Group Presses Goverment to Address Gay Rights

A former US Ambassador, who is openly gay, has been appointed as an adviser to a new coalition of gay and straight human rights groups.

The Council for Global Equality is requesting government support in defending the rights of LGBT people worldwide.

As it is stated on the council’s website;

“The Project demands that those who represent our country - in Congress, in the White House, in US embassies and in US corporations around the world - use the diplomatic, political and economic leverage available to them to oppose human rights abuses that are regularly directed against individuals because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”

Ambassador Michael E Guest who is a retired ambassador to Romania, will take the lead after spending  over 26 years as a an activist, protesting against regulations that he considered as unfair to same-sex partners.

The openly gay 51-year-old, served as US Ambassador to Romania when President Bush took office, and was the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to an ambassadorial post.

He is now working as a paid consultant to the group, which is set to hold its first meeting in Washington DC on September 23rd.

Why The Religious Right Can’t Afford Not to Hate

In order to understand the coattail followers of Jerry Fawell including the American Family Association, Westboro (Fred Phelps), et. Al., and why they so vehemently hate and oppose the GLBT community, you first have to understand why Jerry Fawell was so anti-gay.

There was and is big money in being anti-gay. Jerry Fawell got his start as an Evangelical back when the South, including Fawell’s town of Lynchburg, VA (just look at the name) was still divided by legal segregation. He started his bible beating days preaching about how God did not want white and black people to cohabitate. This man used the bible to preach why our nation should stay segregated. He was using the bible to spread his brand of bigotry and hate. Being in the South, he gained recognition and of course wealth with his campaign against the government and desegregation.

When the civil rights movement finally began to see fruition, and racism was no longer spoken about so freely. After black people were given the right to attend schools, public restaurants and actually given the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, the money Jerry Fawell was receiving started to drop off. Racism was still alive and well in the South, but it was no longer good to publicly admit racism, so Jerry Fawell needed another way to get the financial support he wasn’t receiving based on racial bias.

This is about the same time the gay rights movement was building up steam…..and there it was, a sign from God. This is how Jerry Fawell would bring in millions upon millions of dollars, from those same bigots who were no longer visibly able to be racist. Jerry Fawell sent out tens of thousands of letters pleading with people to send money to help him rid the world of the abominable sin of homosexuality. He scared people into believing there was a “Gay Agenda” which included recruitment of all the little Johnnies and Susies in the world. He preyed upon the uneducated and the really uneducated that literally “bought in” to his way of thinking. Jerry Fawell built an evangelical empire from fear and hate.

This is another reason why the GLBT community cannot rest on its laurels. We need to be as proactive as possible, in an effort to stop being solely on the defensive and always reactive. Let’s stand together, and make the world better, one person at a time.

Bishop on Gay Partners: Love is Love

The Archbishop of Canterbury has stated he does not believe homosexuality and gay relationships are sinful. It has been reported, Dr. Rowan Williams said in private correspondence that gay relationships could “reflect the love of God” in the same way traditional marriages do as long they were lasting and faithful.

The Archbishop exchanged letters with Deborah Pitt, a psychiatrist and evangelical Christian living in his former archdiocese in south Wales.

Media reports quoted one letter saying: “I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness.”

The letters, written in 2000 and 2001 before he became Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, reaffirmed his liberal stance towards the subject of gay relationships.

His letters to Dr. Pitt expressed his belief the Bible describes promiscuity as sinful and not people who are homosexual by nature.

He said as a theologian rather than a church leader he was more liberal on the subject, despite recommitting the Anglican Communion to its position that homosexual practice was not compatible with scripture at the recent Lambeth Conference.

Dr. Williams also expressed his wish the Church would gradually become accepting towards homosexuality.

He said: “The Church has shifted its stance on several matters - notably the rightness of lending money at interest and the moral admissibility of contraception, so I am bound to ask if this is another such issue.

“If I am really seriously wrong on this, I can only pray to be shown the truth.”

Swedish Teacher’s Union Supports GLBT Rights

“If we want education to be the main vector to achieve equal rights and combat discrimination, teachers themselves must first be set free,” said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. He was speaking in Stockholm on 1 August at a seminar on “gay rights in education” organized by the Swedish teachers’ union Lärarförbundet.

Dutch Minister of Education Ronald Plasterk at the Amsterdam Gay Pride on 2 Aug.

Van Leeuwen said that gay and lesbian teachers are not inclined to be open about their sexual orientation as long as they run the risk of being discriminated against.

Even in countries with anti-discrimination legislation in force, teachers’ organisations report frequent violations of the human rights and labour standards of gay and lesbian members, ranging from psychological pressure, harassment and stigmatisation to arbitrary dismissals.

Van Leeuwen also said that the achievement of GLBT rights worldwide will largely depend on achieving democracy around the planet, and on our ability to put an end to poverty and to realize education for all.

The seminar was held on the occasion of “Europride,” an annual event organised in various European capitals to celebrate diversity, promote GLBT rights and campaign against homophobia. Teachers’ organisations played their part in several “gay parades” on 2 August.

Get more at ei-ie.org.

Right Says Bible Not Only Proof Gay Marriage “Harmful” to Kids

“Using data from 35 countries, that in those countries where gay marriage is accepted, commitment to marriage and family as the proper context for raising children is significantly weaker than in those countries where only traditional marriage is allowed.”

“Marriage was a way that societies consistently elevated the role of women and protected the rearing of children.”

“Traditional marriage between a man and a woman, is a universal concept or rule. Virtually all cultures and societies have had this concept of marriage, and the concept has almost invariably involved the care of children by their biological parents.”

“Compared to all other family forms, families headed by married, biological parents are best for children.” ” Everything from educational outcomes to mental health to cognitive development to social stability to avoidance of risky social and sexual behaviors to educational and employment success is positively affected by a child living with his or her own mother and father.” “Another leading family expert put it this way, “research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage.” “Thus, it is not simply the presence of two parents, as some have assumed, but the presence of two biological parents that seems to support children’s development.”

These are just a few passages from a letter written by Nicholas P. Miller, Esq. on Marriage, entitled; “It’s about the Kids, Stupid”. Find out what else is being said at religiousliberty.tv.

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