On the Monday of this last July 4th weekend, I was driving back from visiting my brothers family. I passed the time listening to the satellite radio, particularly both Left and Right political talk channels.

The talk shows on the liberal channels were very similar to the talk shows on the conservative channels. They were talking about the same topics, they had the same sponsors, the same sound bytes, the same timed commercial breaks, the same news at the top and bottom of the hour…for the entire seven hours. I couldn’t take it that long, but I did listen long enough to make some observations.

The liberal channel was making the following complainants:

• Obama isn’t doing anything on gun control
• Obama isn’t advancing gay rights enough
• Obama is putting more troops in Afghanistan
• Democrats in Congress aren’t adequately addressing health care
• Sotomayor is too moderate

The conservative channel was making the following complaints:

• Obama is going to take away your guns
• Obama expanded gay rights for federal employees
• Obama is pulling troops out of Iraq
• Democrats in Congress are pushing health care reform
• Sotomayor is a liberal activist judge

If you knew absolutely nothing about American politics, and listened to these shows, the listener would have to conclude that that Obama, Democrats in Congress, and Sotomayor are hopeless moderates that can satisfy no one; not by their actions and not by their inactions.

Pundits that deliver the news via a “commentary” format usually hold extreme views (the most successful pundits anyway). Yet, polls show that 80% of Americans agree 80% of the time (actually heard that on a left wing radio program). I have coined this political tactic ‘rubberbanding,’ a term used in racing games. They preach their extreme views to those leaning to right/left, in a effort to pull the listener away from the center.

At anytime of the day, I guarantee you can turn on the radio, scan a bit, and find a political pundit talking for hours on end; 4 hours a day, 20 hours week, with listeners numbering in the millions….and there are dozens of radio pundits. Joseph Goebbels did this. So did Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury repeats the same idea using television and drugs as the medium for of social political control.

Think “incrementalism”….on meth. As Rage Against the Machine says “weapon of sound above ground.”

I believe they do us a great disservice by keeping us divided. They talk about where we differ. And where we agree, they spin the issues and try to make us more divided.

Turn it off.

When news of a violent disruption by a militant gay activist group at a former Assemblies of God church in Lansing first emerged, I was skeptical to accept it at face value. Like any volatile situation, it’s necessary to ask whether or not such an event is worth mentioning, and even more, if it’s at all relevant to those of us in Tennessee. Lastly, I have to face some pretty nasty realities, especially the reality that some activist groups just aren’t doing anyone any good.

According to a press release from Mount Hope Church in Lansing, MI, it all started last Sunday morning during the 11:30 AM services. During which, “…the people of Mount Hope Church were  shocked by an unwelcome violent demonstration by a homosexual/transgender anarchist group  based in Chicago, IL. The group threw fliers at churchgoers and shouted sentiments such as, “It’s  okay to be gay” and “Jesus was a homo” during a Sunday morning service. The Eaton County  Sheriff’s office was called and the illegal demonstration ceased.”

The church’s website provides a direct link to their press release, which goes on to say that “Mount Hope churchgoers were unclear as to what the purpose of the demonstration was. One churchgoer commented on the “lack of civility” in the demonstration and said, “There must be a better way for this group to advance their perceived cause.”

Well, add me to that list of people who are as bewildered as we are angered that this incident took place in my country. I don’t know what this group thinks they’re accomplishing… other than making themselves look like anti-Christian bigoted, excrement-minded fools who just want to shock people into a fearful daze.

Quite simply, this is little more than a bunch of punks who are making a name for themselves for no reason other than to behave like immature, hateful masked freaks with way too much time on their hands. I don’t give a rat’s hairy little paw if they claim to be a “gay” organization. In fact, they claim to be a gay and trans(gender) group.

If readers aren’t already aware of this little fact, I’m writing this from the perspective of a gay Christian (I know, that’s another conversation). Since I see the world through both sets of lenses, I’m doubly offended, and quite frankly, anyone in their right mind would be outraged that any group would exploit the frustration that gays currently feel over the gay marriage debate… for their own little publicity stunt.

The press release from Mount Hope accurately describes the “Bash Back!” group as an anarchist group. This alone should reveal their ultimate goal: complete chaos in government. They’re not even protesting anything in particular. They just want to make as big of a mess as they can.

Seriously, can humanity stoop much lower than this group of thugs? Sure, there are plenty of hate groups out there. There’s the Neo Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, the Westboro “Baptist” freaks, and God knows who else out there. At least those organizations have a level of consistency and know that there’s no place for them in society other than to be labeled as hate groups.

It appears that the “Bash Back!” group hasn’t figured out what their role in life is yet, so they just strike out with any manner of hate that they can – against anyone in sight.

Sure, it’s well-known that many evangelical churches (including the Assemblies of God – and yes, they’re evangelical at their core, even though their style of worship is more akin with Pentecostals), are adamant in their belief that gay relationships are sinful. Frankly, that’s their First Amendment right. While I might disagree with them and their theology, they have a right to believe and preach as they wish!

And for anyone who thinks for a second that “Bash Back!” or other militant anarchist nutjobs have a “constitutional right” to crash into a worship service and torment a service just for the hell of it, well, there’s such a thing as trespassing, vandalism, and the issue of a felony when one of the “protesters” pulled the fire alarm. That’s not free speech. That’s not even “assembly” as described in the Constitution.

So no, they don’t have a right. Frankly, the leadership at Mount Hope Church is right to consider having a plan in place to prosecute the next bunch of overgrown grade-school bullies that comes along. They certainly don’t have a right to vandalize church buildings (as they’re doing in other cities).

It’s just a way to terrorize citizens and give fodder to anti-gay groups who are doing all they can to remove what rights we DO have as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

This act of brutality was wrong, and I deplore and condemn it as the stupidity that it is. These freaks do not represent me. They certainly don’t represent the millions of GLBT people across the country who have worked to educate, inform, and challenge those around us to come to a slightly different understanding.

They certainly don’t represent American ideals… and who am I kidding? That’s their point. It’s clear that we have a lot of growing up to do as Americans, and even more evident that there must be a discussion, even an awkward one, to begin to find common ground. After all, if we are nurturing psychopathic groups like this in this country, what’s next?

We should respond soberly, and but even more than that, we need to find those areas in our vast disagreements between gay rights and anti-gay groups where there might be some common ground. Maybe this is the kind of incident we need to begin those conversations. Hate has no place in them, but maybe it’s enough of a jarring incident for us to realize that hate breeds hate, and if we keep going down this spiral, things might get a lot worse before they get better…

…for anyone.

With the new “Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America” that has been released by Focus on the Family Action, an activist wing of Dr. James Dobson’s rightwing organization, we’re reminded of just how hateful such groups are when faced with the prospect of losing an election. I’ve often said that this election is literally between hope and fear, and I’ve never been more convinced of that than I am right now. With just over a week to go, the “fear” camp is pulling out all the stops.

Since it was released to the public last Wednesday, the now-infamous letter has stroked the breast of fear like no other document in recent months. The letter’s writer is unidentified (after all, who’d want to actually put their name to such garbage?). It is nothing more than one “horrible” example of “liberal policies gone wrong” after another.

It shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that the first three paragraphs of the actual “results” of an Obama presidency point to the very core of Reich-wing fear: national gay marriage and gay men serving as scoutmasters. The very possibility of these two things is so frightening that they must be the first to rattle the cage. First on the list of possible liberal-stacked supreme court rulings would be the legalization of gay marriage:

President Obama repeated his declaration that he personally was against same-sex “marriage”, but he told the nation there was nothing he could do.  The Supreme Court had ruled, and it was now the law of the land. The president asked the nation to support the decision.

The most far-reaching transformation of American society came from the Supreme Court’s stunning affirmation, in early 2010, that homosexual “marriage” was a “constitutional” right that had to be respected by all 50 states because laws barring same-sex “marriage” violated the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Suddenly, homosexual “marriage” was the law of the land in all 50 states, and no state legislature, no state Supreme Court, no state Constitutional amendment, not even Congress, had any power to change it. The Supreme Court had ruled, and the discussion was over….

…After that decision, many other policies changed, and several previous Supreme Court
cases were reversed rather quickly — raising the question, “Is America still the land of the free?”

(1) Boy Scouts: “The land of the free”? The Boy Scouts no longer exist as an organization. They chose to disband rather than be forced to obey the Supreme Court decision that they would have to hire homosexual scoutmasters and allow them to sleep in tents with young boys.

I rolled my eyes at the gay marriage “prophecy,” but they damn near popped out of my sockets when I saw the Boy Scout scoutmaster bit. Once I managed to keep myself from vomiting, I had to consider just what the hell it was suggesting. Of course, this ignores the reality that every major medical and psychiatric organization understands that gay men are not interested in boys. But hey, it makes for great fear-inducing politics.

Then there comes the simple reality that according to Boy Scout policy, even heterosexual men are not allowed to sleep in the same tents with boys that aren’t their own children. But no, we can’t be interjecting fact into this little romp of hate now, can we? The fact of the matter is that with just this one major glaring falsehood, it throws the entire document into question, and reveals its true, purely evil intent (isn’t it interesting that these people are the only ones who obsess about that kind of thing?).

Once I got through the next two-and-a-half pages of pure anti-gay venom (Gays in the military! Gay adoption! Gay weddings! Preachers can’t speak out against homosexuality!), it then launched into a classic tactic of telling readers that they might not be able to meet with their churches on school campuses, and horror of horrors, schoolkids won’t be able to have a “See You at the Pole” event.

Does this letter writer seriously think that the First Amendment would be tossed aside that easily? It even paints the tale that church ministries would no longer be allowed on college campuses. As if! This is Chicken Little at her best, really.

Then on to abortion. Nurses wouldn’t be able to refuse to give abortions anymore. No more conscientious objection. Out the door with you! Oh, and of course the “Partial Birth Abortion” ban would be overturned! Babies would be mutilated on sight! Once more, the taste of vomit entered my mouth. It’s this kind of hyperbole that would make anyone ill. Well, maybe that’s the point.

Pornography would go onto store shelves everywhere in plain sight! Guns are finally banned! Home schooling is severely restricted! The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

But wait, theeeeeeeeere’s more!

Now onto the really scary parts. The writer tells of how three cities in the US were bombed. “The entire country is fearful,” they say. And the seemingly-benign Obama might vow that he would in each  “pursue and arrest and prosecute those responsible,” with no results. All of this would be after the American pullout (that even President Bush now supports), which would result in Al Qaeda declaring our “defeat.” Blah, blah, blah.

Russia invades Georgia, Poland, and nearly retakes all of their other former USSR territory! US trades with Cuba and Venezuela! Cuban cigars for everyone!

Then finally, the real bombshell:

Israel: “The home of the brave”? In mid-2010, Iran launched a nuclear bomb that exploded in the middle of Tel Aviv, destroying much of that city. They then demanded that Israel cede huge amounts of territory to the Palestinians, and after an anguished all-night Cabinet meeting, Israel’s prime minister agreed.  Israel is reduced to a much smaller country, hardly able to defend itself, and its future remains uncertain. President Obama said he abhorred what Iran had done and he hoped the U.N. would unanimously condemn this crime against humanity. He also declared that the U.S. would be part of any international peacekeeping force if authorized by the U.N., but the Muslim nations in the U.N. have so far prevented any action.

Make no mistake about this one. This is what evangelicals and fundamentalists fear more than anything, because it would signal events of apocalyptic proportions. Never mind the fact that Israel would kick the living Shiite out of any invading country — nuclear or not. They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again when provoked.

This isn’t even remotely close to Obama’s or even US policy. But then, we can’t tell the truth now, can we? We must spread fear! But on this note, wouldn’t people who actually believe this tripe -  want the world to end? I’m still scratching my head on this one. Even that’s not the end of this letter…

Union thugs will rule the workplace! Taxes wipe out businesses! Democrats celebrate $7/gallon gasoline prices! Power shortage! Talk Radio goes bland! Conservative talk show hosts get kicked off the air! Christian bookstores forced to remove all anti-gay books!

Bush officials are fired, bankrupt, and prosecuted! (Wow, really? Good!)

Among its final paragraphs was one last ditch effort to chastise Christians:

“Christians didn’t take time to find out who Barack Obama was when they voted for him. Why did they risk our nation’s future on him? It was a mistake that changed the course of history.

The message here is simple: Change is bad. Change is scary. Be afraid of change. Change will make you poor. Don’t change. Jesus hates change. He likes dollars.

Seriously, this entire letter is one psychotic fear-based rant after another, and is intended to do nothing but drive fear. Yet Jesus Himself said clearly, “Fear not!”

Dobson should be ashamed of himself for even allowing this letter to see the light of day. It’s not Christian, it’s not family-oriented, and it’s certainly not an accurate picture of what would happen if Obama becomes President.

It’s this kind of poison that will strike a chord of desperation in order to keep their well-fleeced flock properly submissive. After all, isn’t that just what any good propaganda does?

A final point: while the apparent need for tin-foil hats would surely drive Reynolds Wrap profits into the stratosphere, it’s interesting to see what this letter is all about. Terrorism gets a mere two paragraphs. Homosexuals get nearly three full pages.

Now we know what really makes Dobson and his ilk stay awake at night. And it’s not terrorism.

Here’s the actual letter – but don’t read it on a full stomach.

The often-fiery debate of gay marriage isn’t back by accident either. After dual court wins in California and Connecticut, gay couples have two more states in which they can exchange vows. Those same rulings, however, have brought with them the extra baggage of rage and irrational paranoia — usually from those to whom the issue should matter the least.

Let me say one thing perfectly clear. Senator Obama, Senator McCain, Senator Biden, and Governor Palin — I am not your pet little issue that you can pull out of your political backsides just so you can score with your base. Yes, I’m gay. Yes I would very much like to be able to marry my incredible partner one day. But I have no intention of sitting idly by while you and your campaigns use me and millions of other gay and lesbian people across the country for your little pet issues.

These groups do not apparently believe that we’re human beings with real lives, dreams, and issues. It’s not about fairness, equality, or even “the family.” It’s about votes. You’ve found this nifty little visceral issue that strikes a chord with your base — either conservative or liberal — and you’re hoping that they’ll come to the voting booths in droves.

Well, silly me, I’ve already voted since Tennessee has early voting. Now, thanks to this backhanded assault on same-sex couples everywhere, I’m almost wishing that I hadn’t voted for any major party candidate.

If this electioneering slither wasn’t already obvious with the vice presidential debate, it’s in full slimy swing now. Senator Biden made an appearance on “Ellen,” this week, proudly declaring that he’d vote “no” on Proposition 8, the California referendum that would ban gay marriage once and for all. Governor Palin turned right around and paid an “exclusive” visit to CBN, the “news” organization run by Pat “Katrina was caused by homosexuals” Robertson himself. Naturally, she reiterated her support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ban gay marriage.

None of this should impress anyone, nor should it be a surprise to anyone. For those who somehow haven’t figured this out, this is nothing more than pandering to their base. Look up the etymology of the word “base” and you’ll realize that this is clearly reaching for the lowest common denominator in both parties.

For one group, it’s a zombie-walking daze that demands that “marriage is man and woman.” For the other, it’s a catatonic cry of “marry mary and mary” no matter what. There’s little discussion, little recourse, and almost no comprehension between either group of the very real issues that those of us who are gay are sick of dodging the arrows that you think are going toward each other. Here’s a tip: those attacks you’re hurling at the “liberals” and “conservatives” about the gay marriage issue? Yeah. They miss. They hit us.

Every. Single. Time.

If you politicians and fellow activists want to actually make some real PROGRESS on the gay marriage discussion, why don’t you turn around and stop preaching to your own choirs? Frankly, they’re tired of hearing it, and we’re tired of looking at your posterior.

It’s all a game. One group goes to court. The other goes to the public. “Activist Judges!” “Majority rules!” Has anyone, even for a brief moment, thought of actually having a discussion on the issue and possibly find some common ground? Or are we so determined to win with the gavel or the ballot box, that nothing else matters?

Gay marriage isn’t even about the people who want to get married anymore. It’s just a pet issue — it’s a pet to conservatives who use it to rally their troops, and it’s a pet to liberals who use it to show how ridiculous conservatives are. The cycle goes on and on.

In the middle of it all, we gay couples — whether we’re married legally or not — are just sick to death of being your little political pets.

To those of you who insist that we’re going to “destroy the sanctity of marriage,” I ask you one simple question: HOW? How the hell does the committed relationship of MAYBE six percent of the population affect you in any way? Because if my relationship affects yours, then honey — your relationship has much bigger problems than me.

And to those of you who just want to parade gay couples like some badge of honor on how “proud” you are to have gay friends, and will fight, blah, blah, blah — give it a rest. If you want to impress me, then invite my partner and me over for dinner. Otherwise, you can pin that badge on my gluteus maximus, right along with your lips.

It’s really simple. Those of us who happen to be gay are literally being slapped around over and over just so the political parties or organizations can get a little more funding, and raise a little more money so they can keep doing what they’re doing, and so they can continue their little mantra of hate/love for gay people.

We are not an issue. We are not your pet divas. We’re not your enemy, your pals, or your targets. We are your brothers, mothers, fathers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nieces, and nephews. We’re your teachers, your employees, your tenants, your landlords, your artists, and doctors. We’re your lawyers, firefighters, postal workers, and your cooks. We’re your servers, managers, and your construction workers. We’re your neighbors.

We’re not hiding anymore, and more and more of us are coming out because living a lie just isn’t okay.

Now would you just leave us the hell alone?

Not so, it seems. With McCain himself now saying he’ll kick Obama’s “you-know-what” in the upcoming debate (of course, it’s been the opposite at all of the debates so far), Palin has gotten the blessing to keep on blathering about things she clearly does not understand.

ABC News says that Palin “tones it down a notch,” but a “notch” down from the fever pitch of accusing the Democratic nominee of “pallin’ around with terrorists” and insinuating that he’s a terrorist himself, is, well, not much of a notch at all.

The ABC article reflects much of what’s been reported in the Associated Press, so the quotes that follow are pretty universal. With each passing statement, she proves just how out-of-touch with reality she really is. Take, for example, her asinine interpretation of just what all the “anger” their campaign has seen is all about:

While Palin cited the anger felt by many of her supporters — as expressed verbally at two separate town meetings earlier in the week — Palin attempted to turn it into a positive message on Republican nominee John McCain reforming Washington.  She did not turn it into anger at the Democratic nominee, who is leading the race in most national and battleground state polls.

“All across America, I know that there’s a lot of anger right now,” Palin said. “There’s anger about the insider dealing of lobbyists and anger at the greed of Wall Street, and anger about the arrogance of the Washington elite. And with serious reforms to change Washington, John McCain is going to turn your anger into action.”

Okay, Governor, let me see if I can explain it in small words so that you can understand. The anger you’ve seen isn’t about “insider dealing” or “lobbyists.” It’s all because you and your running mate (that’s the old guy who calls Obama “that one”) have whipped your base into a frenzy of vile hate. You’ve accused your opponents of “pallin’ around with terrorists,” and have created a state of fear across the country.

You, like many Americans, don’t even know the difference between a lobbyist and a lobby, which is made evident by all of these preachers who violated their 501(c)3 code last month with their “freedom Sunday” garbage. They clearly don’t understand the difference between an educational organization (which is what they’re supposed to be) and a lobbying group, which is a 501(c)4 organization.

Apparently, a “Christian-based” group of attorneys, the Alliance Defense Fund, encouraged pastors all across the country to do exactly what the 501(c)3 charter says they can’t do: attempt to influence an election from official positions within their organizations. Those many thousands of pastors violated the agreement they signed, and should be given the appropriate fines. Their goal, apparently, is to file a suit to have the tax laws rewritten or struck down by the Supreme Court.

Good luck with that.

So, Governor, since you have no clue what lobbying is for, and you have even less of a clue as to why there’s so much anger in your rallies, maybe you need to seriously consider the possibility that you just need you shut your mouth and learn something about how your government really works.

Clearly, this is a person who doesn’t need to be anywhere near the White House, let alone a heartbeat away from occupying it.

The ABC article further discusses her usage of the phrase “bad guys.” Apparently, she’s replaced “terrorist” with “bad guys” in order to continue to rile that low-level base of supporters for whom “terrorist” is probably too big of a word. No, wait. Maybe it’s too big of a word for Governor Palin. After all, she’s “one of us,” right? As Newsweek’s cover said recently, maybe that’s the problem:

While Palin made no mention of William Ayers, who just days ago she charged was “a terrorist” with closer ties to Obama than he will acknowledge, she did speak about “terrorists” in general as the “bad guys,” and then went on to describe the “bad guys” in the current economic crisis. It was unclear if Palin was attempting to allude to Ayers when speaking about “terrorists.”

“Help me Ohio to help put John McCain in the White House,” Palin said. “He understands… For one thing, we know who the bad guys are, OK? We know, we know that in the war, it’s terrorists, terrorists who hate America and her allies and would seek to destroy us, and the bad guys are those who would support and sympathize with the terrorists. They do not like America because of what we stand for: liberty, freedom, equal rights. Those who sympathize and support those terrorists who would seek to destroy all that it is that we value, those are the bad guys, ok?”

Really, Governor? Those are the bad guys? You mean that those who have completely shredded our constitution, diluted the right to free speech and the right to assemble peacefully, supported rampant wire taps, and have even put gay rights groups on list of “domestic terrorist” groups in recent years aren’t the bad guys?

There’s one phrase we need to look out for: “destroy all that it is that we value.” You see, dear friends and neighbors, her “values” have been clearly demonstrated in this past week as she continues to spread the lies and insinuations that Senator Obama is “pallin’ around with terrorists who would strike at their own country” and that she has abused her power in the firing of her ex brother-in-law.

Her “values” even questioned the local librarian as to whether or not certain books would be removed from the shelves of the Wasila public library if the then-mayor asked them to be. The librarian said no. She was later fired. More here and here.

Her “values” have said that she believes that homosexuality can be “prayed away” despite the fact that every single major medical, psychiatric, and professional group that works within the gay and lesbian community says otherwise.

Do us all a favor, Governor. You’ve said that you can see Russia from the front door of your home. Great. Go home. Better yet, we’ll help send you back there on November 4th.

• Did you know that a Tennessee State Constitutional amendment was devised and passed which took away your rights of marrying the person of your choice? These rights were written into our constitution and taken away from us. When I say “us,” I mean all of us. We are now constitutionally restricted as to whom we can marry.
• Did you know that Stacey Campfield, a Representative from a district that lies hundreds of miles from Clarksville, tried to legislate the removal of all mention of GLBT families and life from elementary and middle school curricula in the State of Tennessee?
• Did you know that a couple of legislators from Memphis, once again hundreds of miles from Clarksville, tried to legislate who can adopt children? I don’t think that you’ll be happy to know that it was their idea that only legally married couples can adopt children.
• Did you know that we live in the only state in the entire USA that has legislation on the books that says that you canot change the sex on your birth certificate? The only state in the entire country?

I know that you’ve heard and read about equality groups and thought “this has nothing to do with me.” You might think “just as long as I can go have a good time with my friends and meet new people, I’m fine.” Well, I’d like to challenge you to look beyond yourself. For example, there are people in your community who want to marry. There are children in your community who need to learn that being GLBT is not wrong, bad, immoral or “simply something that you shouldn’t talk about.” There are single men and women, gay and straight; and unmarried couples, gay and straight; right here in Clarksville, who almost lost their rights to adopt children. Clarksville has the shame of being one of the largest cities in a state that has the shining reputation of being the only state in the entire country with legislation on the books that says that you cannot change the sex on your birth certificate.

Haven’t heard enough? Let’s take it one step further. Imagine your straight brother, sister or friend being denied the opportunity to adopt a child because a man out in Memphis decides that he or she is incapable to be a parent. What about your friends who have been together for twenty years? No go, they don’t qualify.

How would you feel if your niece or nephew were taught in school that your sexual orientation is something that cannot be mentioned?

Is it hitting home now? It should be hitting home now. In fact, you should be concerned. The last three facts that I mentioned are examples of situations from the year 2008, not the year 1958. Considering that, can you imagine what might be introduced in the 2009 Legislative Session?

Now, you might be able to see my logic that an equality group has everything to do with you, your ability to have a good time with your friends and meeting new people. It has everything to do with the relationships that you have with your family. It has everything to do with what children are being taught in schools. It has everything to do with how the rest of the country looks at the State of Tennessee—your home.

We’re fighting so that you can have a family, we’re fighting so that children will have healthy attitudes toward you, we’re fighting so that you can be proud to say that you’re from a state where oppressive, backwards laws are on not on the books. We’re fighting so that even more bizarre legislation will not pass in the 2009 session.

We’re also fighting to help you in positive ways, providing opportunities for you to have the same rights as other residents of Montgomery County.

Sounds great? Of course it does. Here’s the down side. We need your help and it’s not coming through. The GLBT and allied communities in the Clarksville area needs to help us because Clarksville, unfortunately, is not our only battleground. Tennessee is a huge state. There are more than 500 miles to cover from Bristol to Memphis. We need to rely on local people to help us make Clarksville a better place. We’ll set you up. We’ll give you guidance. We’ll hold your hand through the initial learning process. But, we need local people to make this work for Clarksville. Be proud of your community and be proud to be a GLBT Clarksvillian. Write to me at to show us that you care about your community. We’ll put you to work and give you only the amount of work that you think that would interest you.

In the article, Egelko outlines how George and three other California Supreme Court justices pulled from another marriage quality issue from history, interracial marriage:

George’s same-sex ruling relied heavily on the court’s 1948 decision on interracial marriage, written by a renowned liberal, Justice Roger Traynor. No other state’s court had ever recognized a constitutional right for interracial couples to marry, and the U.S. Supreme Court did not do so until 1967.

A lesson from that case, George said in the interview, was that laws denying “certain basic rights could not be justified just because of history and tradition.”

He recalled a trip with his parents to the still-segregated South as a teenager, when he was shocked to see whites-only signs on drinking fountains and restroom doors.

“It sensitized me to the fact there are minorities of all sorts of types who can be victimized by the majority,” George said. Protecting vulnerable minorities, he said, is “one of the purposes of the courts and of our Constitution.”

When I read the above paragraph, I had to stop and consider just what Justice George was really saying. Quite simply, he said that the Constitution guarantees protection for vulnerable minorities. This in itself is a hotly debated point, especially in regard to immigrants and sexual orientation.

When the California decision was announced, conservatives immediately decried “activist judges” who “defied the people.” Well, this is exactly what was said when Justice Anthony Kennedy’s decision was handed down in the landmark Lawrence v Texas decision. that struck down all of the sodomy laws in the US. They were “activist judges” (interestingly, both Kennedy and George were appointed by Republicans).

Both men and their respective majorities in their courts knew a simple fact: Sometimes, the people are wrong. The people were wrong to separate blacks and whites in the South. The people were wrong to deny basic civil rights. The people were wrong to pass laws banning the private sex lives of adults, and they were wrong to pass a resolution in California to ban same-sex marriage.

I heard a phrase not too long ago that illustrated this better than anything: the Constitution is a way to protect against the Tyranny of the Majority. I’ll define this phrase: oppressive rule by majority, where the minority has little or no rights.

This is a phrase that isn’t used very often, but when it is used, it’s profound. Alexander Hamilton warned against allowing this kind of “majority rules no matter what” mindset, and was one of a few men who knew just what the dangers were of a pure democracy. In fact, the dangers of a tyrannical majority were so clear to our framers, that they designed our constitution for a republic, not a democracy.

That’s right. The United States of America is not a democracy. It never has been. It is, quite simply, a republic. It is, however, a republic which includes a great many democratic elements, which is why there’s such a balance.

I won’t bore anyone with an extended civics lesson, but our government has three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary. As most Americans know, the executive branch of the Federal government is headed by the President and his cabinet. The legislative branch includes both houses of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives). The judiciary branch has the Supreme Court at its highest level.

These three branches offer a brilliant level of checks and balances which has been the “great experiment” in world affairs, and has been an effective system since the Constitution was adopted back in 1787. It’s been amended only 27 times since then, most notably with the Bill of Rights in 1791, which includes the all-important First Amendment.

Even before the First Amendment, the Constitution did a great job of protecting against the Tyranny of the Majority, but most Americans felt like it needed to be crystal clear about individual rights. After all, what minority is smaller than the individual?

Just for fun, I’ll ask people to name at least three of the five protections of the First Amendment. Most people can name one or two. Three is a stretch. VERY few can name all five:

• Freedom of Religion
  (Individual religious expression & a ban on state-sponsored religion)
• Freedom of Speech
• Freedom of the Press
• Right to peaceably assemble
• Right to petition the government

The first amendment is one of the most powerful and is easily the most important in the entire document, especially when in regards to the tyranny of the majority. The simple reality is this: the majority, while they might have the most numbers, might not always have the high moral or legal ground. In other words, the majority isn’t always right!

We learned this better than ever during the civil rights movement. Here’s a simple truth: civil rights would never have come if not for a handful of judges who took the law in their own hands. A lot of conservatives are quick to point out how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by a majority vote in Congress, so the will of the people can pass laws like this, they claim. However, that historic act would never have been passed if segregation hadn’t already been struck down by the Supreme Court with its historic Brown v Board of Education decision in 1954.

The only exception to this would be the Women’s Suffrage movement, which passed by legislative vote and popular vote, to be added to the constitution in 1919. However, I’m not really sure if women would be considered a “minority” by this definition. Repressed, yes. Minority, no. Especially today, where there are actually more girls born than boys.

So what kind of minorities might be oppressed? In the US alone, there are countless religious minorities (anything other than Christian), ethnic groups, national origin, racial minorities (especially African and Latino Americans), those with disabilities, and sexual orientation and gender identity.

It’s that last one that draws the most heated debate today, with the argument that a person’s sexual behavior is their own choice, and should not be allowed as a minority. Unfortunately, this argument overlooks the reality that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity isn’t a “behavior,” it’s something much deeper, and is in many cases not a choice at all.

Other arguments against listing sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected minorities is that a person’s sexual orientation isn’t identifiable outwardly. A gay or lesbian person can’t be identified by their appearance like an African-American or a Latino-American can. While this is true, it leaves out one major point: A person’s religion is unquestionably a choice, and is guaranteed protections by the Constitution. Why shouldn’t a person’s sexual orientation – which may NOT be a choice – be included in these simple protections?

It’s this kind of argument that our constitution and government was formed to dismiss, with an effort to stifle a growth of a tyrannical majority. Our framers knew than as we know now that power corrupts. When a majority—of any kind—has power, then it can be corrupted.

Thankfully there are heroic men like California Chief Justice Ronald George and US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy who are willing to put an end to this kind of tyranny by declaring that all minorities are indeed equal, and should be treated as such.

Previously published on Skipping to the Piccolo.

This will be our first organizational meeting for TEP Montgomery County. We’ll discuss formation strategy, things that we can do to help bring about equality in Montgomery County and some future activities!

To find out more about the Tennessee Equality Project, visit us at www.tnep.org. If you have any questions, contact Todd Hughes at .

Dear Mr. Corker (And staff):

I’m extremely disappointed to know that your office is more concerned about protecting your image than in protecting those that have been abused, beaten, and even killed. Your refusal to support Senate Bill 1105 is as heartbreaking as it is wrong.

You already know of the events surrounding the death of Matthew Shepard, after which this bill has been named. You might also know of the murder of Alabama teenager Scotty Joe Weaver, who was killed by his own friends because he was “a faggot.” Mr. Corker, this isn’t a rare thing at all. In fact, there have been people in your own state that have been killed just for being gay.

More than twelve years ago, a Clarksville man named Jerry Cope was brutally murdered in his own business. Mr. Cope was gay, and was also known to the local gay community as P’Knutts. For the rest of this email, I’ll address her by her chosen name. P’Knutts was highly popular, and was even involved in the political scene. She was loved by everyone who knew her. She left behind a daughter. She was 38.

When I say “brutally murdered,” Mr. Corker, I want you to understand. This was no “robbery,” as the local law enforcement said at the time. She was mutilated in a way so that it was clear that her death was to send a message to the local GLBT community. This was, in every possible way, a hate crime.

The bill, which you say that you will not support, would allow for FBI assistance to help bring justice in this horrible crime… which has yet to be solved. In fact, there has been nearly no activity since the first few weeks of her murder. Adding sexual orientation and gender identity isn’t controversial, Mr. Corker. It’s certainly not immoral. It is, in all reality, the right thing to do.

After all, how many small town law enforcement communities will not actively pursue a resolution in the murder of a local gay man, because “no one cares about that fag?” We’ll never know. This bill would put an end to that. We should expect that there would be federal protections for anyone, no matter who they are. It’s sad that you would disagree.

I’m not only disappointed, but I’m actually shocked that you would so casually dismiss a bill that would actually protect nearly ten percent of your constituents. The cavalier manner in which you and the rest of the Republican party, including President Bush, have dismissed the GLBT community only allows crimes of this nature to go on, and to remain unsolved when they do happen. You might also recall Pfc. Barry Winchell, the Fort Campbell soldier who was killed in July of 1999. Fort Campbell is in the cradle of Clarksville. This bill has clear Tennessee roots.

Mr. Corker, I urge you to reconsider. These are people with whom I have built solid friendships, and these are living, breathing, genuine people who desperately need to know that there is support for them and their families. I am a man of faith, and I’m a man of great passion… and there is nothing compassionate nor conservative in denying justice to people like P’Knutts and those who knew her. There is nothing Christian in denying federal support for smaller communities that need the assistance in solving hate crimes. In the end, Mr. Corker, I fear that you have little concern for protecting our citizens. And since I, too, am gay, would you dismiss me as well?

The time has come for this bill to be passed with bipartisan support. These hate crime laws will NOT restrict free speech in any way. And you know it. Our nation needs to support those who are denigrated and marginalized. Our great nation was founded on these principles, and the Constitution was framed to support those who can not support themselves, it was written to protect those who can not protect themselves.

You can dismiss this bill with a form letter, Mr. Corker. You can not dismiss the reality that this bill is a critical necessity for the future of our nation.

Please, Mr. Corker, don’t let the names of Jerry Cope, Scotty Joe Weaver, and Matthew Shepard fade into the obscurity of another failed attempt to bring meaning to their senseless deaths.

Sincerely,

David W. Shelton
Pastor, Christian Community Church of Clarksville
http://www.ccc-clarksville.com/

 UPDATE: Corker replied with another form letter… the EXACT same form letter he sent initially! Friends, stay after him.

Three bills that would put an end to serious injustices against GLBT people have been filed over the last few months in Washington, DC. The first, a bill that would repeal the failed “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell-Don’t-Pursue” law that bans openly gay people from serving in the military, was filed a few months ago. The second is a bill that would add sexual orientation to hate crime laws. The third, a sweeping Employment Nondiscrimination Act which includes “sexual orientation” was just filed yesterday by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

All three of these bills should be passed. These are basic issues on equality which address some much-needed protections for GLBT people across the country. The sad reality is that every one of them has been filed before, and either held up or stymied by a Republican-controlled congress.

About 11,000 servicemen and women have been kicked out of the military since the atrocious “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell-Don’t-Pursue” law was put into place. Even today, gay and lesbian soldiers must hide who they really are in order to protect their jobs. They’ll often have to change pronouns when discussing their relationships, and live in constant fear of being discovered. The bill filed by Rep. Marty Mehann (D-MA) would change this, and would allow GLBT people to serve openly.

Conservative politicians, previous Joint Chiefs and groups have countered that if the ban on gays in the military were to be repealed, that it would “lower morale” and cause problems within the ranks. More and more, the opposite is being shown to be true. When polled, most soldiers would accept GLBT members. Of the three bills, I really think this one won’t be passed until the 2009 session. It will, however, be a major issue in the coming Presidential election.

Conservative pundits and preachers have joined together in denouncing the addition of “sexual orientation” to hate crime laws. They have said that people can “change” their sexuality, so therefore there should be no protection provided. They worry that if such a law was put into place that it would prevent them from speaking their conscience on the “evils” of the “gay lifestyle.”

Let me be clear. The APA and about a dozen other major medical and professional organizations (including the AMA and the American Bar Association) have denounced “reparative therapy” for homosexuals. They say that such attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation would actually do more harm than good. These quacks who continue to propagate these dangerous programs are actually feeding the high suicide rate for GLBT people, all in the name of “morality.”

All the while, truth gets distorted or even cast aside outright. For example, Lou Sheldon, chairman of the anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition, throws his usual spin that conservative and fundamentalist ministers would be persecuted with the new law:

“This bill begins to lay the legal foundation and framework to investigate, prosecute and persecute pastors, business owners, and anyone else whose actions are based upon, and reflect, the truths found in the Bible,” he said.

This rhetoric is repeated by pundits and preachers all across the country. Maybe it would help if they actually read the bill. No, that wouldn’t do at all, would it? After all, if they spread their lies enough, people will believe them without reading it. Because, if someone takes the time to read the bill, they’d realize that it addresses violence, not hate speech. In fact, hate speech isn’t mentioned in the bill at all!

Sheldon and his group is so obsessed with the gay issue that he’s willing to distort the truth on a regular basis to create a straw man enemy to raise money for his own organization. I don’t have to say how low-class this really is. He actually has the audacity to say that there’s no discrimination against GLBT people anywhere!

So there’s no discrimination, eh? Tell that to Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death with a pistol butt and tied to a fence. Tell that to Scotty Joe Weaver, the Alabama teenager who was brutally murdered for being a “faggot.” Tell that to Gwen Aruso, the transgender girl who was killed. Tell that to countless gay and lesbian teenagers who are bullied or beaten just for having the appearance of being gay.

According to the Washington Times, “According to the most recent FBI statistics, there were 1,171 reported hate crimes targeting homosexuals in 2005, or 14 percent of all hate crimes reported that year.” That’s nearly 1200 people that have been affected by discrimination and hate that people like Lou Sheldon say doesn’t exist. Maybe if he pretends it doesn’t exist, then we’ll go away.

Finally, the latest bill is the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would added sexual orientation and gender identity to workplace protection. There are similar laws in place for 17 states. Most of the Fortune-500 companies have some form of protection. More than 100 municipalities and cities have nondiscrimination ordinances. This bill would be a critical addition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and falls well within the 14th amendment which provides “equal protection under the law” for all people.

The conservative outcry is that it would force people with “religious conviction” to hire someone who are gay. Not so. The bill would not apply to the military or to churches. I have to question what “religious conviction” has to do with whether or not a GLBT person can do the job required of them?

I really don’t think it has to do with “conviction.” The reality is that there’s nothing Christian about being prejudiced against someone just for their sexual orientation. These are human beings who have a right to an equal and fair workplace for everyone. Why is that so difficult for some people to grasp?

All of these bills should be passed, and they should be signed by the President. It’s time to put these three great injustices in the past, and bring in a future where equality is a reality for everyone.

Previously posted on www.skippingtothepiccolo.com.

Lobbying 101 in Clarksville

Thursday, February 1, 7-9 pm
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clarksville
3053 U.S. 41-A

Advancing Equality Day on the Hill

Tuesday, February 20 at 8:30 a.m., the Tennessee Equality Project presents the 3rd annual Advancing Equality Day On The Hill, a day in Nashville meeting with your legislators to express your views on proposed legislation affecting the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community.

 We’ll start at TPAC and move from there to meetings at Legislative Plaza. You should be able to finish by Noon that day! So, please, consider taking half a day off work for this important cause.We look forward to seeing you and all of your friends on February 1 in Clarksville and on February 20 in Nashville.

We need to start getting a count of who is attending Advancing Equality Day on the Hill. RSVP by emailing me at  . I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Chris Sanders
Chair and President

Overall, I enjoy my job. I come home, eat dinner, watch my DVR recorded TV shows (The West Wing, The Simpsons, and Eureka), read a chapter or two from a book, and fall asleep until the next day. I truly hope that my “gay lifestyle” is not offending anyone reading this quite yet. I have a townhouse near the hospital, a loving partner (Whom I don’t see enough of as I’d like.), and a kitchen table that has more paperwork than the IRS director’s desk.

I drive a 1997 Ford Escort that needs new spark plugs and has a broken driver’s seat. My dishes and laundry are piling up right now as you’re reading this and my bills are probably getting close to being late.

This “gay lifestyle” must have politicians and religious leaders concerned about how I am going about my daily routine promoting this abhorrent lifestyle. How am I so different from them? The answer is simple. I’m not. My life is probably very similar to yours actually. The only real difference in my life and heterosexuals is who I have sex with.

This is, quite frankly, none of their business. Why do they care who I am dating? I’m not trying to date them, so how do they have any say in who I do date? To re-tool a common phrase used by these so-called “leaders,” discriminating against someone based solely on who they are attracted to is going to open Pandora’s Box.

After they outlaw my ability to choose who I want to spend the rest of my life with, what’s going to be next? Are they going to start mandating what books I can read? Are they going to tell us what times we can be out of our homes? What lengths will they go to in order to have control over what we do? What lengths will they go to in order to have control over who we are? Are we going to continue to allow these tyrants to determine our lives for us?

I believe that God gave us all free will. I find it difficult to believe that if he wanted us all to be the same; he wouldn’t have made us all so different and special. That’s the real founding principle this great country was founded on. That’s what makes America the country that immigrants from all over the world die every day trying to come to; a place where each one can come to and start a life of freedom from oppression.

America was founded so that we could all have the freedom to live our lives as we saw fit, so long as we didn’t harm others. How can we forget such a basic principle of the Declaration of Independence; “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” How can we allow our society to take back one of its most important promises? How can we condemn something that is so obviously none of our business?

If we’re truly not so different, which so far seems to be a reasonable argument, why are you not worried about being discriminated against next? Who’s to stop these people from telling you where you can go to church? Who’s going to be there to stop them from preventing you from watching your favorite television shows? Now, a question has presented itself to us all; what’s next?

This November, we have been given the choice of whether or not we’re going to change the Tennessee constitution to define marriage as being an “historical institution between one man and one woman.” Or, at least, that’s what it seems to be on the surface. But what is it really? It’s discrimination, pure and simple. But is it right for Tennessee?

Marisa Richmond of the Tennessee Equality Project’s Vote No on 1 campaign spent some time with us here in Clarksville to discuss the coming election, and specifically, the proposed amendment to the state’s constitution. Richmond has met with groups in all of the major cities to help with the finer points of organizing a grass-roots effort to turn the tide in the onslaught against gay and lesbian families nationwide.

Her initial claims were staggering. “We are clearly within striking distance of winning,” she said. After eighteen states have overwhelmingly passed similar amendments, equality-minded activist have seen a difference in opinions in polls across the state and nationwide. She explained that the Zogby poll indicates that a majority of democrats, young voters, and African-Americans do not support changing the constitution.

“This is the first time we’ve seen these kind of numbers in any state,” she said. “And it’s not even September yet.” The polls in addition with endorsements from The Tennessean and The Chattanooga Times have given a boost to all of us who are equality-minded. She pointed out that Governor Bredesen said that the “no” vote would be no more than five or ten percent. She also said with a broad smile, “We’ve already tripled that estimate.”

As I listened, I realized that we have a real chance to turn back the tide of hate and ignorance that we’ve seen against gay and lesbian families across the country. Richmond said that South Dakota is already showing clear signs of being able to defeat their proposed anti-gay amendment, and a victory was possible in another state. “But,” she said, “if we were to win Tennessee, a southern state, it would send shock waves throughout the whole country.”

She’s right. Nothing would send such a clear message than to have Tennessee voters reject this unfair constitutional amendment that would actually remove rights that are already in place. “What rights?” you might ask. Let’s be clear. The United States Constitution guarantees equal protection for all citizens under the law. Conservatives have seen this as well, which is why they’re using this as a wedge issue and are using gay and lesbian families as cannon fodder.

The reality is that their rhetoric about “activist judges” and “militant homosexual activists” is nothing more than language that’s used to incite raw emotion that will drive voters to the polls. As much as I encourage people to vote, it’s regrettable that so many for the amendment without understanding how much it will affect their families—it will do much more than “keep them gay people from marrying.” It will create an entire group of second-class citizens and even promote one religious view over another.

But it does not have to happen that way. As I said, we have a real chance to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘thus far and no more.’ In fact, a group of sixteen religious leaders in Memphis have joined a growing number of clergy from many faith traditions across the state to oppose the amendment. “Although we have differing opinions on rights for same-sex couples,” they said, “we believe the Tennessee Marriage Amendment reflects a fundamental disregard for individual civil rights and ignores differences among our state’s many religious traditions. It should be rejected.”

The good news is that it CAN be rejected. But we need your help to do it. If you believe that this amendment would enshrine discrimination into the state’s constitution, then contact the Vote No on 1 campaign today. Their website is http://votenoon1tn.com. There’s plenty more you can do. And yes, it CAN make a difference:

If you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender… be out. The more that your friends and family members see that we are, in fact, the people they’ll be voting against, it just might give them pause.

• If you’re straight and have GLBT friends and family members, talk with them. Ask them how they feel about this amendment.
• Better yet, talk with the rest of your family and friends that aren’t gay. Tell them why you’re going to vote “no.”
• Yard signs, bumper stickers, t-shirts and other materials are available from the Vote No on 1 campaign. Display them prominently.

But what if you’re undecided? According to polls, as many as ten percent of the people who will vote have not yet decided on how they stand on this issue. And you know what? That’s okay. You don’t have to make a decision. There’s just a couple of points to consider:

• A “no” vote isn’t a vote for “gay rights.” It’s simply a vote to not change the constitution. Quite simply, you don’t have to be pro-gay to understand that this amendment is a bad idea.
• If you’re still undecided, then vote for the Governor and then abstain on the Amendment vote. It might actually help us out a little.

Let me explain about the undecided strategy. Tennessee’s Constitution requires any amendment’s “yes” vote to be 50% of the total number of votes cast in the Governor’s race. For example, if 1,400,000 total votes are cast for Governor, then the “yes” votes for the amendment must be 700,001 or higher. So even if the percentage is 75% to 25%, if that 75% number isn’t greater than 700,001, it doesn’t pass. So, being undecided isn’t a bad thing at all.

Recently, a co-worker of mine said to me, “David, I’ve been undecided on the gay marriage issue for a while,” she said. “I’m not undecided anymore.” I asked her what changed her mind. She said that her daughter who lives in California had a friend whose partner died before his time. He was forbidden from his own partner’s funeral because the family did not approve of their relationship—discarded as if he were a piece of junk mail. “I’m firmly on your side now,” she told me.

It’s stories like this one that will make a difference. More and more, people realize that the “gay marriage” debate is nothing more than a distraction from more critical issues in our state and country. It’s a great and tragic irony that while the TennCare debacle continues its meltdown, one of the hottest issues is whether or not my partner and I can be legally married.

There’s still a lot of work to do, but there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Better still, it’s a rainbow.

Related posts:

•  “Just what are they “protecting?” - Posted on Clarksville Online, June 8, 2006
• “Arguing for Gay Marriage” - Published in The Leaf-Chronicle, July 25, 2004

Well, maybe not. Consider this: with every loss to a state’s Supreme Court, the Reich-wing has one of their toys snatched away. As it turns out, those “activist judges” aren’t such activists after all. Now, as much as some of us would like to disagree with them, we can’t ignore the reality that the great “activist judge” mantra is backfiring in a big way.

I see this as a huge opportunity for all of us in the GLBT community to continue to work toward equality one person at a time. The more we come out to our friends, families, and co-workers, the more people realize that we are just people who love a little differently.

But that’s the catch, my friends. We HAVE to speak up. There are far too many people around us who are “okay with homosexuals as long as they keep to themselves.” In other words, they’re happy if they don’t have to deal with their bigotry. That’s just not good enough. We simply can’t let legal setbacks and quiet bigotry quench the flames of equality. Far too many people have been belittled, kicked out of their homes, fired, beaten, or murdered for us to remain quiet.

Fortunately, one man has decided to speak out. On the same day that Washington State’s Supreme Court handed down their ruling, there was a bright point of really good news. One of the worst-kept secrets in West Hollywood was finally made public in an exclusive interview with People magazine: Lance Bass is gay. Okay, maybe that’s not big news, but any time a popular celebrity comes out as gay before they hit the big three-oh, that’s huge. Even more important is the fact that Bass’ announcement is less than four years after his boyband group split.

Compare that to fellow closet-buster Star Trek’s George Takei. He dropped his bombshell onto the treknoverse, it was nearly a decade since his last on-screen appearance as Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Flashback.”

As I said, this was a pretty poorly-kept secret since he has been seen with his current boyfriend, Reichen Lemkuhl. Apparently, Bass was also seen in West Hollywood, which is the gay Mecca of Southern California. Even despite his numerous sightings in gay bars, clubs, and neighborhoods, he’s been pretty quiet about his sexuality. But instead of denying it and attempting to play “straight” by dating girls, he chose to come out. Bravo.

Bass has also said he’s producing a TV pilot of an odd-couple type show that features a gay character. Back in 2000, he made headlines by attempting to hitch a ride into orbit courtesy of the Russians. Alas, Russia backed off from the deal.

So let’s not let this bit of news from Washington state get us down. Things really aren’t as dim as we might think… but we do have to be willing to follow the example of people like Lance Bass. Okay, maybe not the trip to space. Yikes.

Read the story at People Magazine

The commitment that CSFP has shown to the GLBT community in Clarksville has shown the kind of leadership that is sorely needed across the state. We are indebted to them in more ways than I can count.

It wasn’t too long ago that I realized that we shared a birthday with CSFP here at Christian Community Church of Clarksville. And, like CSFP, we have been hit with all kinds of verbal violence from those who might have otherwise loved us. Where the paper has gotten all kinds of verbal abuse from another local gossip column, the churches in Clarksville have been abuzz about us. “It’s an antichrist church,” one local pastor said. “It’s a false church,” said another. Oh well, we can only take the hits and move on.

When we founded CCC-Clarksville just over two years ago, Rev. Jerri Ewell and I quickly found agreement and a shared passion for reaching those who have been told they’re not welcome in other churches. Jerri asked me to write a mission statement for the church. I prayed long and hard about it. But in the end, the Lord gave me seven simple words:

Jesus, People, Love, Grace, Outreach, Diversity, and Home.

The “seven words” has been the core of our ministry ever since, and it will remain such. Everything we do falls within those seven words. If a proposed ministry does not somehow touch on all seven of those words, then it won’t be done.

Sound difficult? Not at all. My understanding of Scripture and of the call of Christ on my life has been to embrace all aspects of this ministry in every way. Our first love is of course the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the fixation of our eyes, and He is the author and finisher of our faith.

Jerri and his family have since left the area to pursue a long-time dream of theirs in a small retail shop in East Tennessee. While we miss them very much, the calling of our church remains the same. I’ve since been asked by the board to serve as pastor of the church, so we’re not only going to press on in our mission, but our vision is with a renewed sense of passion and purpose.

But why isn’t “faith” one of the seven words? Let me explain. Faith is a ministry as much as it is a belief system. It is required to see the vision and call of this church, and it is required to help fulfill it. Thus, it is a ministry of this church.

Our focus isn’t faith in Christ. It is Christ Himself, where faith can be built. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we will focus on loving those around us, operating under the power of His grace, engaging in outreach across the city, embracing the vast diversity of the body of Christ, and providing a home for all Christians.

Thus, you begin to see the vastness of our vision and its power of its simplicity. I truly believe that God has brought us here for such a time as this; a time where GLBTQ people are finally beginning to realize that they can indeed be welcome in the body of Christ. And for all who love Jesus and serve Him, we provide that home.

So let me talk about some specifics. First, our primary focus is worship—of the living risen Lord Jesus Christ. My key focus has been to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” as Hebrews 12:2 says. But worship is a lot more than music and singing, it is passionately pursuing all that he has for us as individuals and as a body. This can be done whether it’s two or two hundred… or two thousand.

Our next goal is to build a committed body of believers who will stand arm-in-arm under the banner of Jesus Christ and Him alone. This group of Christians will not be identifiable by their race, sexual orientation, or their sex. They are Christians, period—followers of Christ. We will provide education, Bible studies, and information to help build their faith and understanding of the mission of this church.

Next, we will stand with all of those who will stand with us to bring about unity and strength across the entire community. Outreach is not only for individuals, but for other churches. We do not exist in a vacuum or on an island; but rather as a part of the body of Christ as a whole.

Our ultimate goal is to provide physical outreach to those who are in need; whether with HIV-related issues or homeless, or just down. Counseling will be offered by qualified people and we will do all we can to meet people where they are.

I’m proud to be associated with people who have such a clear vision for reaching the community. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s worth it.

So…happy birthday, Freedom Press. Happy birthday to all of us!