Asterisk

The dust from last November and this year’s marriage victories is settling, and the place of blogs in the discussion is undeniable. I’ve been wondering, though, what I bring to the table through this blog. Is there anything at Asterisk that readers can’t (and don’t) get elsewhere or am I just talking because I have to post something?

As I was struggling to put my thoughts together for this post, another blogger (Chris Geidner, who you should be reading) pointed out something that I’ve noticed: There’s a lot of repetition coming from the LGBT blogs. Today’s win on the Matthew Shepard Act was reported by no less than five important blogs within a few minutes of the vote. As Geidner pointed out, this duplication of efforts seems like a waste of resources.

I’m thankful that I don’t have to worry about mentioning every news bulletin because of blogs like Joe.My.God and Towleroad (Sorry, Queerty, no pr0n at work). I’m relieved that I don’t have to take on the hate mongers every day now that Jeremy at Good-As-You, Alvin at Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and the gang at Box Turtle Bulletin have agreed to take on that part of the battle. And I’m grateful that other bloggers like Thomas Waters and David Mailloux talk about their individual efforts, giving me the urge to keep going.

So I’m recalibrating. Instead of trying to grab every news item, I’ll be more selective in my posting. You may see a little less of me in your RSS reader (you do have a subscription, right? RIGHT?), but hopefully it’ll mean more when I’m there.

We don’t want to lose the energy that our community found last November, but my hope is that we’ll all find ways to be better coordinated. I’m hopeful that Asterisk will become a more substantive space in the coming weeks and months. I hope you’ll stick around and join in the conversation!

I really do. I feel bad for Pat Buchanan because so many others in his generation have died and left him to defend bigotry on his own. That must be frustrating.

Buchanan appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show last night to talk about the confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. It’s one of the most uncomfortable and revealing thirteen minutes of television I’ve seen in a long time. Others have chopped it into bits for easier consumption, but here’s the entire segment:

Buchanan appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews the previous night. The last couple minutes have been making the rounds, but I find the preceding ten minutes far more edifying. Throughout the segment, Buchanan actively ignores facts and points of law brought to the show by John Payton, President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Some time ago I read a quote from Martin Luther King about a conversation he had with an older segregationist who said that he knew segregation was coming to an end, but that he hoped it happened after he died. Pat Buchanan is in the same place, stuck in a time when calling an African American “boy” was not just commonplace, but expected, when a Latina woman was good for washing clothes and not much else.

He’s honestly thunderstruck, with no purposeful malice intended. The thought that a recalibration of the scales of opportunity positively benefits society is beyond him, proof and reason be damned. He seriously believes that Sotomayor’s studying and improving her second-language English in college means that she was illiterate.

In fifty years, I wonder who will carry on for Maggie Gallagher. I wonder who will take to the airwaves and spew long-discarded nonsense when Sally Kern is gone. I wonder whose abject bigotry our children’s children will be surprised by when James Dobson has long since passed away.

Whoever it is, I don’t envy them.

The Washington Blade just published this report:

A grand jury has indicted a man who allegedly killed a gay man last year in D.C. with misdemeanor assault.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick Weisberg on Thursday informed Robert Lee Hanna, a D.C. resident, that a grand jury indicted him with the charge of misdemeanor assault for the crime. Hanna’s lawyers entered a plea of not guilty. The case was placed on the calendar of Judge Rafael Diaz for a subsequent court appearance Aug. 17.

On Sept. 7, Tony Randolph Hunter, a gay Maryland man, was allegedly attacked near the bar then known as BeBar, which is now EFN Lounge.

Police found Hunter lying unconscious on the street minutes after noticing an altercation a few blocks from where they were on patrol. Hunter remained unconscious for 10 days at Howard University Hospital before he died Sept. 17.

Police arrested Hanna Oct. 15 for voluntary manslaughter in connection with Hunter’s death. Hanna told police he punched Hunter only after Hunter grabbed his buttocks and crotch, according to an Oct. 16 police affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court.

The Gay Panic Defense is a powerful weapon that straight defendants and defense attorneys are going to continue to wield. They use it because, as we’ve seen in the last few weeks, it works stunningly well.

Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough’s co-host on Morning Joe (sponsored by Starbucks) cut him short (she’s the smart one), but yeah.

0:54

SCARBOROUGH: It’s a bit dainty, I’m just going to say it.

This probably wouldn’t be that big a deal if it weren’t for Scarborough’s history on this kind of thing. From March 31, 2008, after then-Candidate Obama went bowling at a campaign stop:

(I decided not to catalog all the times Scarborough said “Wheee!”)

0:00

SCARBOROUGH: You know, Willie, the thing is, Americans want their president, if it’s a man, to be a real man.

0:46

SCARBOROUGH: You get 150, you’re a man –

BRZEZINSKI: OK.

SCARBOROUGH: — or a good woman.

1:03

SCARBOROUGH: Baby, if you go to Altoona, Pennsylvania, on a Saturday night and you’re going to try to bowl — Oh, that’s so dainty. Ugh.

1:57

FORD: He probably shouldn’t do that again, but I tell you, it showed a human side to him. I mean, it showed a very humble side to him.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.

BRZEZINSKI: He is a politician.

SCARBOROUGH: A very human side? A prissy side.

Why is it homophobic? Because “dainty”, “prissy”, and “not a real man” are just standards-approved versions of “fuckin’ faggot.”

(Thanks to Media Matters for the heads up.)

Update: Rush Limbaugh had the same reaction to the pitch, saying “he throws like a girl”. Seriously, what’s up with these guys worrying about how well the president can throw?

At the General Convention of the Episcopal Church yesterday, the House of Deputies overwhelmingly approved a resolution overriding a three-year hold on election of LGBT bishops. The 2006 resolution was a response to the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, who I’ve talked about before.

Instead of trying failing to explain what this is all about, how about if offer words from two sources that are intimately familiar with the particulars? First up is a press release from Integrity^USA, the LGBT advocacy group for the Episcopal Church.

In a special session today, the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church approved a resolution, 151 to 66, which effectively overrides the three-year ban on gay bishops within the church. The gently-worded resolution, DO25, affirms Episcopal membership in the Anglican Communion while declaring that all orders of ministry, including the episcopate, are open to the LGBT baptized of the church. The resolution now goes to the House of Bishops where it is not expected to receive an overly warm reception.

“We were reminded today of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent words to us that ‘there is no unity without truth.’ Today the clergy and laity of The Episcopal Church voted for both truth and unity by a wide margin,” said The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity^USA.

DO25 is the first resolution the House of Deputies has considered regarding the consecration of LGBT bishops within the Episcopal Church since the last general convention in 2006. At that gathering in Columbus, OH, in the waning hours of the 10-day event, then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold pressured both governing bodies of the church to pass resolution BO33 which placed a moratorium on the consecration of additional gay bishops and on same-gender blessings. The action was in response to the election in 2003 of The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Anglican bishops, primarily in Africa and South America, were outraged over Bishop Robinson’s consecration and threatened the Episcopal Church’s continued membership in the Anglican Communion. BO33 was an attempt to mollify that outrage, but caused problems at home with the LGBT faithful and their supporters. At this year’s convention, numerous resolutions have been proposed to rectify or revoke BO33 and LGBT issues have garnered more attention than any other matter before the legislative body.

“We call on our bishops to affirm that we are a church ready to move forward in mission and ministry by joining the deputies and concurring with this vote,” Russell said.

Next and finally, Rev. Richard Helmer gives a bit of commentary on what this means to the Episcopal Church (excerpted from Episcopal Café)

D025 re-anchors our orders at every level in the centrality of our baptism in Christ Jesus; our reliance on the Spirit in the midst of community to draw out the best gifts of all our members, gay or straight, celibate or living in covenanted relationship. Without rancor, it also affirms our love for the Anglican Communion – a reflection of our heart for Anglican ministry around the world and our commitment to upholding it in every way we can. But this support and participation is no longer offered by our trying to be something we’re not. Rather D025 offers commitment of our authentic selves, with all our differences, as a Church – as a diverse Body of Christians on mission both locally and globally.

While D025 still faces an uncertain future in the House of Bishops, I believe that the House of Deputies has taken a major step forward for the life of The Episcopal Church and honest relationship in the Anglican Communion. In doing so, we have sent a clear message about both our identity and calling – one that will not be easily dismissed or undermined.

As I was departing the House, which adjourned about fifteen minutes late this evening, I happened by God’s grace upon The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson at the back of the hall. He had stepped into the guest section shortly after the House of Bishops had adjourned. Smiling, we embraced, and I said, “I think this house is on solid ground again.”

He agreed.

By a nearly 2-1 margin, the bishops of the Episcopal Church passed an amended version of resolution D025, which effectively ends the “BO33 Era” and returns the church to relying on its canons and discernment processes for the election of bishops. “While concurrence on the amended resolution by the House of Deputies is necessary before it is officially adopted by the church as a whole,” said Integrity President Susan Russell, “there is no question that today’s vote in the House of Bishops was an historic move forward and a great day for all who support the full inclusion of all the baptized in the Body of Christ.”

“It was a tremendous privilege to be a witness to the courage and candor of the bishops who spoke truth to each other and to us–and who called the Episcopal Church to speak our truth to our Anglican Communion brothers and sisters and to the world.

“The truth is we are a church committed to mission–we are a church committed to the full inclusion of all the baptized in that mission–and we are a church committed to creating as broad a place to stand as possible for ALL who wish to be part of this great adventure of being disciples of Jesus.

“In this carefully constructed and prayerfully considered resolution, our Presiding Bishop got what she both asked for and voted for: a positive statement about where we are as a church in 2009–a church striving to actually become the church former Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning called us to be nearly 20 years ago now…a church where there are no outcasts.”

“The debate on the floor of the House of Bishops made it VERY clear that our bishops knew exactly what they were doing when they passed this by a nearly 2-1 margin. The resolution passed today by the House of Bishops was another step in the Episcopal Church’s ‘coming out’ process–and it sends a strong ‘come and see’ message to anyone looking for a faith community where God’s inclusive love is not just proclaimed but practiced.”

Thanks and congratulations to the people of the Episcopal Church. Your leadership in the area of LGBT acceptance is so important to those of us working in other denominations.