The finer points of the Dem candidates' support (?) for fair laws for lesbians & gays

By Diane Silver

The Human Rights Campaign survey showing near unanimous support from the Democratic presidential candidates for fair laws for lesbians and gays may not be as clear cut as it first seemed.

More information is coming out today about the details of the candidates' survey answers. Among the most important issues is each candidate's stand on the misnamed and truly nasty DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).

I'm still sorting through all of this, so I'm withholding my opinion for the time being.

However, here's more information from Pam's House Blend complete with a video clip from last night's debate. Pam also has the full questionnaire responses from six of the candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Andrew Sullivan, who is no fan of the Human Rights Campaign, says the survey was rigged to make Clinton look good.

Stay tuned.

Paris Hilton goes to jail

By Diane Silver

Paris Hilton has now spent her first night in jail, and I'd like to state for the record that I honestly don't give two hoots in a holler. I don't care if she's spoiled, a victim of fame, misunderstood or whatever.

I am pleased that she hasn't mowed anyone down with her car while driving under the influence. I am not-so-thrilled, however, with the media fascination with her. Do we not have a few other things to discuss that are a tad more important? Ah, you know, like a war, Congressional corruption, genocide, health insurance, an upcoming presidential election.

Oh, but I am so old fashioned.

End of rant.

The Iraq surge looks like an unholy mess

By Diane Silver

Three months into the operation, The New York Times says the surge is falling far short of its goal, American troops are playing "whack a mole" chasing Sunni and Shiite fighters from here to there and back again, and some Iraqi police are planting the bombs that are blowing up our soldiers.

If one is a thoughtful blogger one is supposed to, as they say, "add value" to the report of a news item. Honestly, I don't know what to say, except what a horrible mess. People are bleeding, being torn apart, dying over this. Is there an end? Can this end in any way that isn't wrong?

Feminist Musings: What if you don't want to have kids?

By Diane Silver

My co-conspirator on this blog, Nancy Jane Moore, has an interesting post up at Ambling Along Aqueduct about making the choice not to have kids. In part, Nancy writes:

What we all need to do -- regardless of whether we plan to be parents or not -- is to make decisions about what we're going to do with our lives: what kind of work we're going to do, what kind of path we're going to take. We all have dreams and ambitions -- destinies of one kind or another. And children aren't destinies.

After all, we don't just live to reproduce ourselves.

Nancy, by the way, is an Aqueduct author.

A serious Democratic allergy to using the "marriage" word for same-sex couples

By Diane Silver

The Human Right Campaign's newly released survey of Democratic presidential hopefuls has generally good news for lesbian and gay couples.

One lingering pain in the rear remains, though. That's the continuing aversion of candidates to the use of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples. Only Rep. Dennis Kucinich is willing to own up to supporting full-fledged marriage for us.

On the other hand, everyone from Hillary Clinton to John Edwards and Barack Obama is supporting full rights and fairness under the law in every other way.

Generally, I think this is good news, but is there any other reason to back away from the word "marriage" except for political cowardice? I expected more from Obama.

The full survey results can be found on the HRC site.

A Kansas Voice Sampler: 8 wonders, bad Lance Kinzer & help for Greensburg

By Diane Silver

Over at the Kansas Voice, I'm taking on the good, the bad and the helpful of the Sunflower State.

What's So Cool about Kansas? Let Me Count the Ways.
The Eight Wonders of Kansas & a blogger lists the good, bad and ugly of the state.

Kinzer Says He Won't Stop Trying to Ban Domestic Partner Registries
Lawrence moves forward. Lance gets cranky.

Kansas Restaurants Serve Up Food to Help Greensburg
Thursday is the day to eat at select Kansas restaurants that have pledged to give a percentage of their proceeds to help the victims of the Greensburg tornado.
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PHOTO: A slice of Harland Schuster's photo of the Gyp Hills Scenic Drive, one of the candidates for the Eight Wonders of Kansas contest. Visit the Kansas Sampler Foundation web site to see the rest of the photo.

Blog News: A new "Kansas Voice" & a more national focus for In This Moment

By Diane Silver

I'm playing around with something new, and I hope you all will tell me if this is a great idea or a decidedly stupid one.

What I'm going to do is to work to give In This Moment more of a national and international focus, while still maintaining a place for Kansas news and commentary.

I'm doing this because non-Kansas readers tell me that when they sample In This Moment, they sometimes go away for good because it looks we're just Kansas focused. I can see how that can happen given that I have been known to obsess a bit about the Sunflower State. It is my home after all.

But I and my co-bloggers have always meant to give In This Moment a much broader geographic focus. I think that's particularly important as we head into a presidential election year, and we all struggle to figure out who should get our vote.

Bottom line: I've created a new blog called Kansas Voice. I'll put a link to this at the top of In This Moment. I'll also continue to post links to Kansas stories on In This Moment, but the posts will be mere links, and thus, won't edge out news from the greater world outside of the Prairie.

As I said, this is an experiment. Let me know what you think.

Religious Right Watch: Minister calls IRS Gestapo for questioning his church

By Diane Silver

The IRS is turning into the Gestapo, says a seemingly bewildered Pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center, of Wichita. How can they possibly be questioning his church's tax-exempt status, he asks.

My thoughts?

About frigging time.

The law says that a church cannot campaign for or against a political candidate. Churches can campaign on issues, but not candidates. The IRS says Spirit One may well have jumped into the 2006 election for Kansas attorney general, governor and could be intervening in the upcoming presidential election.

One of the IRS concerns are messages that appeared on the church's sign in the last year. These involved Paul Morrison, who was then a candidate for attorney general; Ken Canfield, who was then running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination; and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who was running for re-election.

Here are just a few of the messages.

• Morrison accepts blood money from abortionist Tiller. How many babies??

• Canfield supports life and traditional family, Barnett does not.

• Paul Morrison early release of felons. Reginald Carr multiple murders.

• Abortionist Tiller has given $300,000 to Sebelius. Price of 1,000 babies!

The Wichita Eagle has detail on Spirit One Christian Center, while KAKE-TV has video and a story.

The reality of lesbian parenting has nothing to do with "playing house."

By Diane Silver

Loving a child isn't playing.

Cleaning him up when he's been sick in the middle of the night, sitting with him when he's terrified, holding him when he's in despair, disciplining him when he's making mistakes, guiding him when he needs a push in the right direction, paying for his bills, celebrating his joys and going to his baseball games, football games and band concerts... none of these things has anything to do with "playing house."

Most people understand this. I certainly know this as a lesbian and a parent.

Unfortunately, Stephen Bennett, a spokesperson for Concerned Women of America, thinks that who loves a child is more important than how well they love and how well they parent.

In his tirade against Mary Cheney and Heather Poe and the simple fact that they are parents, Bennnett misses the point that anyone who has ever raised a child should know: It's not who you are, but what you do that makes a difference in a child's life.

Children are too important for anything else to be true. Children are too important to be turned into political props. Children are too important and good, sane parents who can help children grow up strong and well loved are too rare for any qualified, willing parents to be turned away.

I find myself, once again, in the odd position of praising Dick and Lynne Cheney. While I do not agree with any of the vice president's politics, I cannot do anything but praise him for understanding that all of his grandchildren deserve to be accepted and loved. I would have been delighted to see Mary and Heather in the photo with the vice president and his wife, but the fact that the photo and its cutline are on the White House site says a lot about the truth of families.

How fitting that all of this brouhaha should occur just in time for the 2nd Annual Blogging for LGBT Families, which is being organized by Mombian.

I offer this humble post as part of that project. Below are links to some of my other posts about my lesbian-headed household.

Winning the lesbian parent marathon
On my son turning 18 and the issues of custody in a homophobic world.

Living with a target on your back
On the terror of living in a conservative state where ministers and politicians actively work to undermine your family.

Committing family
On how extended families learn that love is what makes a family, not sexual orientation.

Why I support the domestic partner registry
On a recent local controversy and how anti-gay laws hurt children and families.

Bushies fight to stop Kansas meatpacker from keeping meat safe from mad cow disease

By Diane Silver

This is not a joke, but it should be. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in court, once again, to block a Kansas meatpacker from testing all of its meat for mad cow disease. Currently, less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are tested nationally for this lethal disease. That's no typo, but it is insane.

AP reports:

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was to take effect Friday, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal -- effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out.

I foolishly always thought that the role of the USDA was to keep our food supply safe. Apparently, the Bush Administration version of the USDA is designed to keep big companies from spending money and finding out embarrassing results.

Kudos to Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Arkansas City for wanting to do the right thing. As for the USDA: What the heck are you people thinking?

The head of NASA doesn't think we need to deal with the problem of climate change

By Nancy Jane Moore

In an interview on NPR's Morning Edition, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin grudgingly acknowledged that global warming exists and that scientific evidence has "pretty well nailed down the conclusion that much of that is manmade."

But then -- and I have taken the quote directly from NPR's online transcript because I'm still finding it hard to believe I heard him right -- he said:

I have no doubt that … a trend of global warming exists. I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with. To assume that it is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth's climate today is the optimal climate, the best climate that we could have or ever have had and that we need to take steps to make sure that it doesn't change. First of all, I don't think it's within the power of human beings to assure that the climate does not change, as millions of years of history have shown. And second of all, I guess I would ask which human beings -- where and when -- are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take.

Now if we were talking about naturally occurring climate change, Griffin's point would be worth debating. If, for example, another ice age were imminent, due to the natural fluctuations of Earth's climate, should we try to prevent it, or should we figure out how to live with it? The argument that it's arrogant for us to change the natural climate to make it more comfortable for us is a rational one -- particularly if one assumes that we don't know everything we need to know about climate, which is probably true. I might not agree with it -- depending on the day I could take either side of such an argument -- but it's certainly worth talking about.

But we're not talking about natural shifts in the Earth's climate. We're talking about the dramatic and rapid changes brought on by human technological advances of the past 150 years. We're already changing the climate, just not on purpose. It is the height of arrogance to take the position that we don't have to consciously address how modern human life is affecting the planet.

Of course, I don't know what Griffin would say in response to the point that human-caused climate change is a different issue from naturally occurring change, because that idiot Steve Inskeep didn't bother to ask a follow up question challenging Griffin's "arrogance" comment. (Inskeep is a constant reminder of what a mistake NPR made in shoving Bob Edwards out to pasture. Edwards would have asked the right follow-up question. Inskeep never does.)

So I'm asking: Dr. Griffin, isn't it equally arrogant to ignore the effect of human beings on Earth's climate?

Of course, it's probably arrogant (or optimistic) of me to hope that Griffin will read our blog and answer in the comments section. But maybe some reporter will ask him the question the next time he's interviewed.

More evidence of the importance of science fiction

By Nancy Jane Moore

Every year the In This Moment staff decamps to WisCon to look at the world from a science fiction point of view. We are strong believers in the relevance of science fiction to understanding how things actually operate, as I've said before.

I note with pride that we are not alone: Juan Cole has an excellent article on Salon on the relevance of a science fiction TV show: "Heroes."

According to Cole, the show "functions as a thoughtful critique of Vice President Dick Cheney's doctrine on counterterrorism." He goes on to observe:

The powers of the heroes and their unpredictable consequences function as an allegory for the asymmetric threats generated by contemporary technology. They reflect the anxieties of an era when Timothy McVeigh can use some farm fertilizer to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, when Internet hackers threaten to open the sluices of the Hoover Dam, when the cultists of Aum Shinrikyo can poison hundreds on the Tokyo subway with homemade sarin gas, and when a handful of expatriate Arab engineers based in Germany can turn jetliners into flying bombs. Technology is advancing with such rapidity that it is making each individual far more powerful than in the past and bestowing on each individual new capacities that surely not all will deal with responsibly. This passing of a technological threshold, in which a handful of terrorists with a suitcase bomb could potentially destroy a city, will be a particular burden for younger Americans, the kind who prefer "Heroes" to "24," since it will help define the future.

Warning to "Heroes" fans who haven't yet watched the season finale, which aired last week: Cole's article contains some spoilers.

Courage and Gay Pride

By Diane Silver

I am an unapologetic fan of the 1990’s TV show Xena Warrior Princess. I love the steely look in her ice blue eyes. I love Xena’s confidence and her cocky strength. I love the endless snuggles with sidekick Gabrielle, but most of all I love six little words that introduced every episode.

“Her courage,” an announcer said about Xena, “will save the world.”

Saving the world is in the job description of fantasy heroes like Xena. The hero conquers the bad guys, while the masses (that would be everyday folk like you and me) are either being rescued or applauding.

As we celebrate Gay Pride this month, though, I think we need to acknowledge what each of us has done for the world. Whether we are politicians, generals, community leaders, doctors, lawyers, artists, teachers or janitors, we have all made a difference Every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered person is just as much a hero as Xena. And, yes, our courage is truly changing the world.

What every one of us has done is to make our own heroic journey. Depending on our age, the attitudes of our communities and the religious background of our families, we may well have even battled against great odds for our physical survival. At the very least, we have emerged victorious from a psychological struggle that heterosexuals don’t have to face.

In case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about the act of coming out. Every single LGBT person on the planet has done it. We may only have come out to ourselves, or we may have broadcast the news as Ellen DeGeneres’ TV character did in 1997, but we have all come out.

Each of us has had the courage to accept our own truth in a society that says we are evil, sinful, stupid, immoral, shallow, perverse, criminal, mean, lonely, sad, doomed, twisted, inadequate, sick and on and on.

I came out nearly 30 years ago, and I remember the terror as if it were yesterday. I didn’t know a single person who was gay. We weren’t on TV or in the movies then. There were no models of what my life would be if I admitted I was a lesbian, yet I, thankfully, made a leap of faith.

To come out is to be born from a struggle for authenticity. Today there are role models, books and support groups. Young men and women may find it easier to accept their orientation. Until hate mongers go out of business, though, struggle and fear will not completely disappear from the act of coming out.

To come out is to wrestle an authentic identify away from a culture that wants you to be someone else. That struggle makes us all heroes. More than that, it provides a model for a culture that is in desperate need of honesty.

We are surrounded by people who are afraid to be who they are. They are secret adventurers who toil as accountants because they fear being without a paycheck. They are spouses pretending to love partners they long ago learned to hate. They are 18-year-olds going off to college because they’re too afraid to tell their parents what they really want. They are doctors who yearn to be farmers; lawyers who daydream of becoming ministers; and all the people who live lies because they can’t face who they really are.

I don’t think it’s an accident that the phrase “coming out” has become a kind of code for being authentic. I’ve heard people talk about coming out in ways that have nothing to do with sexual orientation. I’ve even heard people talk about “coming out as a conservative” or “coming out as a Christian.”

Whether you attend gay pride, hang out a rainbow flag or ignore the celebration completely this month, take a moment. Think about your own heroic journey, and thank yourself for having the courage to be.
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This column is being published this month by The Liberty Press and Camp KC. Regular blogging resumes soon.

Responding to Fred Phelps & the Westboro Baptist Church with decency

By Diane Silver

You can’t be gay and not know about Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. Actually, it’s hard to be alive and not know about the church, and its ever-present protests at the funerals of troops killed in Iraq.

Their latest infamy (as of the date of this column) is a threat to picket the funerals of those murdered at Virginia Tech. Perhaps by the time you read this, the Phelps will have made good on their threat. They almost always do.

The LGBT community has been dealing with Westboro’s vileness for 20 years. The Phelps Gang – and the 70 church members are largely family – first gained notoriety for picketing anything in Kansas they thought was gay. That included a performing arts center and a Topeka restaurant where blue-haired grandmothers met for lunch.

I ran into the Phelps my first week in Kansas. They were picketing the KU Union for a reason that remain obscure. What stuck in my mind was their sign declaring: “Bob Dole Gay!”

I had two reactions. First: “Huh?” Second was an outraged cry of “Dole isn’t one of ours; we won’t take him!”

Their reasons for claiming Dole was gay, their pickets at the funerals of soldiers, and the victims of AIDS and murder makes little sense, and I’m not going to repeat it here.

As absurd as the Phelps seem, though, there is nothing funny about the fact that they picket funerals. They hurt people at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

As decent human beings, how should we respond to their awfulness? Should we heap as much venom on them as they heap on us? Should we limit their right to speak? Should we throw things at them?

In the decades I’ve been around their pickets, I’ve seen all those methods attempted. I personally tried arguing with Margie Phelps once outside the Lied Center at KU. I’ve shouted at them.

Once in Lawrence, I slowly walked into the middle of their protest and stood surrounded by their fury for what seemed like an eternity, thereby terrifying my friends. I have never quite understood why I did that. Perhaps I needed to stand in the middle of all that hate and know I could survive.

After the Virginia Tech shootings, many people visited my blog to read about the Phelps and vent. So far, I’ve deleted three comments listing their personal phone numbers. These commentators exhorted people to harass the Phelps by phone and “let them know how much you disapprove of them.”

I deleted those comments because I don’t endorse harassing anyone, even people who have done so much to hurt others.

From a practical point of view, nothing anyone can say or do will change these people’s minds. By harassing them, people give the Phelps “proof” that the world outside their church is hateful and full of anger. (And yes, I know they prompt that anger, but we’re not talking about rationality here.)

If the purpose of such harassment is to inflict as much pain on them as they heap on others, then I have to not-so-gently suggest that this is a lousy idea. If we act like them, we are no better than they are. By focusing on name calling and anger, we also descend into the same hell the Phelps inhabit. That’s not a place where I want to live.

Like many, I’ve thought about the fact that family patriarch Fred Phelps is not young. Someday soon it will be time for his funeral. Wouldn’t it be sweet justice if all the people from all the funerals Westboro has ever picketed show up that day? Perhaps they could hold obscene signs and jeer like the Phelps do.

As hateful as the Phelps are, that doesn’t feel right. All of us deserve to be treated decently.

Even the man who preaches hate deserves to be given love once in his life.
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This column was originally published in The Liberty Press in May 2007. Regular blogging will resume after Memorial Day.

Committing Family

This column was first published by The Liberty Press in April 2007. Regular blogging will resume after Memorial Day.
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By Diane Silver

I hurt.

I suffered a loss this month. It’s the kind of loss that makes you suddenly pack a bag and go online to buy airline tickets to fly to a family funeral.

This is personal, but sadly people will also try to make it political because this loss illustrates how those of us who are LGBT are never allowed to just be family. Even explaining who died could be seen as a political act. Despite the usual focus of this column, though, I don’t want to do that.

The people who pursue us with a single-minded obsession force every aspect of our families into the political arena. I’m just as tired of it as I’m sure you are if you’re LGBT or part of one of our families, but I digress.

The person who died was named Marge. She was 87. She had been in failing health for several years, and she was my mother-in-law. And here is where things get sticky.

Most people probably wouldn’t have called her that. I suspect Marge might have been uncomfortable with that title, but that is who she was. Marge was the mother of my late life partner, and the relationship I had with my late partner was a marriage in all but name.

Marge was never completely comfortable with that relationship. However, she did something that millions of mothers do every year. She accepted her daughter and her choices. Marge didn’t disown her, and she always welcomed both of us home for reunions.

When my partner had a son and I eagerly took on the role of co-parent, Marge doted on her grandson and accepted me farther into the family. When my partner died of breast cancer and my son was only 7 years old, Marge could have torn us apart. She could have demanded custody of my son, and given Kansas law, both then and now, she would have won. Instead, she did what loving grandmothers should do: She thought about the needs of her grandchild.

My son had already lost one parent. Marge and other members of the family didn’t compound that by tearing him away from the only other parent he had ever known. As a result, my son knew security. He survived the tragic loss of one parent and grew into the fine man of 21 he is today.

You see how this could be seen as political, don’t you? To call Marge my mother-in-law, to even say that I’m going to a family funeral, is to claim to have been married. To some people, that’s a sin. To honor Marge for considering what was best for her grandson is to call into question every lie the anti-gay right tells about LGBT parents. Even to be invited to Marge’s funeral is to destroy the myth that lesbians are always shunned.

Oh yes, LGBT people face many trials, and my late partner and I even faced a couple of them with Marge and other members of the family. But to the credit of this incredibly tight-knit group of people, they have always done with the best families do: They made decisions out of compassion. They followed the Golden Rule and treated others as they themselves would want to be treated.

In a few days, my son and I will board a plane, fly down to Florida and share our grief with the rest of the family.

When we’re attending services, laughing about the fun times and sharing tears, we won’t be making a political point. Instead, we will be doing what millions of other LGBT families do every day: We will be living our lives.

Perhaps, that is the most radical act of all.

Kansas: A little science fictiononal daydreaming

By Diane Silver

I have a confession: I love science fiction.

I’m one of those crazy people who never met a story about a space ship they didn’t like. I also love to speculate about the future, whether I’m mulling over the impact of new technology or changes in society.

That is why I want to engage in a science fictional exercise right now. I want you to imagine a future Kansas. Flying cars zip through the air. Shiny skyscrapers crowd the downtowns of what have become the densely populated cities of Topeka and, let’s say, Salina.

This far-off future is an age where same-sex couples can legally marry. The laws of the state treat us as fairly as they treat other Kansans. Our families and children are legally supported. Prejudice has all but disappeared as more people have learned the truth about our lives.

In this daydream, LGBT Kansans and our straight allies are organized in every part of the state. Politicians who campaign against gays are voted out of office. Our lobbyists are active in the Statehouse. Reporters seek out our representatives and publicize our viewpoints. If bigots attack, people have a place to turn for help.

Alas, fair laws, marriage equality and support for our children are as much science fiction in Kansas as skyscrapers in Salina. The rest of that daydream, though, isn’t far fetched. In fact, some of it is already happening thanks to the Kansas Equality Coalition

Just under a year old, the Equality Coalition has the potential to turn all of that daydream into reality.

The coalition has already begun organizing around the state. The group’s lobbyist worked the Statehouse during the last legislative session. Reporters are calling the group’s leaders for comment. When the owners of a Meade, Kan., hotel were harassed for flying a rainbow flag and Topeka’s anti-discrimination commission was threatened, the coalition was there to help.

I’ve either watched or been involved in gay rights work in this state for more than 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like the Equality Coalition before. The group is already larger, is more geographically diverse and has a wider range of volunteers than past Kansas groups.

The coalition is also the first Kansas gay rights group to be organized in chapters. This allows the group to build strength in lawmakers’ home districts.

“With seven chapters around the state -- and more on the way – we’re able to have a local presence everywhere from Liberal to Overland Park,” said Thomas Witt, the group’s chair. “We have the ability to respond to local events and statewide issues in a coordinated way across Kansas.”

The coalition has established a PAC to elect candidates who will vote for equality, and defeat those who don’t. Plans call for an educational foundation to teach Kansans about the issues and needs of their LGBT neighbors.

One of the group’s strengths is its straight volunteers. Anna Kraxner, secretary for the Lawrence Chapter, said she is involved because she doesn’t like injustice.

“Expecting – forcing -- any segment of our society to live under a different set of rules because they're supposedly different divides us from ourselves, and that divisiveness generates misunderstanding and hate,” she said. “We are ALL ‘different’ in some way. The goal should be to see how we are alike.”

The organization is already getting attention from national groups. Cyd Slayton, a member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Board of Governors, said HRC “strongly supports KEC’s work.”
"Because of the actions of a few fanatics in the state, Kansas has come to symbolize prejudice and extremism in the minds of too many Americans,” Slayton said. “Thankfully, fair-minded Kansans are standing up and speaking out so that rational voices rise above the polarizing rhetoric.”

I’m not going to pretend to be objective about the coalition. I helped organize the group and served as its first vice chair.

Despite that, I won’t tell you the group is perfect, or can immediately solve all of our problems. We have a long way to go to build the strength we need to protect our community.

Flying cars and other science fictional ideas may never become reality, but fairness under the law can be more than a daydream in Kansas. The Equality Coalition may well give us the tools we need to turn that fiction into fact.
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ILLUSTRATION: The infamous Space Babe of Tiptree Award fame is used by special permission of the Tiptree Literary Award Council. All rights are reserved. Ole' SB was designed by the incredible Jeanne Gomoll. I had the privilege of serving on the Tiptree Award jury this year. That was a fascinating experience that I'm still mulling over and hope to blog on soon.

This column was published in the Liberty Press in 2006, and this is the first time it has appeared online. Regular blogging will resume after Memorial Day.

The biggest secret in Kansas politics

By Diane Silver

This column was first published in the Liberty Press in 2006, so the election I discuss is long past. The advice about getting involved in elections still holds, though. Because of the hard work of many fine people, some of the worst of the anti-gay crowd like then Attorney General Phill Kline and Congressman Jim Ryun were booted out of office last year.
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When I first helped lobby the Kansas Legislature for LGBT rights, I was floored by the response from lawmakers.

It wasn’t the opposition that surprised me. What amazed me was the support.

The year was 2004. I was one of many volunteers working to stop lawmakers from sending a proposed ban on same-sex marriage to voters. That year we won. Even though we lost the marriage fight the next year, our margin of defeat in the Legislature was narrow.

All of which brings me to the point of this column: The biggest secret in Kansas politics today is that fair laws for LGBT Kansans can win in the Statehouse.

I won’t deny that many lawmakers are enthusiastic members of the religious right, but many others are fair minded. They want to vote for fair laws and decent treatment for LGLT Kansans. They want to protect our children and our families, not destroy them.

The problem, though, is that a number of these folks vote against their own beliefs. They do so because they are frightened of the religious right’s political muscle.

Believe it or not, this is good news.

Think about it: The problem isn’t the rightness of our cause or figuring out how to make our case, it’s our political power. This means that you and me can change the situation, and we can do it today.

It’s election season in Kansas. The primary is Aug. 1. The general election is Nov. 7. By getting involved, you can put fair-minded people into the Legislature and other offices.

You don’t have to be rich or have huge blocks of free time. That is particularly true in a state as small as Kansas. Here a seat in the House of Representatives, for example, can be decided by a few hundred or even a dozen votes.

What can you do?

First, register to vote.

Oct. 23 is the last day to register for the November election. Advance voting begins on Oct. 18. Learn how to register at www.voteks.org or at your county clerk’s office.

Second, educate yourself.

Learn where candidates stand on fair treatment for LGBT Kansans. Fortunately, this year that task is easier than ever before.

The state’s new gay-rights group, the Kansas Equality Coalition, is reporting incumbents’ voting records and the results of candidate questionnaires at www.kansasequalitycoalition.org.

Third, get involved.

Give money. Even the smallest check can make a difference. Give directly to the candidate of your choice, or send a check to the new Kansas Equality Coalition PAC at PO Box 3736 Topeka, KS 66604.

Give time. Even one or two hours walking door to door, participating in a phone bank or stuffing envelopes helps. Don’t worry about knowing how. Campaign staff will tell you what to do.
Most importantly: Vote. On Nov. 7, get yourself, your family, your friends, your straight neighbors and your coworkers to the polls.

Actually, I lied.

Going to the polls is vital, but it isn’t our most important task. What do we really have to do to win? We have to believe we can.

I’ve watched Kansas politics for more than 20 years. Too often I’ve seen the results of our fear.
Despair paralyzes. It keeps us from doing the work that is required to win elections.

I’m not saying that the road will be easy. I not saying we’ll get everything, or even half, of what we want in this election or the next one or the one after that.

We suffered a huge defeat in 2005 when voters approved the ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. However, the significance of that campaign is much different than many people think.

Our percentage of defeat was large, but few voters actually went to the polls that April. Only 24.6 percent of registered voters cast a ballot against us. For the first time in Kansas history, 179,432 of our neighbors stood up to support fairness for LGBT Kansans. We received support in every county in the state, even the most rural.

When we launched the campaign against the marriage ban, we didn’t have a dime. Activists from across the state hadn’t even met. We hadn’t identified our straight allies. A geographically diverse gay rights organization didn’t exist. Today, all that has changed.

The political landscape is undergoing a transformation. The pace may seem glacial, but we are stronger today than ever before.

The only thing that can truly stop us is us.

On the Road Again: Why we migrate to WisCon every year

By Diane Silver

Once again the staff of In This Moment is heading to delightful Madison for the annual WisCon gathering of the feminist science fiction, fantasy and horror community. My plane is leaving this morning at, ugh, 6:40.

If you can't even conceive of what something like WisCon might be like... Imagine a place where the instant you walk into a hotel you see a friend and start talking, and you don't stop meeting friends, talking, listening or laughing until you get back on the plane to go home. WisCon is nonstop joy, intense discussion, and above all, connection. It nourishes the soul. It makes me a better writer every time I go.

All of which is why I'm heading off once again. The rest of the In This Moment staff, Nancy Jane Moore and Pamela K. Taylor, will also be at WisCon as usual.

I may have a chance for a post or two, but at the very least, I'll be running some special posts.

I've been writing a column -- called "Hope & Politics" -- for the Liberty Press for about nine months now. The column has just been picked up by Camp in Kansas City. None of the columns have appeared online yet. I'll be posting a selection while we're gone.
------------

PHOTO: Here I am, on the left, grinning like a fool with 2001 WisCon Guest of Honor Elisabeth Vonarburg. We are celebrating the birth of Broad Universe at the very first BU party. Elisabeth, by the way, was my roommate in 1999, the first year I attended WisCon. I had a horrible cold. She was a dear.

Rachel Carson: Still controversial after all these years

By Nancy Jane Moore

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin planned to introduce a bill to honor Rachel Carson on May 27, which would have been her 100th birthday.

But right-wing Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma put a hold on the bill, calling Carson's work "junk science."

You'd think Coburn, a doctor, would know better; surely he had to have mastered some aspects of science to get an M.D. But according to Congresspedia, he has also called global warming "just a lot of crap." I certainly wouldn't want a doctor who displayed such scientific ignorance -- I wouldn't trust him to think carefully about his diagnoses or the medicines he prescribes.

I'm sure there is more to be said on the subject of pesticides and their effect on the environment than Carson said in her groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, first published in 1962 and now available in a special anniversary edition. And if Carson were still with us, I'm sure she would be saying it. But there's no "junk" in the science showing that pesticides and other chemicals put together by humans have an effect on the environment and that many times those effects are dangerous to human health, not to mention comfortable life on Earth.

Carson was the first strong voice to point out that we need to pay attention to all the effects of what we do -- not just the immediate reaction. It's depressing that 43 years after her death we have people like Coburn still arguing that humans can bully their way across the planet, doing whatever we choose, with no effect.

Instead of debating whether or not global warming exists or that certain chemicals used in pesticides create more problems than they solve (the science is pretty settled on those things), we should be bringing good science and good economics into a real discussion over the best ways to handle feeding the world and keeping both people and the environment healthy at the same time. There's plenty of material for an expansive debate on that issue.

Of course, Silent Spring was controversial when it first came out. And the attacks on Carson were predictable, as this quote from Time magazine, as published on Wikipedia, points out:

Carson was violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision, including suggestions that this meticulous scientist was a "hysterical woman" unqualified to write such a book. A huge counterattack was organized and led by Monsanto, Velsicol, American Cyanamid -- indeed, the whole chemical industry -- duly supported by the Agriculture Department as well as the more cautious in the media.

Rachel Carson would probably be appalled to discover that people are still raising ignorant arguments over her science. But, on the other hand, the controversy makes it clear how important her work really was. If she hadn't made an important contribution to our understanding of the environment, no one would be bothering to block an innocuous resolution honoring her life.

With luck, the controversy will provide wider recognition for Rachel Carson and her work than the resolution would have.

Lawrence gets ready to launch Kansas' first domestic partner registry, perhaps by Aug. 1

By Diane Silver

[updated 8:07 a.m. 5/23]
Before a room packed with Kansas Equality Coalition members wearing brown and yellow coalition stickers, the Lawrence City Commission tonight voted 4-1 to make the state's first domestic partner registry a reality.

So many supporters of the registry showed up at the meeting that chairs had to be placed in the lobby of City Hall.

Two more votes are required to institute the registry in Lawrence. However, long-time city observers say they have never known of the Commission to backtrack on an issue once it has received this kind of first-round support.

The only commissioner who voted no was Mike Amyx.

The yes votes were Mayor Sue Hack, Commissioner Boog Highberger and newly elected commissioners Rob Chestnut and Mike Dever.

Hack and Highberger spoke passionately of their support for the registry. Hack said she supported it with both her mind and heart. Highberger noted that this kind of law should really be done on the federal or state level, but that those governments have failed to perform their responsibilities.

"If we're going to have the kind of city we want, we have to deal with this on the local level," he said.

Chestnut said he was voting for the registry because of the service it provided to the citizens of Lawrence. However, he said that he had supported the 2005 statewide ban on same-sex marriage.

Among those speaking in favor of the registry was the Rev. Peter Luckey, senior pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church, and former Lawrence Mayor Mike Rundle, who retired from the Commission in April.

Four people spoke in opposition to the registry, including one minister.None of the opponents represented a group. There did not appear to be any organized opposition.

Among those speaking in favor of the registry were representatives of MAINstream Coalition, The League of Women Voters, PFLAG and the Grassroots Coalition. (I know of the Grassroots organization, but like a dolt didn't write the correct name down of this fine activist organization. Bad blogger... but I digress.)

What the Commission technically did was to instruct its staff to make some minor revisions in the ordinance, and then to bring it back for the Commission's June 12 meeting. The ordinance will be up for one more vote, probably on June 19. That will finalize the ordinance and officially make Lawrence the first city in the state with a domestic partner registry.

Lawrence City Manager David Corliss said the he hopes to have the registry ready and open for business by August 1. However, Corliss admitted that was an ambitious timeline. That date could change.

As approved tonight, the registry would cover both same-sex and straight couples. Only residents of Lawrence will be able to register. A fee will be charged. Corliss said that fee may be in the ballpark of $25 to $35, but he said that he couldn't yet commit to a figure. The fee could be higher. It will have to cover the costs of the registry.

At this point, it appears that registrations will be conducted online, although details still have to be worked out.

Commissioner Highberger explored the possibility of allowing non-Lawrence residents who work in Lawrence to register, but that idea was postponed. It appears that the Commission may ask Attorney General Paul Morrison to comment on the constitutionality of such an idea and then come back and amend the ordinance.

[update]

Here's the Lawrence Journal-World's take on the City Commission meeting. Fox 4 TV in Kansas City has a video report of the meeting. Other news coverage came from the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Lawrence, Kansas, City Commission votes 4-1 for domestic partner registry

By Diane Silver

I just got back from the City Commission meeting, and to make a long story short: We've got it!

Two more votes are required by the City Commission to finalize the deal, but with tonight's 4-1 vote the City Commission is ready to make Lawrence the first city in the Kansas with a domestic partner registry.

More soon.

Tuesday Reads: George Bush, Al Gore, impeachment & voter fraud

By Diane Silver

So much to read, so little time.

Salon.com tells us why our not-so-beloved President George W. Bush hasn't been impeached yet. The problem, says writer Gary Kamiya is that we're his co-conspirators.

Bush's warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche. The emotional force behind America's support for the Iraq war, the molten core of an angry, resentful patriotism, is still too hot for Congress, the media and even many Americans who oppose the war, to confront directly. It's a national myth. It's John Wayne. To impeach Bush would force us to directly confront our national core of violent self-righteousness -- come to terms with it, understand it and reject it. And we're not ready to do that.

Al Gore writes in his new book, The Assault on Reason, about how the Bushies have helped steer American culture into a dark place. We now live in a country, Gore says, where “reason, logic and truth" play a "sharply diminished role" in how we make decisions.

Slate takes a look at the lies about voting fraud and the death of the American Center for Voting Rights. (OK, that's not a Tuesday article, but it's still well worth a read.)

Kansas: Newspaper says domestic partner registry has "more than a fighting chance"

By Diane Silver

The Lawrence Journal-World previews tonight's City Commission meeting on the proposed domestic partner registry.

From early indications, the effort has more than a fighting chance.

“From what I can tell, there is some support on the commission for passing it,” said City Commissioner Mike Dever, who said he was leaning toward voting for the registry. “We’ve gotten a lot of information on it, a lot of feedback on it.”

New commissioners Dever and Rob Chestnut also told the newspaper they have heard from more supporters than opponents of the proposal.

My thoughts? I honestly don't know what will happen. I've seen too many efforts to pass fair laws fail to be 100 percent optimistic. On the other hand, I think we've got a real chance. If the registry does fail, I know that life will get very interesting in this town.

I'll be there tonight. Will you?

Kansas: Lawrence takes up the domestic partner registry tomorrow

By Diane Silver

Tomorrow is the day and Lawrence City Hall is the place to be. The City Commission will take up the proposed domestic partner registry at its regular Tuesday night meeting. Public comments will be heard and the first of two required votes is expected.

When the local chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition first brought the registry before the commission in January, supporters had the stage to themselves. I doubt very much if that will happen again on Tuesday. Opponents may well be out in force.

If you support the registry, please attend. You don't have to testify. Your polite and quiet presence will make a difference. The Equality Coalition plans to have stickers for registry supporters to wear to identify themselves.

If you do plan to testify, please keep it short. Don't repeat what someone else has said even if that person made the point you want to make. Just say you agree with the previous speaker. Above all be polite. Be nice! Neither the City Commission nor the staff are our enemies.

If the commission takes on other issues after dealing with the registry, leave the Commission Meeting Room quietly. Also be aware that when we're talking in the City Hall lobby, our conversations can be heard in the meeting room. To discuss, debate, celebrate or agonize over the events in the meeting, our best bet is to talk on the sidewalk outside of City Hall.

City staff have outlined possible ways to implement the registry and reported on the experiences of other cities.

Attorney General Paul Morrison's opinion that the registry is constitutional is also available online.

The City Commission meeting is in the City Commission Meeting Room, First Floor, City Hall, 6 East 6th Street. The meetings adjourn at 10:30 p.m. unless extended by the Commission.

You can still contact City Commissioners to politely urge them to vote yes on the registry.

Here are some of my earlier thoughts on the registry:

Why I support a domestic partner registry

Just the Facts: Domestic Partner Registries stretch across the U.S. & present few problems

Kansas: Staff says legal problems are unlikely if Lawrence passes registry

Toni Ramirez Wheeler, director of legal services for the city of Lawrence, reports that passing a domestic partner registry should not cause legal problems for the city.

(I)t is unlikely that the City would face liability if a person included in the domestic partnership registry commits a fraudulent insurance act as defined in the Kansas statute cited above. An electronic search of case law nationwide disclosed no cases in which a municipality maintaining a domestic partnership registration was involved as a named party in litigation for a fraudulent insurance act.

This matches the information I received from the national ACLU.

Kansas: Lawrence city group announces support for domestic partner registry

A Lawrence City Commission advisory board -- the Lawrence Alliance -- is urging the City Commission to pass the proposed domestic partner registry. The Alliance works to create a "discrimination-free environment" in the city.

Kansas: Phill Kline's rant misrepresents the facts & shows disregard for the law

[updated 11:05 a.m.]

Or, at least, that's what The Kansas City Star says in it's Sunday editorial about the latest escapade of the deposed Kansas attorney general/now Johnson County district attorney. Here's another shock: Kline attacks Paul Morrison, the man who defeated him in November for the AG post.

[update]

Kline also attacked the KC Star, MAINstream Coalition and a multitude of others in his email tirade.

Here's the first report of the email.

British military learns that openly serving gays are a huge "nonissue"

Allowing lesbians and gays to serve openly has strengthened the British military, The New York Times reports today. The Times talked about the experience of one squadron leader in the Royal Air Force.

Far from causing problems, he said, he found that coming out to his troops actually increased the unit’s strength and cohesion. He had felt uneasy keeping the secret “that their boss was a poof,” as he put it, from people he worked with so closely.

Since the British military began allowing homosexuals to serve in the armed forces in 2000, none of its fears — about harassment, discord, blackmail, bullying or an erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness — have come to pass, according to the Ministry of Defense, current and former members of the services and academics specializing in the military. The biggest news about the policy, they say, is that there is no news. It has for the most part become a nonissue.

The only problem appears to be a sensitivity to embarrassing us timid Americans who are still struggling with the unfair Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

And so it goes...

Friday Kansas Blogging

By Diane Silver

I've been a great admirer of Kevin Drum's Friday Cat Blogging. While I'm not certain that Kansas is as picturesque as Kevin's cats, I do know that a lot of folks have gone to the University of Kansas and miss Lawrence, or have simply moved away from the Sunflower State. Thus, I offer for your viewing pleasure the first of what I hope will become a weekly habit -- some Friday Kansas blogging.

I have to admit that one of the true delights of working for yourself is getting to pick your own hours. For me, that has meant I have more time to meander through Lawrence's downtown and parks during the day. Thus, this first bit of Kansas blogging is a stroll through Lawrence's South Park, starting at the gazebo; wandering over to the horse fountain where, alas, horses no longer sip; walking up the path to Massachusetts Street and then gazing up at the old Douglas County Courthouse.

You'll note that the time this photo was taken was 5:20 p.m., and the sky was and is just as blue and clear as it looks. The temperature is a perfect 73 degrees, and there isn't a hint of pollution in the air.

By the way, these are the first four photos I've ever taken with this new camera. Any fuzziness is all my fault.

One of the not-so-joyful things about working for yourself is that you really have to work. The last few days I've been slogging through paying assignments. (Yay money! Boo, no time to blog.)

Copyright owners are not amused by Westboro Baptist Church parody

By Diane Silver

Not funny says Warner/Chappel Music Inc about a recent YouTube parody by the Fred Phelps clan. The company administers the copyright for "We Are the World." The Phelps family twisted that uplifting tune into a not-funny parody condemning the world. (And no, I'm not linking to it.)

Even though I agree with Warner/Chappel's disgust at the Phelps parody, I don't think the company can win this fight. As I understand it, and I am no expert, the law on parody allows anyone to use a well-known tune in this way.

I will be very happy if someone tells me I'm wrong.

Kansas: Jerry Johnston & First Family Church are officially under investigation

By Diane Silver

Since The Kansas City Star's March series on the financial dealings of the Rev. Jerry Johnston and his First Family Church, a few of us have been waiting for something, anything else, to happen. The other shoe has finally dropped.

Today word came that Attorney General Paul Morrison is investigating two complaints about the financial dealings of Johnston and FFC. Several complaints have also been filed with the IRS. The KC Star has the details.

I welcome these investigations. If they have nothing to hide, then I would think that Johnston and his family would welcome a chance to clear their names. If I were a member of the FFC congregation, I would be thrilled to learn about the investigations. I would certainly want to know where my money was going.

If you send an email to us

By Diane Silver

It's come to my attention that emails to hopeandpolitics@yahoo.com may have gone astray. The problem is that we're now getting a ton of spam in our yahoo inbox.

Thus, if you want to send a direct email to In This Moment -- and we would love to hear from you -- please put "In This Moment" or the title of a recent post or something about a recent post in the subject line.

Simply saying "look at this," or "this is important," or "comment on this" makes your email look like spam, and I delete spam.

Kansas: Why I support a domestic partner registry

By Diane Silver

Fourteen years ago, my life partner died of breast cancer, and it felt like I had fallen into an abyss. It felt as if the wind was rushing past my ears. Nothing was solid. No matter how far I stretched out my arms there was nothing to hold onto. At any moment I knew I’d hit a bottom I couldn’t even see, and the pain would be crushing.

I thought, that will hurt.

I thought, but what a relief. Such a death will end my grief.

All those days ago, all that pain ago, I couldn’t allow myself to die, though. I had a child. Seven years old. I had lost my life partner, but he had lost his mother.

While I was learning how to breathe again every morning when I woke up and realized that she was dead… and while I was fumbling to understand how to raise a child alone, the issue of insurance arose.

An insurance company said that I had no relationship with my late life partner. The company declared that our life together had simply never existed. They said this was what they called a “Housekeeper Situation.” That’s when a housekeeper moves in to take care of a terminally ill person, and then takes all of that poor soul’s estate.

In essence, that company said I had never held my late partner, I had never cried with her, I had never laughed with her. In effect, that company said the two of us had never fallen asleep holding hands. That company said the two of us had never gotten up in the middle of the night to take care of a sick child.

Every moment, every hour, day, month and year that we had been a household was simply declared to have never existed.

And there was no legal way I could prove that they had.

I was lucky, though. My partner and I had appeared on TV and in the newspaper talking about our relationship. We were activists. We were visible. Those appearances helped my lawyer prove that we really were a domestic partnership.

That’s why I support a domestic partner registry for Lawrence. The honest citizens of this town shouldn’t have to go on TV to prove the existence of their partnerships.

Passing this registry takes nothing from anyone, yet it helps many people. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the only fair thing to do.
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For information about how a domestic partner registry works, see Just the Facts: Domestic partner registries stretch across the U.S. & present few problems.

PHOTO: That's me, our son and my late partner Patty at our son's third birthday party.

Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Jerry Falwell's funeral

By Diane Silver

To no one's surprise, the Westboro Baptist Church is planning to picket Jerry Falwell's funeral. They do it to get attention, which is why I'm not linking to their site. If you really want to find it. I'm sure you can just Google around a bit.

The Phelps act like little children throwing a temper tantrum. This gets attention, so they do it.

If you're confused by the logic of this, given Falwell's history of hate speech and opposition to fairness for gays, don't try to figure it out. These are emotional children who are in a lot of pain throwing a temper tantrum.

By the way, I doubt if patriarch Fred Phelps will be there. He might, but he hasn't traveled much to these protests in the last few years.

For more on my thoughts about the Phelps, see The saddest family in America.

Kansas now has a toothless law declaring English as our official language

By Diane Silver

Well, that solves all our problems. (Note the sarcasm.)

I can't imagine that a law declaring English to be the official language of Kansas is based on anything except fear. Are we so helpless in this state that we can't even continue to speak our own language?

Such bills say more about our own sense of weakness and helplessness, about our own self-perceived inability to take care of ourselves, than they say about anything that any immigrant might do.

At the same time, they also make it harder for those for whom English is a second language, and such bills certainly have to make them feel unwelcome.

Despite the toothless nature of the law, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should never have signed it.

U.S. attorney's departure from Kansas City called "troubling"

The Kansas City Star reports on the concerns of the House Judiciary Committee about the departure of Todd Graves.

Talking Points Memo has more and the full text of the letter detailing the committee members concern.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Congressional testimony of former Kansas City U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman won't happen for a while. The controversial Schlozman took over when Graves let and has sense gone back to Washington D.C.

The passing of Yolanda King, Martin Luther King's family & gay rights

Over at the House Blend, Pam has a good post discussing the passing of Martin Luther King's daughter, Yolanda King, and on the family's conflict over fairness and equality for lesbians and gays.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked with Bayard Rustin, a gay man, on organizing the 1963 March on Washington. Coretta Scott King and Yolanda King supported gay rights, including marriage equality. Yolanda's brother, Martin Luther King III, also supports equality for LGBT people. Unfortunately, their sister, the Rev. Reverend Bernice King, has a much different view.

John Ashcroft, civil libertarian?

By Nancy Jane Moore

John Ashcroft apparently took a stand to defend us from the Bush administration's overreaching assault on our civil liberties -- and he did it from intensive care.

This is the juicy story du jour: The Department of Justice refuses to sign off on the legality of Bush's domestic spying program; Alberto Gonzales (then White House counsel) and Andy Card (then chief of staff) rush over to the hospital to get a very sick Ashcroft to change his mind; and stalwart Deputy AG James Comey stands in their way.

You can get the details anywhere you look. The New York Times has a wrap up story. Dahlia Lithwick is suitably sarcastic on Slate.com. But for my money, the best commentary is on Balkinization, where Marty Lederman has posted commentary and a section of the testimony addressing whether the president acted illegally, plus Jack Balkin compares the current situation to things Nixon said and did.

Has it occurred to anyone else that John Ashcroft is an unlikely hero in these proceedings? After all, we're talking about the religious fundamentalist who brought his religion into his workplace, the guy who proposed the TIPS program encouraging us all to spy on our neighbors, the man who put drapes in front of a partially nude statue called The Spirit of Justice. (The picture above shows Ashcroft with the statue pre-drapes.)

Back in 2001 when Ashcroft was nominated for Attorney General, I was very angry that the Democrats didn't put up a real battle to block him. Ashcroft was known for his extreme views -- his nomination exemplified Bush's arrogant intent to run the country his way, despite the fact that he'd just squeaked into office by one vote (on the Supreme Court).

But the actions of the current crop of Bushies makes me nostalgic for Ashcroft. And he clearly did have one bout of integrity as Attorney General. So did several other people at Justice, apparently, and even FBI Director Robert Mueller. As I read the news, they banded together, threatened to resign, and eventually came up with a domestic surveillance program that was slightly less bad -- at least, it met some minimal standard of legality that satisfied the lawyers at Justice.

Before we get all sentimental about Ashcroft though, I've got a question for all of those former officials who are coming out of the woodwork these days, talking about the shenanigans of the Bushies: Why didn't you resign back then? And not just resign -- most of them left eventually -- but resign in protest. It's clear from the testimony that we're hearing now that you knew the country was in trouble. You may have won a tiny battle here and there by staying on the inside, but you lost the war: Bush and his cronies have run roughshod over our rights and left our country seriously weakened, not to mention hated throughout the world.

Bush couldn't have done it without all the people who went along even when they knew he was going too far. The survival of democracy depends in part on people taking principled stands. Instead, most people who knew what Bush was really up to gave him a free ride.

You people who just went along and left quietly if you left at all: I hope you have nightmares every night. Unfortunately, the rest of us have nightmares every day.

"A Matter of Fairness" in Lawrence, Kansas: A chat about the domestic partner registry

Maggie Childs, chair of the Lawrence chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition, participated in an online chat today at the Lawrence Journal-World.

Talking about the proposed domestic partner registry, Childs says:

Support is coming from people who think a registry is a matter of fairness. Our supporters are gay and straight, young and old, religious and secular folk.

Lawrence fundraisier this Saturday: Greenbacks for Greensburg, Kansas

In case you can't read the photo, the event is Saturday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire. $5 minimum donation. All the money raised goes directly to the Greensburg Disaster Fund. The event features:

• Ric Averill
• Das Furbender
• Floyd the Barber
• Alferd Packer Memorial String Band
• Christie Dobson
• Erin Girard
• Preston Girard
• Hilary Morton
• Chris Waugh
• Doug Weaver
• Charles Higginson
• Laurie McLane-Higginson
• Jeanne Averill
• Trish Averill
• and more!

Jerry Falwell is dead, & this lesbian is sad

By Diane Silver

Wow. I just saw the news on the Washington Post. One of the founders of the modern religious right, Jerry Falwell, has died at age 73.

If you want the angry reaction to Falwell, look here at Americablog.

Everything John Aravosis says in that post is true.

Falwell caused a lot of pain and hurt many people. His rhetoric may well have fueled laws that helped break families apart and take children from loving parents. His words gave gay bashers an excuse to assault anyone they thought was queer.

I'm not going to talk right now about his impact on choice, the rights of women and other issues. I'm not going to talk about the political work he did through the Moral Majority and all those hurt by it, or the impact of Liberty University, or go into detail on how he seemed to demonize everyone who didn't agree with him.

All of that is true, but I'm not dancing today. I'm not shouting for joy because a human being is dead, and truthfully, I don't think that's what Aravosis is doing. He's angry and fearful, and he and all Americans have a right to be angry and scared.

At this moment, though, I don't seem to be able to work up any indignation. I'm a lesbian. Falwell hurt my people, hurt me, in a thousand ways, yet in this moment all I feel is sadness.

I'm sure Falwell has a family. I'm sure he has loved ones and children and friends who will miss him enormously. My sadness has a bit to do with mourning the death of anyone, but even that's not all of what I feel.

My sadness is over the loss of a chance. Falwell, apparently, was never able to come close to a loving God, the God of inclusion, the God of welcome. If he had, he wouldn't have been able to say or do what he did. He must have carried a lot of pain to not be able to see that all-inclusive God of love. For that lost chance, for Falwell's lost chance, I mourn.

May his family, friends and loved ones find peace and support in dealing with their loss.

Truth & transparency in the blogging world. What a great idea!

By Diane Silver

Writer Tom Grubisich proposes what I think is a fantastic idea in today's Washington Post. He writes that it's more than past time to make people accountable for their online opinions. It's time to make people register with their real names to post comments and blogs and other virtual soap boxes.

A little sunshine would do the virtual world a whole heck of a lot of good.

One of my greatest frustrations is that Blogger doesn't force people to do that. I can either allow no comments, moderate all comments or allow folks to post and still hide behind aliases. This allows hate mongers to flourish.

Evangelical welcomes gays & rejects the "customized torture chamber" of hell

By Diane Silver

Evangelical preacher Carlton Person is somebody we need to get to know. He has been shunned by the fundamentalist community for doing nothing more radical than believing in a God of love. He declared that God is Not a Christian in a 2006 book of the same name. Wow.

Deb Price writes:

He stopped believing in hell. He was no longer willing to preach that a loving God would doom most of humanity to a "customized torture chamber." Deciding that "if Jesus is the savior of the world, then the world is saved," Pearson started spreading "a gospel of inclusion" -- proclaiming that everyone is saved, not just Christians..."I am not telling people they have to love gays. I am telling people they get to love gays. ... All people want is permission," Pearson says.

The civil rights of citizens: D.C.'s right to a vote in Congress is not prohibited by the Constitution

By Nancy Jane Moore

Two attorneys, Richard P. Bress and Lori Alvino McGill, argue in a detailed paper published by the American Constitution Society that Congress has the authority to give the citizens of Washington, D.C., a vote in Congress.

They make two very important points. First, Congress has treated the District as a state for a number of purposes over the years. And unlike people in territories, who also have no voting representation, the residents of D.C. pay federal taxes. (Hence the motto on our license plates, "Taxation Without Representation.")

The Supreme Court weighed in on this at one point, when there was an attempt to deny residents of the District access to the federal courts under the diversity jurisdiction rule (when citizens of one state sue citizens of another) on the grounds that the District wasn't a state. Bress and McGill note some arguments expressed by Justice Rutledge in his concurring opinion in that case (which found that diversity jurisdiction applied to D.C.):

Observing that the Constitution had failed explicitly to accord District residents access to federal courts through diversity jurisdiction, Justice Rutledge remarked: "I cannot believe that the Framers intended to impose so purposeless and indefensible a discrimination, although they may have been guilty of understandable oversight in not providing explicitly against it." Having concluded that the Framers did not intend to deprive District residents of access to the federal courts, Justice Rutledge reasoned that the term "state" should include the District of Columbia where it is used with regard to "the civil rights of citizens."

Secondly, Bress and McGill argue that the founders considered the right to vote very important, and had no intent to deny it to residents of the District. The purpose of creating a separate jurisdiction for the seat of the federal government was to prevent any one state from exercising excessive control over the federal government, not to set up a jurisdiction where U.S. citizens didn't have full rights. The states had substantial power back then, and the problem of a conflict between the fledgling federal government and a state had already come up. The founders wanted to ensure that no one state could control the federal government, not deny elected representation to citizens.

Their argument is thorough and detailed. I suggest anyone interested in the subject read it. Me, I just want the at least the same representation in Congress that every other taxpaying citizen has. And don't tell me to move -- I shouldn't be deprived of representation just because I live where I work. Other citizens aren't.