SC colleges win round over legislators with regards to gay issues

Two South Carolina colleges supposedly in budgetary trouble with the state legislature over gay issues got some very good news yesterday.

From The State:

Senate budget writers voted Wednesday to restore about $70,000 in state money to two S.C. colleges, money the S.C. House voted to cut for assigning gay-themed books. The Senate’s Finance Committee voted 11-7 to restore the money to the budgets of the University of South Carolina-Upstate and the College of Charleston.By removing the money, critics said legislators improperly had interfered with the academic freedom of higher education institutions.

The money had been initially taken away as a sort of punishment because the two colleges offered books featuring gay-themed issues for students to read. Legislators labeled one book, Fun Home, as pornographic and said the other, Outloud: The Best of Rainbow Radio, didn't represent South Carolina values.  The controversy was exacerbated over a now-canceled lecture which one legislator claimed was to "recruit" students into being gay. Needless to say, the entire ado became national with many weighing in and it's safe to say that the majority of folks were not on the side of the legislators. Even South Carolina's governor, Nikki Haley, defended the colleges.

One legislator, who supported the removal of the monies, voiced his weariness of the entire situation.

State Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, who supported the House’s decision to cut the money, said the controversy has been uncomfortable for those who support higher education. “I’m tired of throwing rocks,” Fair said, adding he thought the universities made efforts to respond to lawmakers’ concerns.

Still, according to The State, Fair voted against restoring the money.  In addition, the issue is not over just yet. There will be a joint House/Senate conference committee which will debate the final budget.

So what happens next is anyone's guess.

Related posts:

For SC State Senator Mike Fair, it's all about 'gay sex'

South Carolina's 'Axis of Jackasses' threatens higher education over lgbt issues

Fox News accused of keeping anchor Shepard Smith 'in the closet'

Shepard Smith

Now you KNOW I don't spread rumors . . . oh what the hell:

From The Gawker:

Why hasn’t Shepard Smith come out yet? The affable Fox News anchor has a longtime boyfriend, ranks among Fox’s most senior talent, and lives in New York City. It could be, of course, that he’s just a very private person, or—as the Times argued in October—that public attitudes have changed and nobody cares if a famous figure is gay.

Or it could be that, when Smith tried to come out last year, Fox silenced and punished him. In the summer of 2013, according to multiple sources with knowledge of their exchange, Shepard Smith approached Fox News president Roger Ailes about publicly coming out. The newly attached anchor was eager, at the time, to finally acknowledge his sexuality. “It’s time,” he told Ailes and other colleagues. “It’s time.”

Instead, Ailes informed Smith that the network’s famously conservative audience would not tolerate a gay news anchor. Ailes’ answer was definitive: Smith could not say he’s gay. “This came up during contract negotiations,” a Fox insider told Gawker. “Shep wanted to and was ready to come out, and Roger just said no.”

Smith, one of Ailes’s first and most loyal disciples, acquiesced to his boss’s demand, and dropped the matter. But the discussion worried enough Fox executives to prompt Smith’s removal, in September 2013, from the channel’s coveted prime-time lineup. According to a Fox insider with direct knowledge of negotiations, Smith’s desire to come out was a large factor in the dramatic move.

You can read more of the story here, including the following statement from Ailes and Smith:

This story is 100% false and a complete fabrication. As colleagues and close friends at Fox News for 18 years, our relationship has always been rooted in a mutual respect, deep admiration, loyalty, trust, and full support both professionally and personally.

'One picture demonstrates the ugliness of homophobia' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Picture a future where the signs will include African-Americans or Jewish people. We have already gone through a past in which segregation wrecked a community's power to move forward. Do folks really want to go back to that?  Imagine what viewing this could do to an lgbt child or a child with lgbt parents.

Picture from and more details courtesy of  Kentucky Print Stop: We Still Hate Gays, But We've Taken Down That Sticker

In other news

MILESTONE: US Dept. of Education. Announces Title IX Protects Transgender Students - It's about time.

The One Religious Liberty Case Anti-Gay Conservatives Want To Ignore - They want to ignore this lawsuit because it's making them nervous. It takes the idea of "religious liberty" and puts it on the side of lgbt-inclusive churches.

Watch A Transgender Activist Ask A Television Host To Prove Her Womanhood - This interview - which could also be used with men - proves a good point.

A Gay Dad Recognizes His Real Life In Nabisco's Inclusive Honey Maid Ad - I apologize for not including more stories like this one. The stories of gay families need to be told often.

Blast from the past - NOM's 'wedge strategy' paves the way for the group's irrelevancy

Rumor control has it that former NOM head Maggie Gallagher continues to resurface now and again as a prophet of doom to her side of the marriage equality argument. Apparently she is constantly saying that those against marriage equality have lost the argument.

With that in mind, enjoy this video of what I consider a turning point of NOM's past dominance of the marriage equality fight. In 2012, it was discovered, via court documents, that the organization had planned to play the black and gay community against one another on the subject of marriage equality. The ultimate goal was to cause a problem for President Obama in his upcoming re-election.

When news of this came out, NOM was thrown for a serious loop and the organization didn't respond to the news for a couple of days. Here is Gallagher trying to play it off on MSNBC in one of her first interviews after the news of the wedge strategy came out:

NOM offering anti-gay swag for the tacky buyer

How's this for a gag gift in that it's guaranteed to make you gag:

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper of Goodasyou for the heads up about the NOM swag. Jeremy said he would rather go naked than wear NOM.

I won't go so far as to say that. After all, no one should be punished by having their eyeballs melted out of their heads because of NOM.

'Shirley Dobson using National Day of Prayer to attack marriage equality' & other Tuesday midday new briefs

Shirley Dobson promotes National Day of Prayer by framing marriage equality as 'evil' - I am all for a National Day of Prayer. Talking to God is a main reason why I was able to accept myself as a gay man. However, someone needs to get Shirley Dobson's hooks off of this event. Is there one event people like her won't use to attack lgbts? And another thing, I am so damn tired of this "God is going to punish America if we don't turn back to Him" crap I am constantly hearing from these people. I'm serious. I've heard this stuff from these folks so much that I don't know what to do. To paraphrase the late Rod Serling, folks like Shirley Dobson has had America on death's door so long that the country has worn out the welcome mat. 

Kenya Might As Well Be Uganda For Many LGBT Refugees - Now see, this is what we need to be praying about. Somehow I think God cares more about how we treat each other instead of marriage equality.  

Texas School Removes Transgender Teacher From Classroom After Parents Complain - I guess we didn't win this one.  

Don't let the religious right whitewash their history of anti-gay oppression - From time to time, I will feature something I had already posted because I think it's important that people read it. This one of those times.  

National Organization for Marriage Now Struggling to Stay Relevant (VIDEO) -  I'm not celebrating until Brian Brown says "give."

BarbWire's New Columnist Wants Gays Jailed For Twelve Years - Cause if we aren't, God is going to destroy America.

Don't let the religious right whitewash their history of anti-gay oppression

The anti-gay group Concerned Women for America is furious at the National Women's History Museum Project. According to Right Wing Watch, the group is especially angry that there is no mention of religious right activists, particularly its founder, Beverly LaHaye.

On that score, I say that Concerned Women for America has a point. LaHaye should be mentioned. But not in the way the organization thinks she should. No doubt, CWA would like LaHaye to be mentioned as a champion of so-called "traditional values" and the family.

However, I have a much better item which perfectly captures LaHaye's contribution to American society:

 

Readers of this blog should be familiar with the above booklet.

'Plan to cut money from colleges over gay issues may hit roadblock in SC Senate' and other Monday midday news briefs

Proposed cuts to S.C. colleges over ‘gay books’ face opposition in Senate - Keep your fingers crossed. 

Baby dies after being taken away from lesbian couple days before adoption - There are simply no words for this.  

Church Files Suit For Right To Perform Same-Sex Marriages In North Carolina - I like this twist in the marriage equality argument. 

For transgender service members, honesty can end career - An important, poignant article.

 A Response to Rev. Franklin Graham - A well-deserved smack in the face to homophobia hiding itself behind religious beliefs.

Brendan Eich vs. Donald Sterling - Is there a difference?

Eich

I was going to write about this but John Aravosis on Americablog articulated this point so well that I will post a little of what he said instead:

It was only a few weeks ago that America was lecturing the gay community about its intolerance for intolerance, for objecting to a bigot (in fact, an anti-gay activist, Brendan Eich) running a major American corporation (in this case, the Mozilla Foundation).

Republicans, including gay conservatives, were particularly upset that anyone would judge a man’s job performance, especially the man running a company, by his personal animus towards minorities, many of whom would be his own employees.  So long as he didn’t discriminate against his own employees, he was free to be a bigot, they told us.

Now, they’re all eating crow.

.

Sterling

Today, even conservatives are saying (on CNN) that the NBA simply must investigate whether the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, Donald Sterling, made racist remarks to his girlfriend, who is black and Mexican.

 . . .  It was only a hypothetical less than a month ago – the question, “what if” the guy running the company were a racist, or an anti-Semite?  . . .  No one is running to Donald Sterling’s defense (though Cliven Bundy, another forgotten “free speech hero,” has yet to weigh in).  No one is defending America’s “proud tradition” of defending the employment prospects of avowed racists.  Nor should they.  And even if, as Sterling alleges, the audio is a fake, America’s reaction to the audio was authentic, and universally critical.

Aravosis raises some good points and they deserve a lot more thought and discussion.

Know Your LGBT History - The AIDS Memorial Quilt

From the NAMES Project Foundation:

Established in 1987, The NAMES Project Foundation is the international NGO (non-governmental organization) that is the custodian of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, an official American treasure.The mission of The NAMES Project Foundation is to preserve, care for and use The AIDS Memorial Quilt to foster healing, heighten awareness, and inspire action in the age of AIDS. Specifically, The NAMES Project works to display The Quilt in nearly 1,000 venues each year, to conserve and care for the aging 54-ton tapestry and it’s half a million piece archive, and to encourage and support the creation of new Quilt panels for this ever-evolving handmade memorial.

Weighing 54 tons and composed of more than 48,000 panels dedicated to more than 94,000 individuals, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is the premier symbol of the AIDS pandemic, our greatest HIV prevention education tool and the largest ongoing piece of community folk art in the world. Throughout its 25 year history, The Quilt has been used to fight prejudice, raise awareness and funding, as a means to link hands with the global community in the fight against AIDS.

Whether The Quilt is displayed as a single section in an elementary school or 1,000 of blocks on the national mall in Washington, it provides balm for the painful wounds of grief, pours oil into the waters made turbulent by controversy, opens eyes that refuse to see and enlists every person who experiences it to play a role in stopping the pandemic.

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

Mississippi business owners not happy with state's anti-gay law' and other Friday midday news briefs

Fox News' Anti-Gay Selective Outrage In One Chart - To the surprise of no one . . .  

Idaho Won’t Allow Lesbian Veteran To Be Buried With Her Wife - This is a damn travesty. Point blank.

Mississippi Business Owners Protest State's Anti-Gay Law - Good for them!  

Stamping his feats: Randy Thomasson equates Harvey Milk with disasters - Dear religious right, Harvey Milk will be remembered as a legendary figure in American history and there is not a thing you can do about it.  

Committee decides to keep ‘Two Boys Kissing’ on school library shelves - Good. A community does the right thing.

Crystal Moore firing igniting a much-needed national conversation on ENDA

Over a week after she was fired, the case involving former Latta, SC police chief Crystal Moore has ignited a very appropriate national conversation over the need for lgbt-inclusive anti-discrimination laws. It's one thing to tell folks that people can be fire for simply being an lgbt. That doesn't seem to register in their heads. However, to see a case in living color where this sort of thing is happening registers with them big time.

As seen by the above interview with MSNBC host Craig Melvin, Moore is an intelligent, articulate woman who only wanted to do her job before caught in this controversy. Unfortunately she has now become a statistic of unfairness as seen by the graphic below:

'Anti-gay leader - America needs a crackdown on gays just like Russia' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Those have read this blog recently know that I am concerned with the attempt by anti-groups and personalities to portray themselves as innocent folks beset by an aggressively encroaching lgbt horde out to force their beliefs on them via the guise of "tolerance." Part of the reason why the re-imaging may be successful is the lack of attention when it comes to videos like above. When a spokesman in one of the largest religious right groups in the country expresses a public desire for laws which will basically imprison people for being lgbt, that's a big deal. Particularly when one considers how many Congressional leaders has appeared on this man's show. But to us, it's not. It's either because we have heard it so much that we have become desensitized or we just don't get the power of words. But whatever the case is, we have got to stop being nonchalant. No matter how they attempt to portray themselves, anti-gay groups can't get away from the rhetoric. They can't get away from the nasty words of the Linda Harveys, the Matt Barbers, or even the Bryan Fischers. But they can hide it, if we allow them. And so far, we have been doing a good job at that.  Those who whine about why folks like these three are given platforms obviously don't understand the power of the word. And they definitely don't understand when an enemy offers to hangs him or herself

In other news

Robert Oscar Lopez says I perform 'psychological operations routine' on him when I quote his own words from his own web site -  Robert Oscar Lopez likes to venomously slam same-sex families. However, he despises it when folks quote his comments.
 
How A New Book About Gay Christians Is Reviving Evangelical Homophobia - After all of the fuss they have been raising about "religious liberty," I have been enjoying anti-gay folks turn flips in order to justify their breach of "religious liberty."

Ugandan Health Workers Could Become Front-Line Enforcers Of Anti-Homosexuality Act - This move would be devastating to Uganda's public health. It's sad when folks don't realize just how much danger their homophobia puts them in.

Gay business owners still face challenges - The segment of the working population seems to be falling through the cracks and I don't think an anti-discrimination law can help them.

Marriage equality victories could damage lgbt community's focus

Eich

What's with some members of the lgbt community in that we seem to be determined to pull a defeat out of the jaws of victory. In the middle of stunning marriage equality victories, bothersome things are coming up.

No doubt some of you have heard of the Brendan Eich situation. Eich was the CEO of Mozilla who resigned recently. There were a multitude of reasons for his resignation and it was mostly due to internal pressure.

However one thing which stood out was a $1,000 donation Eich gave in support of Prop 8, the now defunct law which kept gays and lesbians from legal marriage in California.

The sexy angle is that lgbts targeted Eich and brought made him resign. This time, unfortunately, it wasn't just the anti-gay right pushing it. Some folks, such as Chris Hayes from MSNBC pushed the angle.

And now comes this letter, which will be thrown in our faces. From John Becker at Bilerico:

A coalition of 58 LGBT people and allies -- most of them conservatives or libertarians -- came out with a statement today on the resignation of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. Mr. Eich, you'll recall, voluntarily stepped down earlier this month amidst public outcry over donations he made to the viciously homophobic Proposition 8 campaign and various anti-gay politicians. The statement, titled "Freedom to Marry, Freedom to Dissent," desperately tries to revive the lie that Eich was targeted and toppled by LGBT activists -- a victim of "left-liberal" "intolerance," as Andrew Sullivan so hysterically claimed. The truth, of course, is much different: not a single LGBT organization commented publicly on the controversy at all, much less called for Eich's ouster. The campaign against Eich was concentrated almost exclusively within the tech community and was driven largely by Mozilla staffers and developers. 

Becker is correct. And his assertion is backed up by a very good New Yorker article on the matter,  How Mozilla Lost Its CEO. One part really stands out for me:

The problem was that Eich’s stance was unacceptable in Silicon Valley, a region of the business world where social liberalism is close to a universal ideology. At this point, a tech company having a C.E.O. who opposes gay marriage is not all that different from a company in 1973 having a C.E.O. who donated money to fight interracial marriage: even if there were plenty of Americans who felt the same way at the time, the C.E.O. would still have been on the wrong side of history. And since the role of a C.E.O. as a public face of an organization is more important than ever these days, Eich’s personal views were inevitably going to shape his ability to run the company.

Other than a petition and comments on various blogs, there was no organized plan to oust Eich. No major lgbt organization called for his resignation.  And as I understand it, no major lgbt blogs did either. There is no other way to put this. The letter calling for "tolerance" was a dumb move because it unfairly brands the lgbt community.

SC Governor Haley defends colleges feuding with legislators over lgbt issues.

I simply have to give props to SC Governor Nikki Haley. I'm still shocked because I never expected her to take a position on this issue, but on the hand, it's a relatively easy position to take:

Gov Haley

From South Carolina Radio Network:

Governor Nikki Haley today shared her opinion of state lawmakers punishing public colleges for course content they find offensive.

“There are boards of colleges for a reason. We allow the boards and we allow the presidents make those decisions,” Gov. Haley said. ”I have never micromanaged how any college or university does anything.”

State Rep. Garry Smith, R-Greenville, and State Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville support targeted funding in the state budget for the College of Charleston and USC-Upstate for using gay-themed literature and plays. Fair said a satirical performance entitled, “How To Be A Lesbian In 10 Days Or Less,” presented by USC Upstate was “recruiting lesbians.”

 . . . South Carolina Radio Network asked Haley if she felt it was appropriate to penalize colleges for what they decide to offer their students.

“That’s a board decision, it’s not a state decision,” Haley said. “So when it comes to things of higher ed, that’s the reason we have a board. That’s the reason we have a president. That’s the reason we should let them make the decisions that are in the best interests of their students.”

'Anti-gay publication makes the case for lgbt equality' & Wednesday midday news briefs

While the lgbt community is slowly but surely making the case for equality in both marriage and anti-discrimination laws, some of our opposition are either freaking out or doing our jobs for us.  The following graphics from newly minted anti-gay news site, BarbWire, represents a little from Column A and a little from Column B:

For commentary about just how low BarbWire is stooping, see Matt Barber's ever-classy site suggests gay people are literally crushing fellow humans

In other news

Norman Spack Delivers Ted Talk On Transgender Teens - I love this video. It is definitely needed. 

 12 States Still Have Anti-Sodomy Laws A Decade After They Were Ruled Unconstitutional - Can you say "hot mess, boys and girls." Unfortunately South Carolina is one of the states. Of course if SC truly began trying to arrest folks for sodomy . . . . my lips are sealed. 

 Happy ending in the works for fired Latta police chief as mayor continues to lose support - Speaking of South Carolina, my post from last night because it bears repeating.  

World Bank Review Team To Recommend Approving Loan To Uganda Despite Anti-Homosexuality Act - Never forget that lgbt equality is a worldwide struggle.

Politifact blasts homophobic claim about same-sex households as false

Ralph Reed

Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed's statement Sunday on ABC's This Week:

"This is about what's best for children here in the United States. And the social science is irrefutable. And it is that a child who grows up in a home without the mother and father present and they both play very unique procreative, nurturing and socializing role, they're nine times more likely to end up dropping out of high school. They're five times more likely to end up in poverty. And they're three times more likely to end up addicted to drugs and alcohol."

Politifact:

The social science statistics Reed called "irrefutable" actually have nothing to do with gay couples raising kids. Instead, they’re focused on the effects of children who grow up without a father in a one-parent household. Put another way, the studies focus on the quantity of parents and not their gender.

Reed’s office pointed us to his book, as well as a Brookings Institution report that says parents who graduate from high school and bear children within marriage have a 2 percent chance of living in poverty. But neither the study nor his book draws any comparison between gay and straight marriages. In fact, it makes no mention of gay marriages.

Other research often cited by gay parenting critics, like Sara McLanahan’s Growing Up With a Single Parent, similarly doesn’t include any information on gay parenting, specifically.

Happy ending in the works for fired Latta police chief as mayor continues to lose support

Crystal Moore

It looks like Crystal Moore, the former police chief of Latta, SC who was fired allegedly due to her sexual orientation has just won yet another round against the man who fired her, Mayor Earl Bullard.

This just came in from WBTW News 13:

The Latta Town Council voted unanimously in two key measures Tuesday night in support of fired Police Chief Crystal Moore. The council was having an emergency meeting to address the firing of Moore last week by Mayor Earl Bullard.

Since her firing, there has been a landslide of support for Moore – and questions from townsfolk if she was fired because she is openly gay. The council voted 6-0 on an “emergency ordinance” that blocks the Mayor from hiring anyone to fill the police chief job for about two months.

Last week, the council voted to allow a town-wide referendum in 60 days on whether to change the basic governing structure of the town from “mayor-strong” to “council-strong” – which would strip some powers from the Mayor.

Council members say that if the town becomes council-strong-mayor-weak within 60 days they will vote to re-hire Chief Moore.

According to WBTW News 13, the council also held a second vote to show support to Moore for her 20 years of service. While that vote was symbolic, it passed 6-0.

Moore's firing last week ignited a huge worldwide media storm which was exacerbated by an audio of a phone conversation where Bullard made several homophobic comments, including saying that he would have an alcoholic take care of his child than a gay or lesbian:

And while it may take some time for Moore to get her job back, she continues to garner a lot of the support from the community while Bullard continues to steadily lose popularity.

'Another so-called victim of gay menace loses in the courts' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

 Gallaudet College Officer Loses Bias Claim - Looks like the anti-gay industry has lost another victim of the supposed "homosexual agenda." Of course I doubt her losing her case will prevent them from portraying her as a martyr. Peter and company will continue to refer to her case and put her picture on their webpages. 

The rise of toxic terminology: Losing anti-LGBT movement turns to corrosive labeling - This article makes an excellent point. The number of times anti-gay figures have referred to the lgbt community as the "Gaystapo" recently has been nauseating and numerous. It has also been part of a plan to semantically shift the argument of lgbt equality in their favor.

Fox's O'Reilly: If "You Oppose Gay Marriage, You Could Get Hurt" - O'Reilly gets a good push back against his lies.

Cable Evening News Ignores Major HIV/AIDS Stories - There really is NO excuse for this.  

Illinois Family Institute: Exposing 'Evil' Dan Savage Is Like Uncovering The Holocaust - Lord, give me strength! The constant Nazi references from the anti-gay right is getting me ill.

Controversial lgbt play a huge hit at the College of Charleston

The controversy at the College of Charleston involving lgbt issues has been a back and forth between the legislators and college. Last night however,  students finally spoke out about the situation in their own way:

From the Charleston Post & Courier:

"Fun Home" author Alison Bechdel said she owes a debt to the generations of gay people who came before her, including her closeted, gay father who killed himself.

And she was proud to be part of bringing to Charleston the off-Broadway show based on her book, despite threats from South Carolina lawmakers that they could continue to slash the College of Charleston's budget.

Bechdel and the original cast of the New York show volunteered to present two performances in concert format at the 750-seat Memminger Auditorium Monday. The 7 p.m. show sold out and most seats for the 9 p.m. show also were filled.