The Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. conducts and funds archive
activism--identifying, conserving and interpreting the LGBT historical
record.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Mattachine Society of Washington (MSDC) files lawsuit for release of Eisenhower's executive order to terminate gay federal employees
April 27, 2016, the Mattachine Society of Washington, DC (MSDC) filed a lawsuit seeking (FOIA) release of all documents concerning President Dwight Eisenhower's executive order naming "sexual perversion" as a cause for termination of federal employment.
(Thanks to pro bono counsel from McDermott, Will & Emery!)
It is estimated that 7,000 to 10,000 federal employees lost their jobs to this order in the 1950's alone.
Read the original article at the MSDC website.
(Thanks to pro bono counsel from McDermott, Will & Emery!)
The original FOIA request was filed on January 25, 2013. Communications between the DoJ and FBI have been delayed under the guise of "deliberative process privilege" for over three years.
According to nolo.com, average processing time for a "simple" FOIA request is a little over one month. More complex requests may take over 80 days. (How often do they take over three years?)
It is estimated that 7,000 to 10,000 federal employees lost their jobs to this order in the 1950's alone.
Read the original article at the MSDC website.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Largest Mass Shooting in US History
In the early hours of Sunday morning, June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire with an assault rifle and a handgun in Pulse, a popular Orlando gay club. This is the worst mass shooting in US history, leaving 49 dead, and another 53 wounded.
In a call to police, Mateen claimed allegiance to the Islamic state. Local and federal officials are labeling the incident as a terrorist attack. Any number of other venues could have provided a larger pool of victims to produce mere terror. The fact that he chose a gay club suggests that anti-gay hate was as much or more of Mateen's motivation than mere terrorism.
Viewing this tragedy as a mere terrorist attack obscures the fact that it was a large scale hate crime.
The shooter's father recounted that in a recent visit, his son had been particularly enraged at the sight of two men kissing.
According to the FBI, there is no indication at this point that the attack was instigated by known terrorist groups. Mateen was on an FBI watch list and had been investigated, even interviewed by the FBI in the past. He had claimed connections with Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, but these were unsubstantiated.
He was also on record as saying he 'hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so that he could martyr himself.'
Perhaps we should see the gunman as one of the victims. Fundamentalism (in this case Islamic) begat extremism. Extremism begat hatred. Hatred begat violence. Fundamentalist thought, in a variety of flavors, is a plague, possibly one of the most dangerous pandemics sweeping the globe today.
In a call to police, Mateen claimed allegiance to the Islamic state. Local and federal officials are labeling the incident as a terrorist attack. Any number of other venues could have provided a larger pool of victims to produce mere terror. The fact that he chose a gay club suggests that anti-gay hate was as much or more of Mateen's motivation than mere terrorism.
Viewing this tragedy as a mere terrorist attack obscures the fact that it was a large scale hate crime.
The shooter's father recounted that in a recent visit, his son had been particularly enraged at the sight of two men kissing.
According to the FBI, there is no indication at this point that the attack was instigated by known terrorist groups. Mateen was on an FBI watch list and had been investigated, even interviewed by the FBI in the past. He had claimed connections with Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, but these were unsubstantiated.
He was also on record as saying he 'hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so that he could martyr himself.'
Perhaps we should see the gunman as one of the victims. Fundamentalism (in this case Islamic) begat extremism. Extremism begat hatred. Hatred begat violence. Fundamentalist thought, in a variety of flavors, is a plague, possibly one of the most dangerous pandemics sweeping the globe today.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Joey Jordan Makes It Better
Joey Jordan opened a GoFundMe page to raise money to mount a legal battle to free his 17 year old cousin Sarah from a gay conversion camp in east Texas.
After Sarah and her girlfriend went to the prom together, Sarah's parents snatched her up and locked her away to be held for a year in isolation from her previous world in a Christian "boarding" facility where counselors would pray the gay away with their own brand of "reparative" therapy.
Happy to report, earlier today, Sarah was released. Details aren't known, so she might not be completely out of the woods, but it seems to be a promising improvement.
After Sarah and her girlfriend went to the prom together, Sarah's parents snatched her up and locked her away to be held for a year in isolation from her previous world in a Christian "boarding" facility where counselors would pray the gay away with their own brand of "reparative" therapy.
Happy to report, earlier today, Sarah was released. Details aren't known, so she might not be completely out of the woods, but it seems to be a promising improvement.
The Sordid Timeline of NDAA 2017 in the House
May 18, 2016
Republicans inserted a late night revision of the NDAA, reversing Obama's executive order which bans discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.
May 19, 2017
Democrats introduce the Mahoney amendment to ban federal funding for contractors that discriminate against LGBT Americans. (This would leave it anti-discrimination.)
Voting begins.
The voting clock reaches 0:00 with the tally at 217 to 206 (passing the discrimination ban).
Whispered instructions from off stage held voting open.
(By the Republicans' own rules, the presiding officer could ask if any members wished to change their votes. If so, the voting machines would be shut down, andwaffling members would go to the front of the chamber to switch their votes. That didn't happen.)
The tally begins to shift, reflecting secretly changing votes.
Democrats cry out "Shame!"
The tally reaches 213 to 212, voting is immediately shut down, leaving legally protected discrimination.
You can read more in The Washington Post.
Republicans inserted a late night revision of the NDAA, reversing Obama's executive order which bans discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.
May 19, 2017
Democrats introduce the Mahoney amendment to ban federal funding for contractors that discriminate against LGBT Americans. (This would leave it anti-discrimination.)
Voting begins.
The voting clock reaches 0:00 with the tally at 217 to 206 (passing the discrimination ban).
Whispered instructions from off stage held voting open.
(By the Republicans' own rules, the presiding officer could ask if any members wished to change their votes. If so, the voting machines would be shut down, and
The tally begins to shift, reflecting secretly changing votes.
Democrats cry out "Shame!"
The tally reaches 213 to 212, voting is immediately shut down, leaving legally protected discrimination.
You can read more in The Washington Post.
James Dobson's Expository Wisdom
James Dobson has wielded his razor-sharp hermeneutical sword, slicing through the cultural void between Moses and us.
If The Wittenburg Door were still in print, this would surely have garnered a Green Weenie Award, possibly the coveted Theologian of the Year.
RightWingWatch has an article reporting this and a few other gems from an episode of Dobson's "Family Talk" radio show with Janet Porters of Faith 2 Action.
“It’s addressed directly to parents, I think. It’s Leviticus 19:29. Listen to this: ‘Do not degrade your daughters by making them a prostitute or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.’ That comes right to the heart of this. It sort of feels like that’s where we are. We’re taking our little, vulnerable kids and we’re saying in the name of political correctness, ‘Here are our children. Do with them what you want.’ And I’m here to say that I’m going to fight that as long as I have breath in my body.”Doesn't that put the whole transgender bathroom debate into perspective? If people are allowed to use their chosen toilets, our daughters will become prostitutes.
If The Wittenburg Door were still in print, this would surely have garnered a Green Weenie Award, possibly the coveted Theologian of the Year.
RightWingWatch has an article reporting this and a few other gems from an episode of Dobson's "Family Talk" radio show with Janet Porters of Faith 2 Action.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Honduran rights activist Rene Martinez murdered
in Honduras, LGBT rights activist Rene Martinez has been found dead, days after he was kidnapped outside his home.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/06/05/honduras-gay-rights-activist-kidnapped-and-murdered/
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/06/05/honduras-gay-rights-activist-kidnapped-and-murdered/
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