GLAA Forum

Sexist double standards do not require wolf-whistles

(Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Photo by Associated Press)

WaPo's Jonathan Capehart posted an item on Thursday titled, "Obama was right about Kamala Harris":

President Obama prides himself on telling the truth. And when he reportedly said that California Attorney General Kamala Harris is “by far, the best looking attorney general,” he spoke the God’s honest truth. But that wasn’t the only thing he said about the talented attorney with a national future. In fact, it was the last part of what he said.

“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough,” Obama said at a fundraiser this morning in Atherton, Calif. “She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general.” The president’s compliment was greeted with laughter as he added, “It’s true! C’mon.” Yep, all true.

What’s also true is that Obama and Harris are longtime friends.

I hate to disagree with Jonathan, but the feminists who called out President Obama for his objectifying (though politely worded and not crude) comment about CA AG Kamala Harris's looks have a point. They acknowledged his pro-women policies. They were not calling him the enemy. But it's just the case that men are not commonly objectified in a similar fashion. In Ft. Worth in his last public speech, JFK noted good-naturedly the attention his wife Jackie was getting, and quipped, "Nobody wonders what Lyndon and I wear."

Can't we acknowledge the double standards at play in these situations without being accused of setting the place on fire? Hillary Clinton has had to put up with endless discussions of her hair and clothes in a way that her male counterparts do not. Come on, folks. It won't kill us to reflect on this.

Now that that's taken care of, when is Hillary going to get her pre-campaign makeover? Will she do Botox? What about those frumpy jackets? And that hair-- what was she thinking?

BTW, I loved the response to this controversy by my friend Walter: "The President overlooked Beau Biden."

Also: in addition to having a Pulitzer Prize to his credit, Jonathan Capehart is completely adorable and is always immaculately dressed. And Chris Christie should apply for his own zip code. And ....

Pam Spaulding tweets:

‏@pamspaulding
Three Cheers For Feminist Bloggers Who Called Out Obama’s Objectifying Comment About Female Politician | Mediaite http://bit.ly/XuXV10

Kid President meets POTUS

Magic Johnson, supportive dad

Magic Johnson on Giving EJ 'The Talk'

The decency of this beloved sports figure cannot surprise anyone familiar with him; but it sure is great to watch. He loves his son. Simple as that.

Kobe Bryant praises Magic for supporting his son.

Fischer: Ben Carson is the victim of gay activists' "demonic hatred"

According to Bryan Fischer, Ben Carson, who thinks the world is six thousand years old, was totall blown away by the "demonic hatred" that homosexuals have for Judeo Christian traditions. Never mind that many gay people are themselves Jews and Christians.

Equality in lights

The message "Marriage Equality Now" was projected last night on the front of the Supreme Court of the United States.

(Photo credit: @rachnyctalk)

March 26 - United for Marriage rally

The rally for marriage equality at the Supreme Court is set for 8:30 am on Tuesday, March 26 at First and East Capitol Streets. Click here to sign up.

All in the (Roberts) Family

The Contributor reports:

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will have some family cheering him on during Tuesday's landmark Supreme Court case on gay marriage. Jean Podrasky, a lesbian and Roberts' first cousin, will sit in a section of the courtroom reserved for relatives along with her partner as Roberts and his court examine the legality of California's Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in the state.

“I feel confident that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality under the law,” Podrasky wrote in a column for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Gov. Christie does not believe in "ex-gay" therapy

Good news from the governor of New Jersey.

Obama cheered by Israelis for defense of 2-state solution

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

President Obama wins applause from an Israeli audience as he points out a two-state solution is essential to Israel's future as a Jewish democracy. And he urges Israelis to organize a grassroots peace movement.

And bravo to the President for brokering today's reconciliation between Israel and Turkey, including a Netanyahu apology for the fatal ship raid in 2010.

Bill Gates, former Boy Scout: end the gay ban "because it's 2013"

One of the world's most successful entrepreneurs succinctly explains why the Boy Scouts should end its ban against gay scouts and scoutmasters. (I'd show my appreciation by apologizing for having switched to Apple products a year and a half ago, but I put up with Microsoft operating systems for three decades, and I'm sorry, but that's long enough.)

Bruni to RCC: 'Stop talking so much about sex'

Frank Bruni's latest column in NYT looks at one of the challenges Pope Francis faces:

It’s time for the church to stop talking so much about sex. It’s the perfect time, in fact.

It’s on matters of sexual morality that the church has lost much of its authority. And it’s on matters of sexual morality that it largely wastes its breath. By insisting on mandatory celibacy for a priesthood winnowed and sometimes warped by that, by opposing the use of contraceptives for birth control, by casting judgment on homosexuals and by decrying divorce while running something of an annulment mill, the church’s leaders have enraged and alienated Catholics whose common sense and whose experience of the real world tell them that none of that is wise, kind or necessary.

The church’s leaders have also set themselves up to be dismissed as hypocrites, unable to uphold the very virtues they promulgate.

'Don't Give Rob Portman a Free Pass'

Dan Treadway at HuffPost Gay Voices writes about what is unsatisfactory in Sen. Rob Portman's (R-OH) turn in support of marriage equality two years after his gay son came out to him.

After reading a lot of angry comments on Facebook, I posted the following:

We don't need to give Portman a "free pass" in order to give him due credit for moving in the right direction. If we jump down this guy's throat because he still has a distance to travel, we discourage others from taking their first step. Let's treat this as a good first step and encourage more steps in the right direction, not shut the conversation down with name-calling. Come on, folks--activism is not therapy.

Adam Lanza, 5 minutes, 152 bullets, 26 people

Rachel Maddow shares new information reported by the Hartford Courant on Newtown, CT mass murderer Adam Lanza before tearing into Texas Senator Ted Cruz for his patronizing treatment of California Senator Dianne Feinstein. I confess I have trouble watching Rachel's show because she persists in repeating every important point three times, and it drives me up the wall; but here she shines.

CPAC Participant Defends Slavery At Minority Outreach Panel: It Gave ‘Food And Shelter’ To Blacks

Scott Keyes and Zack Beauchamp at ThinkProgress report:

A panel at the Conservative Political Action Committee on Republican minority outreach exploded into controversy on Friday afternoon, after an audience member defended slavery as good for African-Americans.

The exchange occurred after an audience member from North Carolina, 30-year-old Scott Terry, asked whether Republicans could endorse races remaining separate but equal. After the presenter, K. Carl Smith of Frederick Douglass Republicans, answered by referencing a letter by Frederick Douglass forgiving his former master, the audience member said “For what? For feeding him and housing him?” Several people in the audience cheered and applauded Terry’s outburst.

Simply gobsmacking.

A father's note to his gay son

(Hat tip: Brandon Fitzgerald)

Dianne Feinstein smacks down Ted Cruz

Memo to Republicans: You might want to think twice before challenging Sen. Feinstein on the subject of guns. She will be happy to tell you about November 28, 1978, when she knelt over the body of Supervisor Harvey Milk, and, feeling for a pulse, found bullet holes.

Pope Francis: First from South America, first Jesuit, same right-wing views

After the white smoke went up in Vatican City and the announcement was made that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was the new pope and had taken the name Francis, the lack of objectivity in much of American media was illustrated when an MSNBC anchor gushed to general agreement, "This is a moment of absolute celebration." A journalist friend asked me, "So when do we suppose the media will get over the euphoria over the election of this new pope long enough to actually examine his record?" I replied, "Some won't. I mean, critical inquiry would offend the faithful and provoke the wrath of Bill Donahue of the Catholic League."

More sober reporters dug up the following 2010 statement made by Bergoglio during his outspoken fight against Argentina's push for marriage equality:

Let's not be naive: This is not a simple political fight; it is a destructive proposal to God's plan. This is not a mere legislative proposal (that's just it's form), but a move by the father of lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God ... Let's look to St. Joseph, Mary, and the Child to ask fervently that they defend the Argentine family in this moment ... May they support, defend, and accompany us in this war of God.

No white smoke just yet

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church owns a gay sauna, yards from a certain cardinal's front door. I know, he thought it was a chapel.

About that "War on Christianity"

Coates on 'The Good, Racist People'

An excellent guest commentary in NYT by Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic. Here's an excerpt:

New York is a city, like most in America, that bears the scars of redlining, blockbusting and urban renewal. The ghost of those policies haunts us in a wealth gap between blacks and whites that has actually gotten worse over the past 20 years.

But much worse, it haunts black people with a kind of invisible violence that is given tell only when the victim happens to be an Oscar winner. The promise of America is that those who play by the rules, who observe the norms of the “middle class,” will be treated as such. But this injunction is only half-enforced when it comes to black people, in large part because we were never meant to be part of the American story. Forest Whitaker fits that bill, and he was addressed as such.

I am trying to imagine a white president forced to show his papers at a national news conference, and coming up blank. I am trying to a imagine a prominent white Harvard professor arrested for breaking into his own home, and coming up with nothing. I am trying to see Sean Penn or Nicolas Cage being frisked at an upscale deli, and I find myself laughing in the dark. It is worth considering the messaging here. It says to black kids: “Don’t leave home. They don’t want you around.” It is messaging propagated by moral people.

(Photo of Ta-Nehisi Coates by Liz Lynch)

Tatchell: "Why not economic democracy too?"

The man who twice attempted a citizen's arrest of Robert Mugabe takes on Prime Minister Cameron's austerity policies and invokes the dreaded name of John Maynard Keynes. Peter Tatchell proposes his own alternatives to cutting the British welfare state and says, "The poor in our society are bearing the brunt of an economic crisis that they did not create." Listening to his engaging presentation makes me sorry he isn't in the House of Commons. (Note: Peter's voices comes through much more clearly than the introducer's.)

"We found our son in the subway"

On the NYT Opinionator blog, a moving story about how a newborn baby abandoned in the New York Subway became the son of a gay couple after one of them found him there.

Americans are done with DOMA

Jonathan Capehart at WaPo reports on the latest polls.

Dr. Michael Brown says anti-gay fight must continue though doomed

David Pakman interviews dead-end religious bully Dr. Michael Brown.

Not Chris Dorner

A droll response to police recklessness.

Media fawning over the Pope

(Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images)

Is it just me, or are you ready to throw up over the fawning treatment Benedict XVI is getting from the mainstream media? I heard an MSNBC reporter on Tuesday say something like, "How do we say goodbye to this leader we admire so much?" The initial NYT story to which I linked yesterday whitewashed the Pontiff's role in covering up decades of child rapes by priests, which btw most news outlets cannot bring themselves to call rapes. Then there are the commentators who portray Ratzinger as a reformer, like the one who described his punishment of Father Maciel of the Legion of Christ (who was a close friend of JPII) as severe. Really? Making Maciel retire to prayer and penitence is a severe punishment? Papist, please. (That's papist, not rapist. But whatever.)

Harry Jackson's fact-free musings on the Boy Scouts

Bishop Harry "Daddy Bear" Jackson does what he is best at, which is making stuff up.

Happy National Gay-Straight Alliance Day

Today, February 6, is National Gay-Straight Alliance Day. Stand up against bullying, and for every young person's right to a safe educational environment.

Happy birthday, Trayvon

Trayvon Martin would have been 18 today. Jonathan Capehart writes about the viciousness his death at the hands of George Zimmerman last year has provoked in some people.

As I have mentioned before, I am a thesis advisor for HS students in DC who are the same age as Trayvon was when he was killed. As I witness their energy and curiosity and passion and hopes, I keep thinking of him. And I think of the George Zimmermans of this country and say, You are going to lose, because the DNA of this country is with these kids, and you can never kill them all, and those you do cut down will remind those who are left to carry on of what is at stake and of the ancestors who are lifting them up. I normally include some curse words, but I am cleaning this up. The heartbreak at the center of this story is ultimately greater than the anger. But a bottomless pit of anger is there.

Obama: Boy Scouts Should Be Open to Gays

The President encourages BSA to go ahead and end its ban on gay participation. (Note: BSA's right so to discriminate was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, so this is a matter for the Boy Scouts to decide; the President is simply expressing his personal view.)

Meanwhile, former Senator Rick Santorum says, "Stop the War on Scouts." Dear Mr. Santorum, America is a republic. Having public disagreements is part of the deal. Expressing an opinion you find disagreeable does not constitute a war. Some of BSA's own sponsors and members are urging it to change its policy. That is a conversation, not a war. Please get a clue.

NIMBYs push liquor license moratorium for U Street corridor; YIMBYs respond

The Blade reports on the latest effort by anti-business neighborhood cranks to treat the burgeoning urban development in the District's U Street corridor as a bad thing. Our friend Joel Lawson comments on Facebook about the chief instigators: "Ramon and Elwyn, the same old movie just keeps playing."

The proposed moratorium would be suicidally stupid to impose on a flourishing neighborhood. It would hamstring businesses in the vibrant heart of our city and once again hold the majority hostage to a small and selfish minority who feel entitled to be treated like the only legitimate stakeholders and to turn an historic entertainment corridor into a quiet suburb. Hell no!

GLAA's "Agenda: 2013" discusses the liquor licensing issue further. Meanwhile, a group has emerged that says Yes In My Backyard. Welcome, YIMBYs!

America's first woman president

(Buzzfeed: "The Face You See Right Before Getting Slapped" - Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)

The Secretary of State was doing her job today at two hearings on Capitol Hill, but her masterful performance in the face of the most disgraceful demagogic attacks doubles as a brief for her candidacy in three years. Indeed, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today referred to her as President Clinton. Thank you, Hillary.

Joan Walsh reacts at Salon. The Atlantic includes these moments in its rundown of the House hearing:

3:42 PM: Clinton to Rep. Michael McCaul: "1.4 million cables come to us each year, all of them addressed to me."

4:48 PM: Rep. Ami Bera: "Secretary Clinton, can you tell me how long it takes to read 1.4 million cables?"

A powerful woman shows emotion

Watch More News Videos at ABC | Technology News | Celebrity News

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an indelible moment from today's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, describes comforting the families of the four Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya last September.

Video: Hillary Clinton smackdown of Republican senator over Benghazi attack

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) makes the mistake of hurling accusations at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at this morning's hearing on the Benghazi attack last September. He could hardly have played into her hands better if he had been a Democratic plant. Damn, she is good. Later (not in this clip), she took on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Delta Quadrant).

Sprigg: "homosexuals already have all the same civil rights as anyone else"

Peter Sprigg of Family Research Council repeats the lie that gay people already have equal rights. He reduces our relationships to "sexual behavior" in a way that straight couples' relationships never are. He is still trying to exploit the "ick factor." That tactic depends on a level of public ignorance about gay people that continues to dwindle. Soon voices like his will be little more than that of another eccentric on a soapbox in the park, whose main effect on passersby is to prompt the thought that more money should be spent on public health services.

The occasion for Sprigg's latest denunciation, of course, is President Obama's inaugural address and its prominent embrace of gay equality as part of the American story.

Message to Mr. Sprigg: We are winning, and you are losing. But we will remain vigilant, because the struggle is not over and you are not gone.

A problem for the National Rifle Association

A problem for the NRA: Some of its defenders are so unhinged that they look like they could be the next mass shooter. New slogan: "NRA -- they're all the rage." Below, conservative former congressman Joe Scarborough calls the NRA a fringe group and asks, "What's wrong with these people?"

Standing on Ceremony

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

My column this week is on the flap over the initial selection of anti-gay pastor Louie Giglio to give the inaugural benediction. Here's a portion:

When Think Progress unearthed evidence of Giglio's anti-gay history last week following his selection by Obama's inaugural committee, it took less than a day for Giglio to withdraw. I barely had time to sign a petition against him before he was gone. Thus, while it was hard to believe that Obama had needlessly offended a core constituency two inaugurals in a row, the incident demonstrated the influence of the Netroots, and how times have changed.

Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC observed that the Bible on which Obama will take his oath of office not only contains denunciations of homosexuality, but a long list of abominations for which the death penalty is divinely decreed. He also noted that no one follows all those commandments, otherwise they would forever be burning people at the stake.

So why don't we dispense with the religious trappings at inaugural ceremonies altogether? One answer might be that Obama, as he noted regarding marijuana legalization, has only so much political capital and is not about to spend it on this. He is already denounced as the Antichrist by the far-right fringe without having given any provocation.

To be able to forge sustainable progress, a leader must make political calculations. The job of LGBT activists is to change those calculations in our favor, not simply bang at the gates of power. We changed the calculations with this president. Good for us, and good for him.

Read the whole thing here.

More on those "radical homosexuals"

The above Youtube video featuring Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel is accompanied by a description that begins thus:

As Rhode Island liberals gear up again to attempt to force through same sex "marriage" in Rhode Island - the second most Catholic state in the country - please watch Part 1 and Part 2 of Stop Same Sex "Marriage" in Rhode Island to see the attack that same sex "marriage" is on God, on morality, on religious freedom, on the health of those who engage in homosexual behavior, on the the economy, and on population. And see evidence of how children are being indoctrinated in our public schools through radical homosexualist groups like GLSEN and by Dan Savage, the aggressively anti-Christian bigot and bully's "It Gets Better" campaign.

The promotion of the radical same sex agenda is part of an overall atheistic communistic attack on the United States. It was the communist dictator Joseph Stalin, who said....

Feel free to visit the Youtube page if you really want to see what Joseph Stalin, that great ally of the International Gay Conspiracy, had to say. But one old trope that Barber repeats here interests me: his reference to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) as "a radical homosexual indoctrination organization," which he slams for supporting the Day of Silence in which LGBT students and their non-gay allies show their opposition to bullying.

What's darkly amusing here (and I apologize for my choice of words to my friend, comedian Sampson McCormick, who is "darkly amusing" in an altogether positive context, and speaking of the altogether he's even done a gig at a nudist colony, but I digress) is that people like Matt Barber routinely use the phrase "radical homosexual" to mean, simply, a gay person with the slightest amount of self-respect. Everyone from the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival to Log Cabin Republicans, from Barney Frank to Andrew Sullivan, counts as a "radical homosexual."

The only way to be a non-radical homosexual is to be the most treacherous Uncle Tom, by which I don't mean Barney's long-running description of Log Cabin but the gay version of Samuel L. Jackson's character in Django Unchained. For example, if you're a closet case who overcompensates by touting reparative therapy and attacking gay couples as harbingers of the Apocalypse, you might avoid being tarred as a radical homosexual. But that is mainly because your anti-gay allies will pretend that you are straight.

Speaking of the Apocalypse, if gay folk are its harbingers, shouldn't the far-right loons welcome us? After all, the End Timers seem to crave the Apocalypse more than anything else.

Obama holds final news conference of first term

After four years of relentless obstruction by Republicans in Congress; nonstop, fact-free vilification by right-wing radio; and increasing visibility on the national stage by the most unhinged far-right radicals — President Obama is calm, confident, clear-eyed and tough. This is a strong performance, and is well worth the investment of time to watch it, as a reminder of how gifted this politician is, and how well suited his temperament. If ever a president fit Kipling's famous couplet, it is Obama:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you....

Stay strong, Mr. President, and congratulations on your upcoming second inaugural. Oh, and thanks for making this week a bit easier on some of us by ditching Rev. Giglio.

O'Donnell: Why is the Bible at the swearing-in?

Lawrence O'Donnell is right when he points out that the Bible on which President Obama will place a hand as he takes his oath of office is filled not only with denunciations of homosexuality (and let's set aside theological arguments for the moment), but with a long list of abominations for which the death penalty is commanded by God. He is also right that no one on earth follows all of those divine decrees, otherwise they would be burning people at the stake all day, every day.

So why don't we dispense not only with anti-gay preachers at inaugural ceremonies, but with the Holy Bible itself? The answer is a simple one: Mr. Obama, as he has noted regarding other issues such as marijuana legalization, has only so much political capital and is not about to spend it on this. And let's face it, he is denounced as the antichrist by the loony tunes even without having given them any provocation. And while we're at it: do you really believe he was honest when he explained his previous position of opposition to marriage equality by citing his religious beliefs? Really? A man who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago? There is no way that was anything more than a useful political fib. His fake story about evolving and soul-searching on the issue helped bring along other people who really do believe that stuff.

Obama chose his moment, admittedly pushed a bit by his vice president (but only a bit, as it was already in the cards), and proved that support for marriage equality is not a losing issue. All of which is fine by me. Before you can change public policy, you have to get elected. A politician who wants to win must have more than a set of core beliefs; he must make various political calculations. The job of activists pushing for sustainable forward progress is to help change those calculations in our favor -- not simply to bang on the gates of power with impotent rage. We changed the calculations with this President, and he and we won. Good for us, and good for him. Gore Vidal called God a convenient fiction. He was right, and I can live with it.