A Truly New Pope

Yesterday is was reported that Pope Francis said something about gay people. 

What he said was not nearly so important as the fact he said anything at all. The very fact that the pontiff, God's representative on Earth, said anything about gays other than a dismissal is truly astonishing. 

What did he say? According to today's New York Times he told reporters "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” 

I thought I would never hear this from the leader of the Catholic church. Our last pope dismissed homosexuality as "an intrinsic moral evil," carrying the banner of hatred and bigotry that has been ubiquitous in the Church for millennia. But not this pope. What a difference a papacy makes. 

I was less than thrilled when Francis' papacy was announced earlier this year. I tweeted that he seemed to be more of the same. I now officially recant that position. 

He may never say another word about gays again. But the fact that he did will stick with me for many years to come. 

My Letter from President Obama

On 28 January 2009 I wrote a letter to the then-new President Barack Obama asking him why he was a bigot. 


Today I am happy to say that I finally got an answer. I received a mass e-mail from his political campaign that said the following:


David --

Today, I was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer:

I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry...

I've always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant to use the term marriage because of the very powerful traditions it evokes. And I thought civil union laws that conferred legal rights upon gay and lesbian couples were a solution.


But over the course of several years I've talked to friends and family about this. I've thought about members of my staff in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships who are raising kids together. Through our efforts to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, I've gotten to know some of the gay and lesbian troops who are serving our country with honor and distinction.

What I've come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens.

Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn't dawn on them that their friends' parents should be treated differently.

So I decided it was time to affirm my personal belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.


A little over three years later I got the answer to my letter that I frankly did not think I would ever receive. 


I have to say thank you President Obama for being courageous enough to stand up for all American citizens. Thank-you sir, thank-you. 

Reagan-Appointed Judge Defends Gay Marriage in California

A few moments ago Reagan appointee Vaughn Walker overturned California's gay marriage ban.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybenjamin/detail??blogid=150&entry_id=69382

You gotta love activist judges...

On the Outside Looking In

(no win situations) = trouble

The Maine decision has come and gone and voters have decided that not everyone in their fair state is equal. As has happened thirty times before, a targeted minority, homosexuals men and women, has been denied their civil rights by a state's electorate.

My whole life people have told me how bad the gay lifestyle is. Growing up I had it explained to me that because homos won't not settle down and have kids, they can "never understand being an adult." Since gays won't act like adults, the logic went, they are doomed to a life of loneliness and misery.

Happily as I grew into adulthood a different scenario came onto the scene--the gay marriage movement. "Wow," I thought, "this will be an opportunity for gay people to be what most people said could not be--real adults, with responsibilities to a spouse, children and a mortgage."

How foolish I was. For the same people who complained about queers tricking all night and not settling down WOULD NOT ALLOW HOMOS THE SIMPLE ABILITY TO DO SO. The had created a room with no windows and no doors. Queers were damned for not being "adult" and damned for wanting to be one.

No win situations can create anger, depression anxiety and a variety of other emotions as well. I wonder what the end result of denying a minority of tax-paying adults the right to marry will create in the long run?

Obama and Sexual Minorities

As you may have heard, Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation was omitted from both HBO and NPR's broadcast of the pre-inagural events yesterday. According to sources at HBO (as reported on afterelton.com), the decision to skip Robinson came from the Obama team.

Assuming this is not a case of pass the buck, here is another indication that the words and actions of the Obama group don't match.

Frankly, I could hardly care less about either Robinson's comments nor those of the bigoted Rick Warren, who was chosen to speak on innaguration day. I believe in the separation of church and state and think mixing the two has gotten us in a lot of the mess from which we all are suffering. That said, Robinson's selection was seen as a concession to queers after the Warren insult. But the bait and switch of asking him, and then silencing him, is problematic.

I voted for Obama, as I know that sexual minorities will suffer far worse at the hands of the GOP. That said, I have never had any illusions about the Democrats who seemingly lack any sort of central directive, especially when it come to the rights of women and men with alternative sexual desire.

Does choosing Warren or omitting Robinson have any long term impact? No.

If that is true, what's the big deal? What it tells, which is that Obama and company's word (LGBT folk are mistreated, we will change that) when compared to their actions (they are disposeable when it suits us) don't match.

Which one, words or actions, reflects the Obama administration's position? I guess we will have to wait and see for ourselves.