Dreams Into Lightning 2

Lesbians Come Out of the Republican Closet

Sarah Wheaton at NYT:

In 1996, Kathryn Lehman was a soon-to-be married lawyer working for Republicans in the House of Representatives. One of her major accomplishments: helping to write the law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Today, Ms. Lehman, 53, no longer has a husband, and no longer identifies as straight. And she is a lobbyist for Freedom to Marry, which is devoted to overturning the very law she helped write, the Defense of Marriage Act.

But Ms. Lehman is still a fervent Republican.

“I’m trying to break the stereotype that all gays and lesbians, especially lesbians, are Democrats,” she said. ...

From the comments:

As a conservative lesbian who spent many of my adult years as a Left-winger and registered Democrat, I don't exactly fit the profile presented here of the closeted life-long church-going Republican who figures out she's a lesbian later in her life.

I've been out since the age of 22 and have lived through those bad old days before homosexuals became the victim class du jour. Yet, as a white middle-class woman, I would never have the audacity to describe myself as 'oppressed'.

And calling the Republican party 'the oppressor', as one commenter did, and insisting that lesbians and gays place their sexual orientation first and foremost when it comes to the complex political issues of the day is to present us to the world as two dimensional people with absolutely no other concerns about our country and our culture.

I worked with a Tea Party organization as an out lesbian and never experienced any negativity around my sexual orientation. To the contrary---I was welcomed. Yet, on the liberal side of the fence, I have had to put up with confrontation, threats, and shunning for being an out lesbian conservative.

I host a little blog that attracts conservative lesbians and gay men as well as conservative straight men and women. Some of my biggest supporters have been straight conservative men. Quite frankly, I have found more acceptance and more open-minds on the conservative side than I have ever found on the Left.

Morning Report: 2012-08-19

USA: Family Research Council shooter politically motivated. CNN: '[Floyd Lee Corkins II], 28, was reportedly a volunteer at an organization in Washington serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. CNN was unable to discern a known job or source of income for Corkin and he did not appear to leave a significant online presence. He had no significant criminal record. But a court filing Wednesday suggests that Corkins may have had something else -- an ideology. And those political leanings could have been behind the Tuesday morning shooting at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian policy group. ...'

Afghanistan / USA: Panetta wants answers from Karzai. Fox: 'Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to discuss the rising number of "insider" attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned their guns on American and other coalition troops. ...'

Iraq: Bomb injures Sunni cleric. Stratfor reports that Sheikh Mahdi al-Sumaidaie was injured in a Baghdad bombing that killed one of his bodyguards.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Supports Marriage Equality

Advocate:

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has verified her support for marriage equality to the Washington Blade, making her the first GOP member of the House to do so.

Ros-Lehtinen also became the first Republican to sign on as a co-sponsor for a bill repealing the Defense of Marriage Act — called the Respect for Marriage Act — back in September....

Kudos to Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.

SF Gay Activist Larry Brinkin Arrested on Child Porn Concerns

Advocate: 'Longtime San Francisco gay rights activist Larry Brinkin has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography, but he has yet to be formally charged. ... Police arrested Brinkin at his home Friday night. In their search warrant, police said pornographic images of very young children were embedded in messages from Brinkin’s email account, the Citizen reports. According to the paper, the search warrant also noted that some emails from his account included fantasy stories involving the rape and torture of African-American children and one contained the words “White Power! White Supremacy!” ...'

Breitbart: 'The search warrant is a comprehensive list of terribles: images of year-old infants subjected to sodomy and oral sex, and perverse racial comments (Brinkin’s email: “I loved especially the 2 year old n----- getting nailed. Hope you’ll continue so I can see what the little blond b---- is going to get. White Power! White Supremacy! White D--- Rules!”).'

Ugh.

Morning Report: 2012-06-24

Mary Cheney, Heather Poe tie the knot. 'Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has married her long-time partner Heather Poe, The Daily Caller has learned. Cheney spokeswoman Kara Ahern confirmed to TheDC that the couple married Friday morning in Washington, D.C. ...'

Egypt on alert in advance of election results. 'Egypt's ruling armed forces were on alert on Sunday as fears of violence mounted in the final hours before the state election committee is to name the winner of last weekend's presidential election at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). Mohamed Morsy of the long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood has already claimed to be the successor to the ousted Hosni Mubarak. Millions of his Islamist loyalists may react with fury if the run-off goes to Ahmed Shafik, a former general and Mubarak ally. ...'

Turkish jet issue heading for NATO. 'Ankara: Turkey said on Sunday Syria had shot down its military aircraft in international airspace on Friday without warning and declared it would formally consult its Nato allies on a reaction. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking some 48 hours after the jet was shot down near both countries’ sea borders, told state broadcaster TRT the plane had been clearly marked as Turkish and dismissed Syria’s earlier statement it had not known the plane belonged to Turkey. ...' Belmont Club:

In that context the shootdown of the Turkish jet provides yet another vector for the involvement of outside powers in the Syrian conflict. If Turkey gets more deeply involved the question will be what its goals are and who will ride in on its coat-tails

The New York Times, citing sources in Israel, write that Israeli officials now believe that a Third Intifada is imminent because the Palestinian Authority itself was at a dead-end. “The root cause of this instability is that Palestinians have lost all hope that Israel will grant them a state.” ...

The desperation of the Palestinian Authority is another way of saying that the Israeli-Arab conflict is no longer the dominant narrative of the Middle East. The Arab Spring has now shifted the basic fault line to the Sunni-Shia schism, with the conflict between old line strongmen and newly restive populations as the undercard. ...

Morning Report: 2012-06-08

Russia tests ICBM. Video at Breitbart.

Walter Russell Mead: Good news from California. At Via Meadia, electoral reform in California shakes things up; "We’ll see if this helps."

Gay pride celebrations begin in Tel Aviv. 'The streets of Tel Aviv were filled with rainbow-colored pride flags on Friday as thousands of people were taking part in the annual Gay Pride March. The festivities began at 10 a.m. with a community happening at Meir Park with musical performances, celebrity appearances and speeches by public figures such as Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz and Labor leader Shelly Yechimovich. ...'

French anti-Semitic attacker turns himself in. 'Israel Radio reported late Thursday that the lead suspect in last weekend’s anti-Semitic attacks in Lyon, France has turned himself in to police. The suspect and 10 others attacked three people as they left the Beit Menachem Jewish school on Saturday night. The French Interior ministry said the assailants wielded a hammer and an iron bar. ...'

State Department purges religious freedom from human rights reports. Via Counter Jihad Report:

The U.S. State Department removed the sections covering religious freedom from the Country Reports on Human Rights that it released on May 24, three months past the statutory deadline Congress set for the release of these reports.

The new human rights reports–purged of the sections that discuss the status of religious freedom in each of the countries covered–are also the human rights reports that cover the period that covered the Arab Spring and its aftermath.

Thus, the reports do not provide in-depth coverage of what has happened to Christians and other religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East that saw the rise of revolutionary movements in 2011 in which Islamist forces played an instrumental role. ...

Who is ...

... the hottest lesbian ever?

"I think we have to seriously doubt NOM’s sincerity."

To say the least. Ampersand at Alas comments on recently released social-conservative strategy documents:

Although there’s nothing wrong with NOM seeking Black allies and supporters, there’s something ugly about the way NOM wants to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks.” Is a bunch of white folks trying to provoke lgbt people (some of who are Black) into fights with the Black community (some of whom are gay) really what’s best for the Black community? Are they at all worried about their “wedge” being “driven” right through the families of lgbt Black people? It doesn’t seem to have occurred to them.

I’ve complained in the past that marriage equality opponents consider lgbt people instrumentally, rather than as people. Thus, opponents of marriage equality say that they oppose SSM in order to “send a message” about mothers and fathers, or to incrementally support a “marriage culture,” but they very rarely have concern for the well-being of the lgbt people whose families are being treated as post-it notes.

NOM’s attitude towards African-Americans seems similar, Black people are valued only as “spokespeople,” not as partners or equal collaborators. ...

Oh, and apparently they budgeted $50k plus bennies to find "victims" of gay parents.

UPDATE: Alana Goodman at Contentions says:

As correct as NOM may have been from a tactical standpoint (the black community’s support for Prop. 8 helped kill gay marriage in California), the ick-factor here is incredibly high. Just look at the language: NOM said it was seeking to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks”; “provoke” gay marriage supporters into “denouncing these [African American] spokesmen and women as bigots”; and “fanning the hostility raised in the wake of Prop. 8.” This isn’t the language or the vision of a noble cause, and it certainly doesn’t sound like one that supporters can feel good about belonging to.

Gay Servicemembers Celebrate End of DADT

CNN: 'The Pentagon announced the repeal of the long-controversial ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military will happen on Tuesday.' According to the article, 'no plans for any Pentagon ceremonies or events regarding the repeal have been announced.'

That's not stopping Servicemembers United from announcing celebrations in various places.

One DLI alumni group announces a "Countdown to Repeal" party at the Cannery Row Brewing Company in Monterey.

At 12:01am on September 20th (basically midnight on September 19th), “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be HISTORY! Just like the start of a new decade or the turn of the millennium, this precise moment will be historic. At midnight, an actual legal restriction will be officially lifted off the shoulders of gay, lesbian, and bisexual servicemembers. Don’t spend this milestone at home alone! Come out and join h...undreds, maybe even thousands, of other servicemembers, vets, and supporters around the country for: The “COUNTDOWN TO REPEAL” Party This is NOT a fundraiser, and there is NO “suggested donation.” This will be a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the gay military community, so come out and celebrate our historic victory with friends. There will be several special announcements from a former service member impacted by DADT about the repeal of DADT, special weekly Active Duty events and much more.

I'll be there in spirit.

Huntsman Enters GOP Primary

MSNBC: 'Calling the condition of America "totally unacceptable," former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman formally entered the 2012 Republican presidential sweepstakes on Tuesday, promising new jobs, energy independence and a simpler tax code. "Today I am a candidate for the office of president of the United States of America," Huntsman declared at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, the same site where Ronald Reagan announced his presidential candidacy in 1980.' Huntsman is seen as potentially friendly to gay rights groups; here's Independent Gay Forum from a week ago:

Let’s note that CNN didn’t invite former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson to the debate, and that likely candidate Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah and former U.S. ambassador to China, has not yet declared and so was absent. Both oppose the constitutional amendment and wouldn’t reinstate DADT.

The GOP candidates last night made a number of strong points on the catastrophic deficit growth led by President Obama and congressional Democrats, and the perils of the Democrats’ blocking efforts at (and demagogic scare-mongering over) entitlement reform. But, with the exceptions noted, their fealty to using the government to enforce anti-gay discrimination makes them unacceptable. Here’s hoping Huntsman declares soon. ...

However, notes Alana Goodman at Commentary, Huntsman may have an Iran problem:

Back in 2009, the nuclear watchdog group United Against a Nuclear Iran reportedly discovered Huntsman Corp., the family business that helped fund Huntsman’s early political career, was selling polyurethane from its Tehran-based subsidiary. The watchdog was concerned the polyurethane could be used to build weapons and sent the following letter to the corporation:

“How can it be that Ambassador Huntsman could persuade the Chinese government to impose further economic sanctions on Iran when his namesake former company continues to do business in Iran?” read the letter from United Against a Nuclear Iran, a nonpartisan group founded by the late diplomat Richard Holbrooke and veteran Mideast envoy Dennis Ross.

The subsidiary closed shop under pressure in 2010, though Huntsman had already divested completely from the business back in 2005. But the multi-billion dollar corporation, which is still controlled by members of the Huntsman family and is swiftly expanding its reach in Asia, may become an issue for the presidential hopeful.

Perhaps most disconcerting is Huntsman Corp.’s current view on sanctions. Huntsman’s brother Peter now runs the company ...