Eleventh Avenue South

The Rev. John Hagee, a controversial religious figure from whom John McCain aggressively sought an endorsement, has again shifted his story about God sending Hurricane Katrina to destroy New Orleans because a gay pride event was planned there.

Hagee's original comments to National Public Radio made headlines in the wake of Katrina. Hagee said:

All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

That statement led to media to ask McCain, after aggressively seeking the support of Hagee, do you agree with his statements? McCain said:

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense. I don't have anything additional to say. It's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, I don't have anything more to say. … it's nonsense. I reject that categorically."

As the media cycle continued, Hagee retracted his previous statements:

As a believing Christian, I see the hand of God in everything that happens here on earth, both the blessings and the curses. But ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise. No matter what the cause of the storm, my heart goes out to all who suffered in this terrible tragedy. There but for the grace of God go any one of us.

But Wednesday, Hagee said, that he did indeed mean what he originally said.

When a woman on the call asked why he seemed to have backed away from his Katrina comments in face of criticism, Hagee said he hadn’t. As for the Katrina, he said, God controls hurricanes and “God always punishes unconfessed sin.” You do the math.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian nonprofit in Scottsdale, Ariz., that receives funding from Focus on the Family, sent a legal memo to Minneapolis Public Schools urging them to drop the "Welcoming Schools" curriculum that they are currently considering implementing at Hale and Jefferson schools.

"Welcoming Schools" is an initiative of the Human Rights Campaign, and Minnesota is one of three states that are being used as a pilot for the program. The curriculum addresses three main topics: family diversity, gender stereotyping and name-calling.

The curriculum is an anti-bullying tool kit for schools to use to confront violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. While the curriculum has been met with suspicion by some parents based on religious objection, school officials have noted that they have had requests from parents to implement the program.

The Alliance Defense Fund letter (PDF) says, "The indoctrination of children with HRC’s anti-religion political agenda will present serious practical and legal problems, especially adults are charged with the safety and security of other people’s children. You are urged to please refrain from allowing your schools to be utilized as a pilot program for HRC."

While the ADF letter claims that religious freedom is an issue for MPS, their own representatives make it clear that it instead is a reaction to the religious right's favorite catch-phrase: the "homosexual agenda."

“The government should promote and encourage strong families,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks in a press statement Monday. “When school officials have to choose between protecting children in those families or furthering the homosexual agenda, the choice is obvious: protecting our children comes first.”

Curiously, the ADF opened the Center for Academic Freedom in Nashville, Tenn. That freedom appears to only work in one direction as ADF's attempts to quash the "Welcoming Schools" curriculum would restrict rather than expand the breadth of discussion.

The City Pages released their annual Best of the Twin Cities. Here's how the LGBT stuff fared...

Best Gay Friendly Sports League: Twin Cities Gay Hockey Association.

Best Festival: Twin Cities Pride Celebration

Best Place to Get Arrested for Soliciting Sex in Public: Crosby Farm Regional Park. [Ok, not really gay, but the Larry Craig reference bolsters Crosby's cred a bit]

Best Place to Meet Single Men (Gay): The Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt

Best Place to Meet Single Women (Gay): Pi Bar and Restaurant

Best Gay Bar: Jetset

Best Store for Sex Toys: Smitten Kitten

Prof. Gary Remafedi of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota called on James Dobson of Focus on the Family to correct "gross misrepresentations" of his research in a letter sent to the religious right group on Wednesday. Remafedi is the latest in a long line of researchers who have demanded that Dobson and Focus on the Family correct inaccurate references to their research, references that are often used to create a false and negative impression of gays and lesbians.

"I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of "Focus on the Family," wrote Remafedi. That section of the website, a section called "Myths and Facts," makes the assertion that sexual orientation is easily swayed in adolescence and that "homosexual activist groups" and a culture supportive of gay marriage can influence teens to become gay.

"Many teens today either know someone struggling with homosexual thoughts or behavior—or are battling the desire to enter into this kind of a life for themselves," the website reads. "What’s worse is that some teens have given up the fight and have surrendered to the idea of being gay. During early adolescence, many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can easily be influenced in either direction."

Dobson then uses Remafedi's research to back up his claim. Remefedi says his research doesn't say anything to that effect. In fact, he wonders if Dobson even read his research.

"Had the authors of 'Myths and Facts' actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that 'many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction,'" wrote Remafedi. "The word confusion does not appear in our article; nor did we find that anyone can influence a young person's sexual identity."

Remafedi is not alone in his concern that research is being grossly misinterpreted in order to engage in culture war positioning. New York University sociologist, Judith Stacey, was infuriated when she saw her research in Focus on the Family materials used to paint gays and lesbians as unfit parents.

"I've had to spend a lot of time correcting the record," she said. "The bottom line is there is no research-based reason to deny rights to same-sex couples and their children. We should be passing laws and making policies that make life easier tor all families - not harder."

In a Time magazine op-ed in 2006, Dobson used research to make the case that gays and lesbians are unfit to raise parents. Several researchers were alarmed to see their research misused. New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, Ph.D, in a letter to Dobson said, "My work in no way suggests same-gender families are harmful to children or can't raise these children to be as healthy and well adjusted as those brought up in traditional households."

"I trust," the letter said, "that this will be the last time my work is cited by Focus on the Family."

Kyle Pruett, M.D., of the Yale School of Medicine also told Dobson to correct the record on his research. "You cherry-picked a phrase to shore up highly (in my view) discriminatory purposes," he wrote. "This practice is condemned in real science, common though it may be in pseudo-science circles. There is nothing in my longitudinal research or any of my writings to support such conclusions."

Remafedi sent his letter to Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out, a watchdog group that monitors instances where research is used erroneously against gays and lesbians.

“Focus on the Family has engaged in a disturbing pattern of misrepresenting the work of legitimate researchers to further their anti-gay agenda,” Besen said in a press release. “We call on Focus on the Family to immediately expunge all falsehoods and fallacies presented as‘facts’ from their past and present literature.”

Remafedi's full letter to Dobson:

Dr. James Dobson
Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, CO 80995

April 30, 2008

Dear Dr. Dobson,

I want to draw your attention to a gross misrepresentation of our research at the website of "Focus on the Family" (see http://www.family.org/socialissues/A000000682.cfm). In the third paragraph of the article, "Myths and Facts," our research is cited in support of the statement: "During early adolescence, many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can easily be influenced in either direction."

First, please note that the citation itself is incorrect. The original article was published in Pediatrics, not Journal of Pediatrics. The correct reference is: Remafedi G, Resnick M, Blum R, Harris L. Demography of sexual orientation in adolescents. Pediatrics. 89(4):714-721, 1992. More important, had the authors of "Myths and Facts" actually read the article, they would have found no support for their contention that "many children experience a period of sexual-identity confusion when they can be influenced in either direction." The word confusion does not appear in our article; nor did we find that anyone can influence a young person's sexual identity.

The purpose of our study was to explore patterns of sexual orientation in a representative sample of more than 34,000 Minnesota students in grades 7 to 12. We found that the percentage of student who reported being "unsure" about their orientation steadily declined with age from 25.9% in 12-year-old persons to 5% in 18 year-old students (p. 716). Youth who were "unsure" were more likely than others to entertain homosexual fantasies and attractions and less likely to have had heterosexual experiences (p. 720). These and other data suggested that uncertainty about sexual orientation "gradually gives way to heterosexual or homosexual identification with the passage of time and/or with increasing sexual experience" (p. 720).

Please ask the authors of the misstatements to correct them as soon as possible. In the interest of accurate translation of research into practice, a copy of this letter will be posted at www.truthwinsout.org. Thank you for your attention.
Respectfully yours,

Gary Remafedi, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
University of Minnesota

At 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 12, 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot twice in the head as he sat at a computer in his school's computer lab in southern California. The gunman was classmate Brandon McInerney, and the two knew each other well. According to friends of both young men, King, who was openly gay, was frequently tormented by classmates, including McInerney. To get back at him, King -- who often wore makeup to school -- flirted with McInerney, turning the tables on the homophobic remarks he endured daily.

But as the bullying and flirting escalated, McInerney snapped and shot King. Students and community members say the shooting was motivated by anti-gay bias.

King will be remembered on Friday in Minnesota and around the country during the Day of Silence, a youth movement created to draw attention to bullying and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students -- and those who are harassed because they are perceived to be LGBT.

Day of Silence

The Day of Silence debuted in 1996. Since then more than half a million students have participated. Students pledge to remain silent for all or part of the school day and carry a card explaining their silence:

Silent for Lawrence King. Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling and harassment. This year’s DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.

To acknowledge the remembrance of Lawrence King, CNN host Larry king produced the following public service announcement:

Minnesota youth organize

More than 70 Minnesota schools will be participating this year. To complement the Day of Silence, District 202, an LGBT youth center in Minneapolis, will be hosting a Night of Noise, which will feature a youth theater troupe and an open mic night for students to express their reactions.

Sheila Moriarty, a student at Patrick Henry High School in North Minneapolis, penned a column about her feelings regarding the Day of Silence, and her reaction to the shooting of King.

Organizer Jeffry Lusiak of Outward Spiral Theatre Company says, "This intergenerational event is a chance for both those who have participated in the Day of Silence and those who have not, to come together and break the silence," he said. "The silence that has been forced on queer culture through hate, intolerance, and discrimination."

"Led by the determination, power, and inspiration of our youth, the Night of Noise is a chance for our community to come together, to use our voices against the hate and violence we face everyday," he said.

"It reminds me that there should be zero tolerance for hate in schools," she wrote. "Kids should not be persecuted because of their race, religion, ethnicity or for their sexuality. Adults in schools need to provide the modeling for zero tolerance. It’s important for teachers to talk about diversity so that kids can feel safe to be themselves, and so kids who are threatened by that have an opportunity to process those feelings."

Another Patrick Henry student, Natasha, shared her reactions. "Thinking about Lawrence King brings disgust to my emotions. Everyone has a right to be who they want to be. Why should someone be forced to be a certain way just because that’s how others think they should be."

In a symbolic move to support these students, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced a resolution in support of the Day of Silence. Minnesota's Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL, is a cosponsor.

Religious right launches boycott

Prominent religious right organizations have called for a boycott of the Day of Silence. Minnesota's own Minnesota Family Council is supporting the boycott and is opposed to the Day of Silence.

"DOS is pure, unadulterated propaganda and, based on the medical science, amounts to nothing short of educational malpractice," writes Matt Barber with the Concerned Women for America. "With liberal school officials in tow, these militant homosexual activists are brazenly circumventing and abusing parental authority to further this dangerous political agenda. DOS is also a slap in the face to the many students with traditional moral values."

Barber continues, "Kids are additionally taught that Biblical truth, which holds that human sexuality is a gift from God shared between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage, is 'homophobic,' 'hateful' and 'discriminatory.'"

Even some Minnesota Republicans are raising the issue. The Carver County GOP has taken issue with the Day of Silence activities planned for Friday in Chaska schools.

Remembering Lawrence King

The message of the Day of Silence is to stop bullying and harassment, which in some cases, and clearly in King's case, can lead to deadly consequences. The L.A. Times interviewed students from King's class about the harassment he faced and the reaction from teachers. Clearly, more work needs to be done to educate students and teachers on how to prevent anti-LGBT bullying. According to the Times:

"They used to bug him a lot, pick on him -- 'Hey you, gay kid ... want to wear lipstick?'" Vanessa Ramirez, 15, said of Larry's belittlers. "He'd start crying. ... He didn't want to tell the teachers because they'd start picking on him more."

But 13-year-old Mark Reyes said Larry did go to teachers for help. "You'd hear, 'Faggot! Hey, faggot!' " Reyes said. "That was happening in every class. A lot of teachers knew stuff was going on. ... I guess they just didn't want to be involved."

Bullying and harassment is not targeted only at LGBT students. Many students face daily torment by their peers for a variety of reasons. But the initiative taken by the LGBT community to draw awareness to harassment and bullying should be a starting point to build upon so that all students feel safe in school.

That would be a fitting memorial for Lawrence King.

Spring is in full swing, and this weekend is host a a flurry of good events for the LGBT community.

On Thursday, Dining Out for Life will be a great excuse to try out a new restaurant as 134 local restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds to benefits the Aliveness Project, an HIV/AIDS service organization.

Friday is the Day of Silence. High schools and college students across the state will take a vow of silence to bring awareness to anti-LGBT harassment and bullying. Friday night, District 202 will host a Night of Noise to complement the Day of Silence. [I'll have a lengthy post looking at the DOS on Friday]

Also on Friday, Margaret Cho will be appearing at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. A self-identified bisexual, Cho has used humor to bring awareness to issues of racism, sexism and homophobia in American culture.

On Sunday, the Saloon is hosting a Bachelor Auction to benefit the Minnesota AIDS Walk. A cadre of volunteers from PrideAlive at the Minnesota AIDS Project put the event together so show them some support by showing up! Almost 20 bachelors will represent over $4500 in donated prizes. The event starts at 5:30 pm.

A reader passed this event along to me and it sounds like a great opportunity to hear about some new queer writers.

The Carol Connolly Reading Series
GLBT Reading Series
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

7:00 PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis
Hosted by John Medeiros and Andrea Jenkins
This event is free of charge

Featuring:

JANE LEVIN is thrilled to launch her chapbook, Legacy, a collection of poems with a focus on GLBT, Jewish and cancer-survivor experiences. Her work appears in over two dozen publications, including Subterraneans: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Writing, Talking Stick, The Houston Literary Review and the forthcoming anthologies Drash: Northwest Mosaic and Best Lesbian Poetry 2008. She is the recipient of a Jerome Foundation/ Intermedia Arts Mentorship in Poetry and a Howard B. Brin Jewish Arts Endowment grant. Jane and her partner have escaped winter by volunteering on organic farms in New Zealand, cleaning bathrooms in an Arizona state park and cooking for displaced residents in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.

MICHÈLE CAMPBELL writes essays, book reviews, and has been known to blog. She grew up in Southern California-in Orange County, the city of Orange, on Orange Street. Her parents drove an orange Toyota Corolla hatchback during her formative years. As a result, she often wonders if there is any way around that rhymes with orange rule-it is possible that this is what led her to begin writing. She is currently finishing up work on a memoir titled: How To Live With a Drunk and is becoming an active freelance writer in the Twin Cities.

GLBT lobby say at the Minnesota Capitol got a good deal of press coverage over the weekend. Here's a few:

KSTP: Hundreds rally for GLBT rights at Capitol. They put the rally at over 1,000 despite the title.

KARE 11: Hundreds rally for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender rights. They kept the attendance total at "hundreds.."

WCCO: Thousands Turn Out For Gay Rights Rally At Capitol. Pat Kessler called one of the "largest rallies of the year."

365Gay.com: Massive LGBT Rights Rally At Minnesota Capitol

The Wild Reed blog has some excellent photos and comments about the rally.

The Human Rights Campaign blog has some bits about the event as well.

And here's some of my photos of the event:

The Rochester Post-Bulletin has reversed a policy that required gay and lesbian couples to purchase an ad to announce a marriage or commitment ceremony -- a service offered for free to couples who have the legal option to marry.

The Rochester Post-Bulletin came under fire in 2005 when its publisher, Jon Losness, told Rochester couple Nancy and Barbara Horvath-Zurn  that they would have to purchase an ad if they wanted to announce their legal wedding in Canada. Losness said that the paper would deny same-sex announcements as long as same-sex couples had no legal recognition in Minnesota. He also said that the paper had no written rule about the policy -- it was solely Losness' decision.

At the time, Post-Bulletin blogger Jay Furst wrote the paper's official stance on the issue: "Here's our rationale: We publish notices for marriages legally recognized in Minnesota. This allows for clarity and consistency in our wedding notices at a time when there's great disagreement and political controversy over same-sex marriage, and while marriage laws are evolving."

That disagreement and political controversy appears to have faded three years later as the Post-Bulletin told readers Saturday that same-sex couples will be able to announce their commitment ceremonies in the same manner other couples announce their weddings.

We have a new approach to handling news of public commitment ceremonies by same-sex couples in our area: We'll publish them.

Readers can't get enough of engagement, wedding, anniversary, birth and obituary news. That's bread-and-butter information for newspapers, and we're always looking for ways to improve and expand what we do with community news of this kind.

We think news of same-sex couples making formal public commitments to each other is of interest to family, friends and the community at large.

More than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Minnesotans and their allies rallied at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul Thursday afternoon to make their voices heard for LGBT equality. OutFront Minnesota, the chief organizer for the rally, presented a petition of 800 signatures to Gov. Tim Pawlenty urging him not to veto a bill working it's way through the legislature that would allow local governments to decide whether or not to offer domestic partner benefits.

“We have a really powerful voice this coming year,” said OutFront Minnesota Public Policy Director Monica Meyer. “This is really our chance to think and hope and dream of a better state. This is also our chance as GLBT people and allies to really think about what we want our movement to look like in the years to come.”

Rabbi Jared Saks of Temple Israel told the crowd, “Every single one of us at some point in our lives has been downtrodden, on the receiving end of hate. But we have an obligation to make sure we don’t treat others in the same way because we know what it feels like.”

“We’re here to keep moving Minnesota forward,” said House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, “We’ve replaced that hate with another four-letter word, and that’s love and yet another four-letter word, fair.”

Quoting the late Senator Paul Wellstone former Executive Director Ann DeGroot said, “We know that it is to the benefit of our community that we understand that we all do better when we all do better,” . “We care about all Minnesotans.”

More than 20 legislators gathered in front of the crowd to show their support, the largest number to address the crowd yet.

[Ed: It's my first video, and not bad if I say so myself. I have many more pictures from the rally to put up this weekend.]