The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Longtime-ally and NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond has thrown his support to the National Equality March. Via press release (h/t, JMG):
Most notably, recent endorsements for the NEM have come from allies representing organizations not usually thought of as part of the immediate LGBT community. US Representative, Danny K. Davis, of Chicago, Illinois; Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW); and NAACP Board Chairman, Julian Bond, have all recently voiced their support for the NEM. "GLBT rights are civil rights; there are no 'special rights' in America. Everyone has rights - or should have - and I am happy to join in this battle for justice and fairness," explains Bond. Other notable endorsements include Susan Stryker, Associate Professor of Gender Studies at Indiana University and author of “Transgender History”; and the Tony Award-winning production of Broadway’s Hair, which will be going dark for the weekend of the NEM in order to attend the event.
Also giving the thumbs up is the coalition of Metropolitan Community Churches. Read the remarks of the Reverend Nancy L. Wilson below the fold.
NOTE FROM PAM: Lieutenant Dan Choi, the active duty Infantry officer, Iraq vet, and Arabic speaker who came out and was sent on the discharge path because of DADT -- under Commander in Chief President Barack Obama -- has penned a piece for the Blend about his view that a march on Washington is essential.
On Thursday, at Netroots Nation, former President Bill Clinton made it plain. The gay community did not deliver the political support in 1993 to prevent “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and DOMA. I personally take that as a challenge. I am marching on Washington.
I recognize that my perspective is different from others. I am new to the gay rights movement. It was less than two years ago that I fell in love and realized the true cost of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy – that my family was not really part of the Army family I had come to believe in. And it was only a few months ago that I came out publicly and, much to my surprise, found myself considered a “gay activist.”
And my experience working against Prop 8 in my home state of California was eye-opening for me. It turns out there are many others like me, young LGBT people who have been galvanized by the visible injustice of DADT, Prop 8, and DOMA. We are horrified, we are electrified, we are ready and eager to enlist in this fight – but like any new recruits, we need to be trained, and we need to be mobilized.
The Equality March is absolutely essential to me for two reasons.
First, because, for so many of us, this is our first time raising our voices. We need to stand together, in our nation’s capital, and claim our place as part of this magnificent national movement, at exactly this moment. More experienced activists and leaders need to mobilize, motivate, and train the less experienced – we all have to feel in their bones how critical this work is. And we need to come together as a community, so that when we go back to our cities, suburbs, and small towns, we remain part of the larger effort that spans the country.
Training is critical, and Equality Across America is committed to using this valuable time to provide information, workshops, and networking so that those who attend will go home ready to make things happen in their communities and states.
Second, the Senate hearings on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” convene in October. For LGBT veterans, NOW is the time to be visible for those who are invisible, to be heard while others must stay silent. This is a “mandatory formation” for all vets who gave up their service because they could no longer live a lie, or who were hounded out because of who they loved, and for those who support them.
I understand why veterans of the LGBT rights movement feel that we don’t need a national march. The concern that this will divert effort from other important work – passing marriage equality at the statehouses, for one.
But I disagree with the notion that making the trek to DC will take away from our other efforts. In fact, it will focus and re-energize the work we will do when we get home.
2009 can be a milestone, a tipping point. This is the year when we step up to our full citizenship as Americans: marrying and raising families, serving in our military. Join us in Washington on October 11 to tell the whole nation.
I don't know what to think about this article in the Washington Blade, "Joint statement expected for March on Washington: National gay groups said to be ‘very helpful’ with event." It's an interview with activist Cleve Jones, who announced plans for a march in the nation's capital on October 11 during an appearance at Utah Pride in June.
In the piece, Jones makes a declaration that national LGBT organizations, specifically the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force -- are expected this week to release a joint statement in support of the March.
Jones, a protégé of gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, disclosed the information when asked how helpful national LGBT groups have been in making preparations for the march.
“At this point, I would say very helpful, and I think you’ll hear a statement from the organizations next week,” he said.
But the problem is, only a couple of sentences later, one org, HRC, has no comment and the NGLTF's Inga Sarda-Sorensen outright denies any joint statement is being prepped, saying she's "unclear as to what Cleve was referring in his interview."
There are some critical ducks not in a row here, and based on the reporting as it stands, it looks like the support of the march is clearly not solid, at least publicly. I don't know if this is some sort of trial balloon or what.
I guess this isn't surprising since there is a real divide out there about the utility of holding the march -- not because there isn't enthusiasm, but because in a time of financial crunches for non-profit organizations and average people out there, it's not clear whether this is the best way to spend limited dollars. And that point is underscored when we have state ballot initiatives that need resources to battle back well-financed, motivated fundie organizations.
However, it's not a discussion of whether there will be a march -- it's going to happen and how does the community deal with it -- do you jump onboard to ensure its success (or from the other POV, prevent a public bellyflop) during a time where visibility matters? The point of contention is whether it's the most effective visibility -- coverage by the MSM of a large throng of LGBTs, or people meeting one-on-one with their elected officials who may be on the fence on critical legislation?
Of course the answer is both, but I'll stick my neck out here and make the call that many if not most of the people who show up for the march will not turn up in the same numbers to lobby their House and Senate pols, or members of their state legislatures when they have an opportunity to do so. Many people who like the excitement of the socializing function that a march or protest will provide, but are not at all interested in the drudgery of grassroots and personal political activism. If the march can convince and convert some of these people to realize their power is in their visibility in both environments, then that is the real mark of success.
Surf over to Joe's to learn more about the planned LGBT March on Washington -- activist Cleve Jones spoke to him and confirmed that he does indeed have a permit to hold the event on the West Lawn of the Capitol (site of the inauguration).
I asked Jones if he could provide a physical copy of the permit. He explained, "You put in your application, they approve it and time-stamp it, and that's all they give you for weeks. The actual paperwork usually isn't issued until ten days before or so." Jones claims that two of the other events reportedly scheduled to occur on the planned weekend will not, in fact, take place. (I've been unable to find any internet mention of the "Million Man March For God", one of the three events listed in the above-linked post.) The third scheduled event, an annual breast cancer awareness rally, is run by a group that Jones said has worked side-by-side with him many times in previous years when their events coincided with National Mall displays by the NAMES Project. He expects friendly cooperation from them.
As to the cost of putting on the weekend, Jones stresses that the MOW will be a stripped down, no frills, purely activism-focused event. "This will not be a three day multi-media spectacular" he said. "Most of the hundreds of protests I've organized cost nothing. We will have a minimal stage, a sound system, and enough port-a-potties for the crowd. That's it. We won't be flying in celebrities and putting them up in fancy hotels. This will be a two hour march, then a two hour rally, and then sending everybody home to their congressional districts to organize for 2010." Jones said that in addition to a Sunday rally on the West Lawn, he is hoping to put together a Saturday night candlelight HIV/AIDS vigil at the Lincoln Memorial, but won't have confirmation of that item for a few days.
So the Q of the Day - does the anger over the administration's DOMA brief affect your view of the march or not? Jones said "most people on the west coast will be able to come to this march for less than $700."
My two cents -- based on the above description, I'm still not sure it's worth the expense or time when we've got efforts going on at the state level that need attention now. Can you imagine a check for $700 and how that could help a small state organization? That said, if the White House remains silent or affirms that ugly DOMA brief (so far, no comment has been issued), the anger will need to be discharged in some kind of productive way. The question is whether this march is the event if there are no elected officials there to meet with.
Fellow North Carolinian Matt Hill Comer, the editor of QNotes, has posted "Five Effective Alternatives to a March on Washington" over at InterstateQ. It's worth the click-over; I've excerpted the alternatives here.
[W]hile there have been ideas for better uses of time and energy, what we haven’t seen as much are constructive alternatives to the march: ideas to turn whatever passion there is for a national march into real, change-inspiring, on-the-ground, long-lasting action. My five suggestions aren't anywhere near exhaustive, complete or perfect, but, at the least, it is a start.
Funding locally [March organizer Cleve] Jones told the Blade that expects his march to cost less than $100,000. He told the paper that $100,000 “is not much money for us to raise.” If he can get access to that kind of cash so quickly, then aren’t there better ways to put it to use? Of course, there are.
Imagine if Jones and his fellow activist raised the dough and granted it out to five handpicked projects from highly targeted states. These grant-funded, volunteer-led and youth-empowering projects would receive $20,000 each.
Among the states chosen could be Arizona (the state that defeated one amendment, and got completely passed over by California and lost its second amendment battle) or Maine (which will face an anti-gay marriage referendum this year) or New York (which is facing a tough uphill battle for marriage) or North Carolina (still fighting for basic employment protections, safe schools protections and hate crimes) or any of an innumerable other states where local grassroots activism will make more difference than a national march ever could.
I think the results would be astounding. I think we’d see other organizations rally to the cause of these grant-funded projects. And, I think we’d see positive, progressive change.
Acting locally An individual traveling to Washington, D.C., would spend at least $500 or more getting there, staying there, eating there and leaving there. Some, like those living west of the Mississippi, could end up spending close to $1,000 or more. Imagine five organizers of a grassroots group spending that kind of cash traveling to D.C. just to feel empowered. What could they accomplish by each putting $500 in a pot toward funds for an effective outreach, direct action or other local political campaign. When we’re talking about cities the size of one million or less, $25,000 can make a huge impact.
Lobbying locally One of the biggest holes on Jones’ march idea is that it will take place during a congressional vacation. None of our nation’s leaders, save possibly the president, will be in Washington, D.C., to see the march. And, even if they were in D.C. at the time they probably wouldn’t care. Marches on Washington, D.C., come and go about every week. Most marches, if not close to all of them, happen without pomp or circumstance, without media coverage or serious political consideration.
Jones says his march will be create a national movement. The Blade reports:
Jones said he envisions the march starting as grassroots activity in all 435 congressional districts. He said lobbying would “begin immediately” and organizers would identify new leaders in each of these districts. “Then we want to come to Washington, we want to march and make it clear to the president that we expect more - to make it clear to the Democratic leadership that we expect more,” he said. Jones said he’s not looking for sheer numbers in event participants, but instead is hoping for participants from all 435 congressional districts. After the march, Jones said participants would return home “and get to work and build their army of precinct walkers, canvassers, [and] phone bankers.”
People will travel to D.C. to be inspired and empowered and return home to work locally? That’s all that wad of cash is going to buy? Jones could bypass the expense of his donors and the march participants by taking his empowerment approach down to a local level: Partnering with statewide equality groups, Jones could spend half as much money by holding trainings over the internet and then dispatch local grassroots activists to lobby for the issues that impact them locally and statewide.
This discussion has come up before, but it's hitting the news wires again as longtime LGBT rights activist Cleve Jones announced again that there are plans for a march on October 11 to demand that Congress address equal rights for LGBTs.
Cleve Jones said the march planned for Oct. 11 will coincide with National Coming Out Day and launch a new chapter in the gay rights movement. He made the announcement during a rally at the annual Utah Pride Festival.
"We seek nothing more and nothing less than equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states," Jones said.
He stirred up a crowd of thousands just blocks from the Salt Lake City headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, part of a conservative coalition that worked last fall to pass California's Proposition 8, which overturned a court ruling legalizing gay marriage.
"I've got a message for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," Jones shouted. "I've got two words from California ... I've got two words for the prophet ... Thank you. Thank you for uniting us. Thank you for galvanizing us."
Not stated in this article is the fact that on October 11, Congress is in recess, and so no one who goes to Washington would be able to speak with their elected officials. This is asinine. If showing our numbers is to represent power, it should be paired with direct action.
It is not the time for a march, IMHO. People who would scrape up the time, energy and enthusiasm to get to DC to march should at the very least be able have the opportunity to learn how to lobby elected senators and reps, since we all know people love to turn out to demonstrate en masse, but rarely show up to speak with lawmakers with the same enthusiasm. Also, direct contact with lawmakers is something the right wing far surpasses us at in terms of effectiveness -- this has to be the goal of any effort of the scope of a national march. Give people tools they can use back home at the state level, not just provide an offline social networking opportunity to hear feel-good speeches in the equivalent of an echo chamber. Stonewall 2.0 grassroots efforts like the initial Join the Impact rallies showed us that we have to take advantage of online direct action to spur targeted offline action. And it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.
A march will cost and arm and a leg, and require foot soldiers to negotiate space, hotels, all sorts of logistical nightmares in such a short time frame. Wouldn't you rather see resources to put people on the ground in Maine, or New York, or Washington state, or any other place where there are opportunities to stop anti-gay efforts and promote equality gains? Our movement is already stretched thin; there are a lot of great minds and dedicated people ready to work hard, but we have actions going on all around the country that need our support, and the economy presents us with difficult choices about how to help best. The last thing we need is an ill-timed effort to drain time and attention from other worthy efforts. But that's just my two cents (whatever that's worth). What is yours? Make the case for the march - is this about mobilizing those who didn't have the opportunity to march last time around? A reboot of the movement?
Is a march on Washington the best use of organizing power and LGBT money, at this point and time, for the movement?
NOTE FROM PAM: Journalist Karen Ocamb discusses a question that has been bouncing about for a while -- do we need another March on Washington for LGBT rights? Is this the best way to show the President our seriousness about obtaining full civil rights under the law for LGBTs? Karen offers her view that this isn't what is needed; I'll share my opinion below the fold. The fact is we need foot soldiers in a lot of states, such as New York and Washington state.
Foot Soldiers Needed in California and Maine, Not Washington
by Karen Ocamb
With all due respect to Cleve Jones and David Mixner, who I've known and covered for many years, I think we seriously need to question the wisdom of convening a march on Washington this October.
Yes, LGBT people are angry and disappointed that President Barack Obama hasn't lived up to his promises and our expectations - something David knows about intimately, having been failed by his one-time friend Bill Clinton. Cleve, too, knows deeply about government scorn and neglect, having created the profound remembrance of those we lost as a result - the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
And I understand the call for a march. I am among Obama's critics - I am stunned that he has so flagrantly forgotten, despite being a constitutional scholar, that equality is the first core founding principle of this country, and as leaders in the civil rights movement so aptly pointed out - "justice delayed is justice denied."
That Obama is still allowing the military to kick out qualified gays who are willing to die for this country - at a time when we are fighting two wars and may be called on elsewhere in the world - is the pinnacle of absurdity. Congress, too, should be ashamed for not repealing the ridiculous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.
All that said, here are five questions about the wisdom of holding a march this October 10-12:
1. If the point is to demand equal rights from Obama and Congress, wouldn't it be better to hold the march when they're in town and not over the Columbus Day holiday? Who's making the decision that this is what we all need to do - without any prior discussion from the "community" that's supposed to attend?
2. Given the four month-deadline and the economic downturn - and no matter how bare-bones the production - who's paying for the stage, the equipment, the permits, the hotel-set asides, etc - all the vendors who will not make a contribution to the cause, will not defer payment or volunteer?
3. Given that Maine is voting to repeal their marriage equality in November - shouldn't the LGBT nation's eyes be turned towards Maine? If they lose, we could have a domino effect in the Northeast and in California in 2010. There's also the effort to re-elect New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine - for without him, the effort to secure marriage equality there will suffer a tremendous setback.
4. The ballot language for the 2010 initiative to repeal Prop 8 is due in September. Though outreach efforts are already underway, the filing date is a perfect time to announce a massive grassroots field and fundraising effort - considering that California is huge (one-eighth of all US residents lives here) and there would be only 14 months from that date to change enough hearts and minds to win in November. Why take people away from the 2010 effort for a three-day feel-good trip to Washington that few can afford to make?
5. The aforementioned economic downtown is no joke. California is $24 billion in the red; on Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced $2.8 billion in cuts - with threats to shut down both the state's Healthy Family Program a health insurance program for over 900,000 children and Cal-Works, the state welfare program that gives the poor temporary financial assistance and provides the severely disabled with a caregiver. The state and local AIDS agencies are also losing considerable funding. "Government doesn't provide services to rich people," says Mike Genest, the state's finance director. So folks in California are going to be asked to help out - as well as being asked for money for gubernatorial candidates and the ballot initiative, to name just a few. Isn't that money better spent here than on a march on Washington that may not yield any tangible results?
Why I support the March on Washington
Fellow North Carolinian Matt Hill Comer, the editor of QNotes, has posted "
