OurLadyJ

palin’s church

I’m on my way to sleep

but thought i’d check in first…

i’ve never felt so blessed to have had my particular upbringing than i do now.

a cavalcade of religious monstrosities pelted at me

day after day

week after week

year after year.

it gave me the tools to survive any weather

and to understand the current political climate.

sarah palin is a member of the assembly of god church,

the church of my own upbringing.

my parents, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins

are all “upstanding” members of the church.

i’m pretty sure they’ve dropped my membership by now.

and in this church, here are some things I learned:

i learned to identify the ways of the world community

(the UN was considered a nation constructed by the ‘evil’ world),

and to identify this world community’s ideals as “other than” or “wrong.”

i learned to be ready for a spiritual war that was brewing,

a war that would come soon and one that we would lead.

they taught me to be ready to die for the church,

to kill for the church,

and to teach others to do the same.

i was taught to not question authority.

i was taught that the gay community is to blame for AIDS.

i was taught that condoms don’t work.

in my early teens, the entire youth group was brought up onto the platform (stage)

and persuaded (forced) to sign a contract with god,

stating that we would save ourselves for marriage.

my sex was exploited. my life was expendable. my identity was raped.

in this church, i learned to hate my queer-self along with the world around me.

fast-forward through years of great friendships, wonderful support groups, an amazing therapist

and a career that’s allowed me to see the world for it’s diverse beauties…

now i can say i love who i am, and i love the world around me.

but what about those who weren’t able to escape

the pelting cavalcade of religious monstrosities

know as the ‘assembly of god’ church?

what about those who fit into the tidy teachings of their ‘conservative values’?

sarah palin seems to have gone from one of their victims to one of their leaders,

as most abuse cycles turn-out.

a woman who will unleash this mental un-health onto the rest of the nation

if she gets into office.

god, assembly or not… help us all.

Transgendered Woman Wins Sex Discrimination Case

A transgendered woman, who lost a job offer because of her sexual status, has won a potentially groundbreaking federal sex discrimination lawsuit.

A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled today that the Library of Congress discriminated against Diane Schroer when it offered her a job and then rescinded it after learning she was transgendered.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Schroer, said Judge James Robertson’s ruling is the first to hold that the federal sex discrimination statute, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, applies to transgendered people.

Other courts that have considered the issue have said Congress only intended for the anti-discrimination statute to protect men and women, but not people who change their sex, the ACLU said.

Robertson disagreed, saying Schroer’s case “was discrimination based on sex.”

“It is tremendously gratifying to have your faith in this country, and what is fundamentally right and fair, be reaffirmed,” Schroer said. “I very much hope that this ruling will help to eliminate the all-too-pervasive discrimination against sexually nonconforming people in all areas.”

She added, “I hope, too, that employers, family members, friends and co-workers will begin to understand variations in sexual orientation and identity from a basis of knowledge and not fear.”

Schroer said she applied for, and was offered, a job at the Library of Congress as David Schroer.

When David went to his first meeting with his soon-to-be boss, Schroer told her that he would be transitioning to a female before starting the job. The next day, the job offer was rescinded, Schroer says.

GO TO ABC.COM for more on this!

Sam Harris on Sarah Palin and Elitism

read this!!!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080/page/1

From Eve Ensler

what???

this club was one of my many seedy coming-of-age hangouts in Dallas, TX.

i can’t believe this article!

From DallasVoice.com Texas Tuesday trans ban trashed!? By Ben Briscoe Jul 24, 2008 - 7:10:00 PM Crews Inn rep says drag queens allowed in on certain conditions; performers vow to continue fight Ivana Tramp, left, and Celesete Williams lead a protest against Crews Inn’s alleged ban on transgenders outside the Fitzhugh Avenue gay bar on Tuesday, July 22. Tramp and Williams said they’ll be back next week and plan legal action. Depending on whom you ask, Crews Inn’s Tuesday night ban on transgender women and drag queens may be over after about 60 people showed up to protest this week. “I never expected a turnout this large,” said Celeste Williams, one of the transgender women kicked out of the bar two weeks ago. “It makes me feel honored to be part of this community, and it makes me even more sure that what happened to us is happening to others, and it’s just wrong.” Crews Inn co-owner David Moore wouldn’t comment on the protest, other than to say, “The whole thing got blown way out of proportion.” He added, “You got your story, and that’s all I’m giving you.” Another representative from Crews Inn, who asked not to be identified, argued that there is no ban because transgender women whose IDs match their appearance will be allowed in. Others can go to Moore individually and ask to be let in if they promise to behave, the representative said. “It’s still discrimination, point blank,” said Dallas Lesbian and Gay Alliance President Patti Fink. “Could you imagine what would happen if they made all black people individually ask to be let in and promise that they will behave?” No one at the protest had identification that didn’t match their appearance to test whether the ban stood. But two transgender women whose appearances matched their driver’s licenses were allowed into the bar. Still, Sierra Nicole Standridge, who performs as Sierra Nicole Andrews, is hesitant to accept that everything is okay now. “Of course he is going to be nice right now, but I was kicked out three years ago for the same reason, and my ID matches. If it happened back then and again this year, what’s to say it won’t start going on again as soon as the protest goes away?” she said. Robert Clawson, a dancer at Crews Inn who stopped by the protest on his way into work, said he’s sure very little has changed. “David is set in his ways,” Clawson said. “I think it is just awful, but I have to make my dollar.” If they couldn’t change Moore’s mind, the crowd hoped to at least “put a dent in his pocket,” according to Williams. The picketers chanted, “One, two, three, four. Don’t give cash to David Moore,” and told people walking into the bar that going inside meant they support discrimination, too. Station 4 performer Krystal Summers swaps out her high-heels for tennis shoes at the protest because all the marching was beginning to hurt her feet. Summers says she is one of the transgender women kicked out of Crews Inn last week because of her gender identity. She plans to file discrimination paperwork with the city this week. BEN BRISCOE/Dallas Voice Many turned away. An employee at the bar across the street said business there was up by about 30 percent. That club was at capacity, with a line outside the door for the first time in memory, the employee said. But overall, the attention to the ban might have backfired as Crews Inn’s business tripled over the weekend after an article about the ban appeared in Dallas Voice last week. Billy Vinson is one of the customers who crossed the picket line. He said: “It doesn’t bother me. They just seem so bitter and silly, and I think every one should just communicate.” That’s not the reaction the protesters were hoping to receive. “It hurts to hear that,” said Ivana Tramp, another transgender woman asked to leave last week. “But we are not going to take this lying down.” Tramp and Williams have already filed a complaint with the Dallas Fair Housing Office, which prohibits business owners from denying service based on gender identity. Station 4 performer Krystal Summers said she plans to file one The three also passed out the forms to others at the protest, and DGLA sent out a press release asking anyone else who has been denied entry to call the city’s 24-hour hotline at 214-670-FAIR. Williams and Tramp also plan a lawsuit. They have approached Lambda Legal, the LGBT civil rights group, about taking the case, but have not heard back because the staff attorney for this region is on vacation. “It doesn’t matter if I have to go through 500 attorneys, I’m going to find one who will take this to court,” Williams said. But for now, the group plans to picket again next Tuesday, July 29. “I’ll be here,” Williams said. “We can let him get away with this, and we probably won’t stop until the bar no longer is open or [no longer] owned by David Moore.” E-mail briscoe@dallasvoice.com This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 25, 2008. © Copyright by DallasVoice.com

ding dong the witch is dead

Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July.

Helms was particularly vitriolic when speaking of gays and lesbians, blaming them for “the proliferation of AIDS,” and stating that he disliked using the word “gay” to refer to them since, “…there’s nothing gay about them.”

Helms opposed the Martin Luther King Day bill in 1983 on grounds that King had two associates with communist ties, Stanley Levison and Jack O’Dell; as well, he voiced disapproval of King’s alleged philandering.

Helms’ referred to the University of North Carolina (UNC) as the “University of Negroes and Communists.”
Helms once deeply offended a black colleague, Democratic Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, by singing part of “Dixie” on a Capitol elevator.

While working on the 1950 campaign of Republican Willis Smith against Democrat Frank Porter Graham, Helms helped create an ad that read “White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races.” Another ad featured photographs Helms himself had doctored to illustrate the allegation that Graham’s wife had danced with a black man.

When Roberta Achtenberg was appointed Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, Helms attempted to block her confirmation, stating that he refused to vote for “that damned lesbian”.

After a protest during his 1986 visit to Mexico, Helms opined: “All Latins are volatile people. Hence, I was not surprised at the volatile reaction.”

In 1994 Helms spoke out against metal industrial singer Marilyn Manson. Manson responded by painting an anti-gay slur on his chest during a show in Winston-Salem, in a sarcastic and critical display against Helms’s social viewpoints.

Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker noted in his memoirs that Helms had “the ‘humorous habit’” of calling all black people “Fred”.

Helms used race issues in many elections; for instance, in 1990, he ran the famous “Hands” television ad in a tough re-election race. The ad has become legendary in Southern political circles as the most direct appeal to white backlash in modern American politics. The ad played upon white voters’ ideas that affirmative action might lead to a job going to a less-qualified candidate (”Gantt supports Ted Kennedy’s racial quota law, that makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications.”).

Helms opposed an amendment offering War reparations to Japanese-Americans who had been interned during World War II.
Helms was a strong supporter of drug prohibition, and opposed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld’s nomination as Ambassador to Mexico because Weld supported medical marijuana. Helms proposed several bills as part of the war on drugs.

Helms once claimed that “The New York Times and Washington Post are both infested with homosexuals themselves. Just about every person down there is a homosexual or lesbian.”

yes we can