traveled to Provincetown, Mass., in May to get married and then sought to have their marriage recognized in their home state of Florida.

In upholding the DOMA, the court wrote, "Florida is not required to recognize or apply Massachusetts' same-sex marriage law because it clearly conflicts with Florida's legitimate public policy of opposing same-sex marriage. … Adopting Plaintiffs' rigid and literal interpretation of the Full Faith and Credit would create a license for a single state to create national policy."

In his ruling, Moody also rejected the federal due-process claim, stating that "no federal court has recognized that this right includes the right to marry a person of the same sex."

The decision also stated that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas cannot be read as creating a fundamental right to same-sex marriage. Moody expressly found that the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence "was explicitly clear that its holding did not extend to same-sex marriage." 

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Roman Catholic archbishop targets Canadian PM on gay marriage

TORONTO (AFP) - Jan 20/05 -  A Roman Catholic archbishop who represents more than a million believers dialled up pressure on Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, calling on him to abandon plans to legalize same-sex marriage.

Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic warned that redefining marriage to permit homosexual unions would trigger serious, and unpredictable consequences throughout Canadian society.

"The conjugal partnership of a man and woman is the beginning and basis of human society," Ambrozic wrote in an open letter to Martin, published in the Globe and Mail newspaper.

"Tampering with marriage and family poses significant social risks."

The Cardinal, who heads the diocese of Toronto which boasts 1.4 million adherents, argued that the voice of the people expressed through parliament, and not judges should decide on an issue as fundamental as marriage.

Canada's Supreme Court last year gave the government the go-ahead to change the definition of marriage, and seven of the country's provinces and territories have authorized such unions.

The government had taken the unusual step of asking for a Supreme Court ruling on draft legislation last year.

Government plans would see the definition of marriage changed to the "lawful union of two persons," rather than the "lawful union of one man and one woman."

But Ambrozic called on Martin to invoke a constitutional override mechanism which allows laws to operate for five years, even if judges have ruled them in contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada's bill of rights. 

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The Gay Agenda - It's Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation

By Four Votes, Presbyterians Reject Gay-Ordination Plan

RICHMOND, Va.- July 3/04 - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) legislative assembly narrowly rejected a measure Friday to allow regional governing bodies to ordain gay clergy and lay officers.

Under the 259-255 vote, the current interpretation of church law forbidding the ordination of gay clergy will remain binding on the church, including on the regional bodies, known as presbyteries.

Immediately after the vote, about 300 Presbyterians who supported allowing the ordination of gay clergy gathered in a courtyard where many wept and embraced.

"Tonight is another `no' to us," the Rev. Jane Spahr, a lesbian minister from San Rafael, Calif., told the group. "All we wanted to do is walk beside you and serve beside you."

Conservative Presbyterians had warned that a vote for gay ordination at the denomination's national meeting could cause the largest split in the church since the Civil War, when slavery split the church into Northern and Southern factions.

Opponents of the proposal said a network of 1,300 congregations with 450,000 members was poised to break away. The network, called the Confessing Church Movement, holds as a central doctrine the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

The 259-255 vote put a minority report from Schaefer's committee before the assembly, supplanting the majority report that had recommended relaxing the gay ordination ban. Delegates then voted 297-218 to adopt the minority report, the only proposal before them.

THIS NEW LAW NOT PUBLICIZED BY MEDIA

RICHMOND, Va. — July 1/04 - Gay activists rallied in major cities statewide to protest a new law that critics said could nullify legal contracts between same-sex couples.

The state law, which went into effect Thursday, prohibits civil unions, partnership contracts or other arrangements "purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

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Revelers Parade for Gay Pride Worldwide

BERLIN - Hundreds of thousands of revelers wearing everything from full Victorian garb and designer gowns to skimpy leather and construction hats celebrated gay pride in cities around the world Saturday.

Berlin saw one of Europe's largest parades. To the sound of thumping techno music, the city's openly gay Mayor Klaus Wowereit led floats in the 12th annual celebration of Christopher Street Day, commemorating the start of the gay rights movement in New York's Greenwich Village in 1969.

Police estimated that about 200,000 people snaked their way from the chic Kurfuerstendamm boulevard to the landmark Victory Column, while organizers said the crowd swelled beyond 500,000.

Wowereit told the cheering crowd that while the parade was "fun and colorful," the gay community still was marginalized.

"We must fight against that," he said.

Parents led the way in Mexico City as thousands marched to celebrate gay pride and promote tolerance.

With dance music blasting from floats carrying mostly young men, the march stretched across four lanes of traffic and measured about 10 city blocks as it wound from the Angel of Independence monument to Mexico City's central plaza.

"We have to keep up the fight, the peaceful fight" for homosexuals' rights, said Jorge Sanchez, 45, of Mexico City, whose T-shirt declared, "I love my gay son."

Sanchez, who led the parade in a vehicle with other parents, said his 23-year-old son announced his homosexuality in December.

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2004 Gay Pride Parade and Festival

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DELTA AIRLINES <> BUDWEISER <> OTHER FINANCIAL SPONSORS OF S.F. GAY PRIDE

(Note: If the link does not work, simply click on "Links & Sponsors")

ISRAEL: 100,000 in Tel Aviv celebrates seventh Gay Pride Parade 

Jun 24 - JPost - Families with children, young teenagers, pensioners, and middle-age people all swarmed Ibn Gvirol Road to celebrate this international festival of the gay, lesbian and transsexual community. This year's theme of the parade was "Proud Family."

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700,000 join Paris gay pride march, with mayor who married gays at front

Jun 26/04 - AFP - Mamere, a star of the gay marriage lobby, was suspended from his mayoral functions for one month -- the maximum possible under the law -- after he joined Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier in wedlock June 5 at his town hall in Begles, southwest France.

Mamere, a former television journalist turned politician for the environmentalist Greens party, was unrepentant. He told an enthusiastic rainbow-draped crowd he was "ready for more provocations".

Activism at core of Pride parade

(Jun 27) (SF) - For many, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade may seem like an excuse for a giant party, a chance to let loose and celebrate a diverse and vibrant culture. But from its inception, the event has been framed by and rooted in the major social and political issues affecting members of the community -- not just locally, but nationally.

In 1978, several hundred thousand marchers turned out for the parade -- the largest to date -- out of rage over the repeal of anti-discrimination legislation in Florida and the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gay teachers in public schools.

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Canada & Gay Pride/Gay, lesbian Pride Festival bursting with flavours, political undertones
Sat Jun 26


TORONTO (CP) - Crammed into a row of canopied festival booths offering "Swallow Your Pride" gingerbread figures and lesbian pride T-shirts proclaiming "Les is More" the only outwardly political signs at Canada's largest gay and lesbian pride festival are a couple of booths soliciting signatures. 

While small groups and couples walking hand-in-hand strolled the festival strip Saturday, the politics of same-sex marriage, which have attracted attention on the current election campaign trail, were largely absent. 

But Cicely McWilliam, national outreach director for gay activist group Egale, says this year's event is more politicized than last year's, which came two weeks after Ontario recognized same-sex marriage. 

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Gay Pride Parade used as Public Relations

Gay pride parade moves Downtown

The aesthetics of this year's PrideFest didn't change much. Men still dressed up like members of the Village People, and lots of punk rockers had nonconformist screeds painted on the sides of their shaved heads.

But the parade route was more ambitious than in the past.

Instead of marching through the comparatively gay-friendly East End, this year's parade tromped straight (no pun intended) along Fifth Avenue, Downtown, to PNC Park on the North Shore. This provided everyone from Three Rivers Arts Festival visitors to tourists and weekend shoppers a glimpse of Pittsburgh's alternative community.

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Houston lights up with Gay Pride

(Warning Profanity in Article)

Strategy of Gay Parade Organizers

A few simple rules are expected to attract more than 50,000 participants to today's 12th annual Dyke March through San Francisco: no corporate sponsors, no politicians, no permit to march and no men. Dyke- friendly guys are invited to cheer from the sidewalk as marchers wind along a still-secret route through the Mission and Castro districts and points beyond.

Organizers promise the performance stage this year will be dude-free as well, a rule that's been broken in the past by the stray male backup singer or other dollop of testosterone. Another new, perhaps only-in-San Francisco wrinkle: In a nod to the evolving gender spectrum, marchers are welcoming not only dykes but those who "are questioning and challenging gender constructs imposed by the mainstream and do not necessarily identify as women."

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"The condemnations are everywhere. All week, all over Jerusalem's streets, posters have gone up making that tired link between homosexuals and pedophilia". Full Story Here

(Jerusalem) Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski in a weekend radio broadcast called last week's annual Gay Pride celebration "insulting" and "deviant."

Protests mar Jerusalem GAY Pride parade

SUMMARY: Jerusalem held its third annual Pride celebration Thursday, despite egg-throwing protesters and anti-gay posters along the parade route.

The Israeli city of Jerusalem held its third Pride march Thursday for its lesbian, gay and bisexual population, although protests marred the day of celebrations.

Approximately 3,000 participants from across the city joined together to march in the early evening, but encountered hostility from some in the crowds.

Two men were arrested for throwing eggs at participants, while Orthodox Jewish people had previously placed posters throughout the city denouncing the parade.

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ATLANTA, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS) and its employee-networking group, New Associates Networking for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NewANGLE) will join several other major corporations in sponsoring Atlanta Pride Celebration 2004, which takes place June 27-29 in Piedmont Park. The annual celebration and festival is the Southeast's largest gay and lesbian event, and typically attracts tens of thousands of attendees. BellSouth will again host a tent during the three-day event, and will also feature the e-Zone. 

The BellSouth e-Zone mobile unit will be there to showcase BellSouth products and services such as FastAccess(R) DSL, Long Distance, Cingular Wireless and DirecTV. The e-Zone will be located at the front of the Orange Section on the lake side just beyond the Charles Allen Entrance. "We at BellSouth recognize the significance of this event to our gay and lesbian employees and the community who are our customers. This is our third year of sponsorship and we are again pleased to support this annual celebration," said Valencia Adams, BellSouth's chief diversity officer.

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Gender Emasculation as a Positive Virtue: Transmale Nation Remaking manhood in the genderqueer generation

digital call to action spread on (website) last month, and a crowd of tranny boys descended on the East Village gay dive the Boiler Room. It was the very first Manhunt, a party for transmen and their admirers.

When several dozen genderqueers crashed the place, a few of the bar's gay patrons threw a tantrum. They tried desperately to sort out who was a dyke and who was a dude by rating the tranny boys (Warning: Profanity)

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The NEW "Normal" ? - Gay Pride parade held for first time since gay marriage legalized

BOSTON - But her eyes danced as she talked about the dominant theme of this year's parade: gay marriage.

The state's move to become the first with court-sanctioned same-sex marriage gave this year's parade an extra infusion of flair and festivity, as both marchers and observers marked the sea-change with banners and buttons, costumes and camp proclaiming their support for the court decision.

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The Floodgates Soon Lifting ? Financial Support Flowing to Gay Community

"We're seeing a lot of companies supporting the [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] community over the years, and the festival is one way they're doing that," said Scott Baum, Pride 2004's co-organizer and editor of Gay Life newspaper. "There are not just gay businesses that support the community."

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Brazil: Gay pride marches break record

Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jun. 13 (UPI) -- More than 1 million people marched in Sao Paulo's gay pride parade Sunday, breaking the world record for such an event.

According to police estimates 1.1 million people flowed through the city's main thoroughfare -- Paulista Avenue -- waving rainbow flags and signs celebrating the 8th edition of the parade.

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Not Loosing Sight of the Goal: the Basis for Gay Strategy

So OK, there's little reason to strike up the band when it's still legal in 35 states to fire or evict someone because of his or her sexual orientation. And old, dusty laws aren't the only problem – the federal government has taken some alarming jabs at queer rights this year. But even if Washington politicians seem determined to pursue a path backward and sizable swaths of the country are ready to follow, many towns, cities, and states are intent on reform.

San Francisco's comprehensive civil rights protections and robust activism have kept us at the forefront of what promises to be the civil rights struggle of the decade, and lawmakers and advocates throughout the state and the country are looking here for guidance. Which is good news for local activists determined to use the year's momentum to influence the presidential election, get other towns to adopt civil rights protections, and educate the public about issues affecting queer communities – in other words, to make the rest of the country a little more like home. Taking stock of where we are is likely to bolster that distinctive San Francisco pride, but it's also a good way to assess where the country is headed.

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Polyamorists Want Rights Too

the current case pitting three people who wish to legally marry against the state of Utah. Two of the individuals were already married and wished to include another woman in the bliss via a marriage license from Salt Lake City. When they were refused, the trio filed suit in Federal district court. According to their attorney, Brian Barnard: "This prohibition of polygamist relationships is as unconstitutional as Texas' prohibition against homosexual sodomy because it criminalizes a private sexual relationship between consenting adults."

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Homosexuality continues to erode Western culture 

Web posted Monday, September 22, 2003
By Dan Almeter- Columnist 

PEOPLE OF Judeo-Christian heritage: What will it take to wake us up to the moral erosion that is occurring in our Western culture?

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With little notice from the mainstream media, the U.S. Senate passed by an overwhelming margin an amendment that could lead to federal prosecutions of nearly all "hate-crimes."

The amendment also adds "sexual orientation" and physical disability as protected classes under the civil rights statute of the U.S. Criminal Code for the first time.

The legislation came as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill (S. 2400). It netted 65 votes, with only two senators--Jim Jeffords (I.-Vt.) and John Kerry (D.-Mass.)-- absent. Had they been present, the bill would have gotten 67 votes, a two-thirds majority. Eighteen Republicans and all Democrats present voted in favor.

"It's been a priority of ours for years," said Winnie Stachelberg of the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual rights group that lobbied heavily for the amendment.

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COMPANION BILL IN HOUSE JUST PASSED JUNE 22/2004 - Anti-HATE LAWS NOT FAR OFF NOW

Senate Backs Even Tougher Anti-Hate Crimes Law (Hidden in Defense Budget Bill) - implications for Christians

Republicans give in to the wrong Strategy !

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 16, 2004


The Senate, responding to crimes targeted against gays, voted overwhelmingly yesterday to strengthen the civil-rights-era law on hate crimes and extend its protections to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender and disabilities.

The 65 to 33 vote, reflecting a significant increase in support for the measure, came as the Senate prepared to vote -- probably next month, just before the Democratic National Convention -- on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. The new hate-crimes rules were added to the $447 billion defense authorization bill for next year, a must-pass measure, in hope of enhancing its prospects for enactment. The Senate approved the same proposal in its 2000 defense bill, only to see it killed in negotiations with the House.

Before voting on the hate-crimes proposal, the Senate renewed its support for research on a new generation of nuclear weapons featuring low-yield "mini-nukes" and high-yield "bunker busters," rejecting Democratic arguments that it could lead to a new arms race.

The hate-crimes proposal would provide the first major expansion of the 1968 statute that allows federal prosecution of crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin.

The measure would add the three new categories of protected groups and would eliminate a current restriction limiting federal intervention to cases where victims were engaged in federally protected activities, such as voting. It would also provide federal assistance for state and local authorities in investigating and prosecuting hate crimes.

"I cannot think of a more decent and Christian thing to do. . . . When people are being stoned in the public square, we ought to come to their rescue," [???!!!] said Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who co-sponsored the proposal with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Smith, who supports a ban on same-sex marriage, told reporters he thought it important for the Senate to act against hate before dealing with the marriage issue. "Before you get to marriage, get over hate," he said. An early vote on the hate-crimes measure gave senators such as Smith a chance to vote against violence against gays before they vote against allowing them to marry.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and other foes of the proposal contended that the prosecution record for hate crimes should be studied before legislation is passed and cautioned against "criminalizing thought."

While acknowledging that the proposal may face problems in negotiations with the House, Smith said he had been assured by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) that he would work to keep it in the defense bill.

Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the hate-crimes proposal, which was also backed by Warner and all other D.C. area senators.

Source of Article

Note: The most effective step left is to make your views known to Senator John Warner and Senator Orin Hatch. 

Guest Editorial on this issue

XOFC continues to express its grave concern over this matter of hate speech, and the distortions in the U.S. Legal system and the assault on Christians and their values which would accelerate. 

We had previously expressed concern that this would pass, and defeating this legislation is very important.

We strongly urge all concerned to make their views known to their elected representatives and let them know that this matter & legislation Must be taken out of the final bill & final legislative languages. This is an extremely critical issue. Do not let the fact of its initial passage deter you from expressing your voice. This issue is far from over. We count on your help and support for your assistance in stopping the erosion of Constitutional rights under the guise of "rights" which would serve as a basis to harm legitimate Christian & Religious interests in the areas of Churches, Church employment, Private Schools and that would actively interfere with Jobs and Business practices. 

In December, Governor Pataki (NY) signed into law the SONDA Bill (an acronym for the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act), which states that it is now illegal for any entity (including churches, Christian schools and religious institutions) to discriminate against a person because of their sexual orientation....