President's Wife Elected President In Argentina

First Lady and Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the 54-year-old wife of Nestor Kirchner, the current president of Argentina, became the first woman elected president of the country on Sunday by winning 45% of the vote, at least 20 percentage points of her nearest rival (who also was female) in a multi-candidate field.

Often called the "Hillary Clinton of South America," Fernández mentioned the Democratic frontrunner for the U.S. Presidential nomination in her first press conference while acknowledging the similarities between the two: Both are senators and lawyers who accompanied husbands from obscure state governorships as they rose to the presidency.

Fernández will be inaugurated December 10.

According to The Bilerico Project, one of the President-elect's strongest supporters in the Argentine legislature is also the sponsor of a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Argentina and argues that Fernandez' election augurs well for the LGBT community in Argentina. According to election results the First Lady did NOT do as well in the urban areas of the country, especially Buenos Aires where one would expect members of the LGBT community are over-represented.

Nip/Tuck Season 5 Starts Tonight; Writers Strike Looms

Thank god! Heroes has been disappointing, Bionic Woman is laughably bad, Grey's Anatomy

has been underwhelming, but relatively enjoyable. Honestly, the most enjoyable show I have been watching are Damages (whose season is now complete) and ER which is consistently involving after all these days. Now that Survivor: China is going into the merge I may check that out for as many shirtless shots of African American muscle boy James as I can get, but besides that the TV season has been bleak.

That may be why the screenwriters guild has authorized a strike, which may happen very soon after the stroke of midnight on Halloween, Wednesday October 31. This will be the first Hollywood work stoppage since 1988 whivch lasted for 5 months and severelydamaged several televisions shows and resulted in a lot of "schlocky" movies being in theaters.

Stay tuned, because if the writers do strike, our bad television season will only get much much worse. Games shows and reality shows, all the time.

Georgia Teen Imprisoned For Consensual Sex Act Freed

Genarlow Wilson, a now 21-year old African American man who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for aggravated child molestation for having oral sex at age 17 with a 15-year old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party has been freed by the Georgia Supreme Court which ruled in a 4-3 decision released Friday October 26th his sentence violated the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment prohibition of Cruel and Unusual Punishments.

Wilson, who was a star athlete (homecoming king) and college-bound senior with a GPA of 3.2 at the time of the videotaped incident had served nearly 3 years (32 months!) of his 10-year sentence and recently refused plea deals by the district attorney because they would have forced him to register as sex offender and prevented him from living at home with his 9-year old sister.


According to Georgia Law at the time of the 2005 jury trial and conviction, a 15-year old was below the age of consent of 16 and thus could not legally have consented to sexual relations with anyone. In response to the hue and cry over the Genarlow Wilson case, the Georgia Legislature in 2006 had included a "Romeo and Juliet" provision in the law which would prevent teenagers from being charged for having consensual sex with each other and changed the statute he was convicted under to a misdemeanor. However that new law could not be applied retroactively to Wilson so he would have to wait for either the courts or the District Attorney or Attorney General to act. Both legal officials acted to prolong Wilson's time in jail. The Attorney General of Georgia is Thurbert Baker, the highest African American elected official in the State.


Wilson said he felt no "negative energy" towards Douglas County District Attorney David McDade but instead is looking forward to going to college in majoring in sociology because he feels like he has been "living his major."

LA TIMES Editorializes In Favor Of Exclusionary Legislation

The Los Angeles Times has a peculiar editorial in Monday's edition which argues that the federal hate crimes act (H.R. 1592) which passed both houses of Congress is too inclusive. Not because it includes protected categories of sexual orientation and gender identity, but because it includes gender and disability!

The U.S. Senate has joined the House in voting to expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include acts of violence inspired by a victim's sexual orientation. Yet by declining to curb some of the House bill's excesses, the Senate may have assured its failure.

The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named after the gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten to death in 1998, is a well-meaning but over-broad bill that is probably headed for a presidential veto -- if it gets that far. The Senate unwisely attached it to a defense funding authorization from which it could easily be stripped in a conference committee.

The Justice Department already includes anti-gay attacks in its hate-crime statistics. But when it comes to federal assistance for state and local prosecutions, the definition of a hate crime is narrower, encompassing crimes motivated by a victim's race, color, religion or national origin, but not by a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity. The legislation approved by both houses would rectify that unconscionable omission. The problem is that it goes further, extending the definition to crimes based on gender or disability. That could give President Bush a pretext for vetoing legislation opposed by his conservative base.

Obviously, acts of violence or intimidation should be prosecuted aggressively regardless of the motive, and no doubt some are motivated by hatred of men or women or even (though this is hard to imagine) of disabled people. But such crimes are rare. According to the FBI, less than 1% of hate crimes in 2005 reflected a bias against the disabled. The FBI doesn't keep count of gender-bias crimes, but California does. In 2006, "hate crime events" involving gender and disability combined accounted for only 0.8% of incidents, compared to 18.8% of incidents motivated by the victim's sexual orientation.

Evidence abounds that, like racial minorities, gay Americans are subjected to violence because of who they are. In 2005, according to the FBI, 14.2% of "single-bias" incidents involved sexual-orientation bias. That's less than the 54.7% attributed to racial bias but more than the 13.2% motivated by "ethnicity/national origin bias."

It's understandable why the authors of the legislation erected such a "big tent" -- the longer the list of protected groups, they may have thought, the less controversy. But in legislating so broadly, they have undermined their best argument for adding sexual orientation to the definition of a hate crime: the demonstrated existence of a problem requiring federal intervention in what is ordinarily the business of municipal law enforcement. By targeting the Matthew Shepard law to the all-too-common animus that cost him his life, Congress would make it harder for Bush to argue that it was providing solutions for which there is no problem.

This is a simply bizarre position articulated by the Times editorial board. The President has already announced that he would veto the bill, if it were to make it to his desk. The official announced points in contention for the White House were not the "disability" or "gender" provisions but the fact that there were too few provisions in the bill:

State and local criminal laws already provide criminal penalties for the violence addressed by the new Federal crime defined in section 7 of H.R. 1592, and many of these laws carry stricter penalties (including mandatory minimums and the death penalty) than the proposed language in H.R. 1592. State and local law enforcement agencies and courts have the capability to enforce those penalties and are doing so effectively. There has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement, and doing so is inconsistent with the proper allocation of criminal enforcement responsibilities between the different levels of government. In addition, almost every State in the country can actively prosecute hate crimes under the State’s own hate crimes law.

H.R. 1592 prohibits willfully causing or attempting to cause bodily injury to any person based upon the victim’s race, color, religion, or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Administration notes that the bill would leave other classes (such as the elderly, members of the military, police officers, and victims of prior crimes) without similar special status. The Administration believes that all violent crimes are unacceptable, regardless of the victims, and should be punished firmly.

Moreover, the bill’s proposed section 249(a)(1) of title 18 of the U.S. Code raises constitutional concerns. Federalization of criminal law concerning the violence prohibited by the bill would be constitutional only if done in the implementation of a power granted to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel, to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of the laws. Section 249(a)(1) is not by its terms limited to the exercise of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision of H.R. 1592.

The L.A. Times editorial is endorsing the position that if a minority is small enough, then its concerns are not significant enough to warrant legislation to defend or protect. So somehow there's some threshold at which a minority's concerns become important enough for the majority to care about. What is that number? 10%? 5%? 1%? Shouldn't we try and prevent wrong acts from occurring even if it only affects one person?

The editorial also shows a complete lack of understanding why one would create legislation that would cover a long list of groups. It's not "to reduce controversy." It's because discrimination against one group is related to discrimination against other disenfranchised groups, and by including all the disenfranchised groups together the legislation has a larger constituency of support.

Mad Professah would note that according to the logic of the Times editorial, they would support SPLENDA (H.R. 2015), the version of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would only cover sexual orientation employment discrimination, and NOT include transgender employment discrimination, since transgenders individuals are a much smaller group than LGBT individuals (although proportionately, transgender people suffer employment discrimination more prevalently).

The latest news on ENDA (and SPLENDA) is that the bill is not on the agenda of scheduled floor votes on the House of Representatives this week, according to Pam at The Blend, quoting Mike Rogers PageOneQ.

REVIEW: Damages

FX's Damages starring Glenn Close and Rose Byrne (Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later) has been a guilty pleasure during the slow television times this summer when favorites such as Lost, 24, Heroes and Gray's Anatomy were off the air. Thank goodness, Nip/Tuck will be returning next week on Tuesday, and apparently will now be set in Los Angeles for Season 6.

The first season of Damages had its finale on Tuesday October 23rd and was a satisfying conclusion to an extremely well-written and acted television show. Although the legal drama can be a cliched stalwart of the television landscape, Damages manages to avoid the pitfalls of other entries in the genre by 1) generally avoiding the sexual escapades of the main characters 2) eschewing courtroom scenes with adversarial over-written exchanges between well-coiffed, too-pretty attorneys and 3) eliminating single episode stories.

Instead, Damages had a story arc which lasted the entire 13-episode season. It involved a complex corporate malfeasance case worth hundreds of millions of dollars against Arthur Frobisher, played with gusto by Ted Danson. The inimitable Glenn Close, who is probably my favorite actor of all time, plays Patty Hewes, a fearsome defense attorney who is representing Frobisher's employees in a civil action to obtain restitution for his looting of the company's assets and the collapse of their retirement accounts. The main protagonist in the story is not Patty Hewes but Ellen Parsons (played by Rose Byrne) who plays a brand new attorney who gets her dream job working for her legal hero while she and her handsome medical school fiance juggle demanding careers, ambition, complicated family members and their relationship.

Unfortunately, FX has already renewed two really atrocious series in Dirt and The Riches and these decisions may be delaying a decision to renew Damages for a second season although the latter is much more critically acclaimed (although as ratings-challenged) as the othertwo shows. The producers had originally announced they had a commitment from Glenn Close for 5 seasons with the show, so I hope FX executives and give us the opportunity of many more years of Damages.

GRADE: A.

Venus and Serena Both Qualify for Year End Championships

Savannah over at Savannah's World has the details of the final 8 qualifiers for the lucrative and prestigious Year End Championships in Madrid which start November 6.

Updated Race List: 10/28/2007

1 HENIN, JUSTINE BEL 4975.00
2 JANKOVIC, JELENA SRB 4096.00
3 KUZNETSOVA, SVETLANA RUS 3581.00
4 IVANOVIC, ANA SRB 3162.00
5 WILLIAMS, SERENA USA 2767.00
6 CHAKVETADZE, ANNA RUS 2628.00
--WILLIAMS, VENUS USA 2470.00 (Withdrawn!)
7 HANTUCHOVA, DANIELA SVK 2431.00
8 SHARAPOVA, MARIA RUS 2431.00
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
9 BARTOLI, MARION FRA 2224.00
10 DEMENTIEVA, ELENA RUS 2023.00
11 VAIDISOVA, NICOLE CZE 1886.00 (Quebec R1 +1) 140=2026

Both Venus and Serena Williams made the "Elite Eight" who qualified for the Year End Championship despite their erratic playing schedule in 2007. After all, they each did win a Grand Slam tournament this year (although Justine Henin won the other two).

With Daniela Hantuchova winning her first WTA tour title apart from Indian Wells (2002 and 2007) at Linz today, she was able to tie Maria Sharapova for the 8th spot, so only one of them would have made it, and according to the rules, Hantuchova would have been chosen for the spot because she played more tournaments (26) than Sharapova (12).

However, Venus released a statement withdrawing from the Madrid tournament:

"This year has been a great one for many reasons," said the Wimbledon
winner. "I am pleased that I finished the year in the top eight and in recent
weeks I have remained optimistic about participating in the season-ending Sony
Ericsson Championships. Nevertheless, the accumulation of matches has taken its
toll and I have received several medical opinions to delay my return to
competitive tennis. As a result, I will miss the Sony Ericsson Championships. I
look forward to playing in the New Year for what will hopefully be an even
better 2008."

Though it's not clear that Sharapova will use her spot, since she has withdrawn from the last two tournaments she has entered, which would put Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli back in the mix. She looked injured during her loss to Patty Schnyder in the Linz semifinals yesterday so perhaps Nicole Vaidisova can sneak in to the Elite Eight. Stay tuned!

REVIEW: Sandworms of Dune

The long awaited final book in Frank Herbert's much celebrated Dune series, Sandworms of Dune, written by the author's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson has been released and soared to the best seller lists. Since the first 6 books of the series have been some of my favorite books, Mad Professah has looked forward to the completion of the "Dune 7 project" since Frank Herbert died in 1986 soon after the publication of the masterpiece Chapterhouse: Dune. The 7th Dune 7 book project ended up being split into two books, Hunters of Dune which was published last August and Sandworms of Dune which came out this August.


Sandworms is one of much awaited novels published this summer in the science fiction/fantasy genre. Of course, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (see review) was the mostly highly anticipated and best-selling book of the year. The Children of Húrin based on notes left by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), but written by his son Christopher Tolkien and illustrated by Alan Lee is another book which seeks to leverage the popularity and success of their father's landmark works with publication of updated works.

I must say that is incredibly sad to report that a complex, intricately written series of books like the six Dune novels written by Frank Herbert (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune) have come to such a pedestrian denouement in Sandworms of Dune. I had read the first half of the final "Dune 7" book, titled Hunters of Dune earlier in the year but somehow I had convinced myself that somehow when it came to end the series Anderson and Herbert would rise above their previously barely competent approach to the material so evident in the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune series. Surely, they wouldn't end the series shoveling the schlock they had previously delivered?

Sadly, Sandworms of Dune gives the reader more of the same. Incredibly shallow characterizations. A thumbnail sketch of a plot. Appearances by beloved, familar characters acting unrecognizably. Simplistic, sodden prose.

I can understand why the estate of Frank Herbert has authorized these explorations into the Dune universe, but my recommendation for anyone who has not yet read Dune is to reject these counterfeit imitations of the master's works and to only read the Dune books written by Frank Herbert.

GRADE: D.

Do You Support A Presidential Candidate Without a National AIDS Plan?

Phill Wilson of Black AIDS Institute called my attention to a poll that AOL is running which asks respondentst to vote on whether they would support a Presidential candidate who does not have a National AIDS Strategy. Mad Professah had blogged previously about the proposed National AIDS Strategy that numerous groups have agreed to promote jointly last month.

To date, only Barack Obama and John Edwards have publicly released comprehensive national strategies to combat HIV/AIDS in the United States. Black AIDS Institute has analyzed Edwards' plan not not Obama's plan (which oddly enough doesn't seem to be easily found on his website). The Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton has not released a plan yet and as the days continue this is startingto look increasingly curious, especially for a candidate so closely linked with health care issues.

Don't you think that every Presidential candidate should have a National AIDS Strategy? Take the poll now!

Arnold Getting Hit From Both Sides Over Condoms Veto

The New York Times ran an editorial on Friday October 19 entitled "Reality and Denial in California Prisons" which criticizes the veto by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of Assemblymember Sandre Swanson's AB 1334, which would have allowed the distribution of sexual barrier devices in state prisons.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s political courage clearly failed him when he vetoed a bill that would have permitted the distribution of condoms in California’s AIDS-ravaged prisons. At the same time, the governor ordered up a pilot distribution program for one as-yet unnamed prison. A small, exploratory program falls far short of the mass distribution effort that the system clearly needs.

Public health officials around the world have long realized that condom distribution is central to any meaningful AIDS-prevention effort. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made that point last year when it urged states to consider starting condom programs in prisons. Programs are already up and running in Canada and much of the European Union, as well as in jails in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington and New York.

Mr. Schwarzenegger said he vetoed the bill because it conflicts with state law that makes sexual contact among inmates illegal. That’s self-defeating and a denial of the reality of life behind bars, and the governor seems to know it. His veto statement acknowledged that condom distribution represents a reasonable “public policy, and it is consistent with the need to improve our prison health care system and overall public health.”

The governor should have gone with what he knows and signed this bill. His pilot program needs to get under way quickly and should be expanded as soon as possible. That’s the only way to improve California’s prison health care system and overall public health.

In addition, the imperious AIDS Healthcare Foundation has also condemned the Governor's action in a press release.

The Sacramento Bee ran an article on the burgeoning controversy over the Governor's veto message in which he endorsed the concept of condom distribution in prison as an HIV prevention measure and suggested a pilot program to determine efficacy and effectiveness. Of course, as the New York Times noted in its editorial, condoms have been distributed in prisons and jails all over the world for years.

Swanson said the pilot-only project works for him.

"I think this is an extremely positive move forward," the assemblyman said. "The project is going to demonstrate that we can reduce the spread of these sexually transmitted diseases and that our prisons will no longer be considered a place where these diseases can incubate."

While prison sex may be against the law, it's pretty much a part of the fabric of incarcerated life, according to one former inmate who now runs an acclaimed residential program for parolees.

[...]

Otherwise, the banned acts between consenting prisoners can add a year to an inmate's time if they get caught. Schwarzenegger's consequent approval of them, even on a pilot basis, has served to befuddle the California Family Council, a nonprofit group formed "to protect and foster Judeo-Christian principles in California's laws, for the benefit of its families," according to its Web site.

"He's talking out of both sides of his mouth," said Lynne Fishel, a spokeswoman for the group, which registered its opposition to the Swanson bill in the Legislature. "He acknowledges that it's illegal, but he wants to put a pilot project in one prison? I don't understand the logic. I can't connect the dots."

The California Correctional Supervisors Organization opposed the legislation, citing concerns of inmates using condoms to hide drugs in their rectal cavities. Spokesman Ford Canutt said inmates also use balloons, condoms and plain old cellophane to conceal stabbing devices.

"Anything that circumvents security, we have a problem with," Canutt said.

Canutt said the CCSO might be OK with a pilot project, however, at a minimum-security prison, or at an inmate fire camp.

Besides the 33 state prisons, California's Penal Code also bans sex "in any local detention facility." But that hasn't stopped San Francisco from making prophylactics available to its inmates for the past 20 years. They even put a condom machine in the recreation room a few months ago, without ever having a problem, according to Sheriff Mike Hennessey.

"We've never had an inmate caught using a condom to hide contraband, we've never had an inmate use a condom as a weapon, to strangle someone or suffocate someone, and we've never had an incident of sexual assault where a condom was used," Hennessey said. "The fears about bad things happening if you allow condoms in prison, they just haven't happened."

Another question to ask would be why is it constitutional to ban consensual sex between adults in any setting in the United States?

Mad Professah salutes Sheriff Hennessey for speaking truth to power and discounting the ridiculous argument by the CCSO that condoms will be used as weapons or to smuggle weapons or contraband. The prisoners seem to already have lots of weapons and condoms already, don't they? Where do you think prisoners get that stuff? Not from other prisoners, but from people who have access to the outside of the prison, i.e. prison employees.

U.S. House Postpones ENDA Vote After Bush Issues Veto Threat

The Executive Office of the President issued an official Statement of Administrative Policy on H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (a.k.a. SPLENDA) Tuesday October 23rd to the House Rules committee in which the Bush Administration threatened to veto this federal gay civil rights bill (pdf):

H.R. 3685 would extend existing employment-discrimination provisions of Federal law, including those in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to establish “a comprehensive Federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R. 3685 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

H.R. 3685 is inconsistent with the right to the free exercise of religion as codified by Congress in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Act prohibits the Federal Government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion except for compelling reasons, and then only in the least restrictive manner possible. H.R. 3685 does not meet this standard. For instance, schools that are owned by or directed toward a particular religion are exempted by the bill; but those that emphasize religious principles broadly will find their religious liberties burdened by H.R. 3685.

A second concern is H.R. 3685’s authorization of Federal civil damage actions against State entities, which may violate States’ immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The bill turns on imprecise and subjective terms that would make interpretation, compliance, and enforcement extremely difficult. For instance, the bill establishes liability for acting on “perceived” sexual orientation, or “association” with individuals of a particular sexual orientation. If passed, H.R. 3685 is virtually certain to encourage burdensome litigation beyond the cases that the bill is intended to reach.

Provisions of this bill purport to give Federal statutory significance to same-sex marriage rights under State law. These provisions conflict with the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman. The Administration strongly opposes any attempt to weaken this law, which is vital to defending the sanctity of marriage.

Ummm, so what was all that fuss about dropping transgender individuals from coverage in ENDA in order to get a bill enacted into law which would help people right now?

As many people have been arguing for weeks during the whole ENDA brouhaha, there is no way that any bill which provides statutory protections from discrimination for gays and lesbians was going to become federal law as long as George W. Bush is president (January 21, 2009). So, therefore the argument that splitting ENDA by removing "gender identity" from the original bill (H.R. 2015) to produce a Split-ENDA (i.e. SPLENDA) was a hallmark of legislative pragmatism has always been a stretch. I can support the notion that Congressman Barney Frank and other Democratic House leaders wanted to make a statement by passing a gay rights bill in the House, but if one is simply making a statement why not choose the strongest statement, instead of the weakest?

Regardless, Mad Professah disagrees with organizations and activists calling for a vote against H.R. 3685. Instead, I have always supported the passage of H.R. 2015 (original ENDA) and H.R. 3685. In particular, I strongly support the Baldwin Amendment to H.R. 3685 which would restore protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity to the bill.

In light of the Presidential statement, House leaders have rescheduled Wednesday's planned vote on H.R. 3685 on the House floor.

Oprah Show Covers International LGBT Human Rights Wednesday

Blabbeando has a post up alerting readers to Wednesday's Oprah (see preview) which is covering the state of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered human rights around the world. Mad Professah has been long interested in international human rights, particularly how LGBT individuals are treated in countries around the world.

On Wednesday's show called "Gay Around The World," Oprah will apparently have guests such as Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil (who was disowned by his royal family in India when he came out as a gay man) Staceyann Chin (a Jamaican lesbian poet/performance artist who now lives in NYC) and John Amaechi (openly gay NBA player who was born in the United States to a Nigerian father and English mother but raised in the United Kingdom).

I've set my DVR for to tape the show,and I hope you will also.

Obama Refuses To Cancel Events With Homophobes

Barack Obama is enmeshed in a controversy over his campaign's decision to tour South Carolina with some African American gospel singers who are notably homophobic. Rod 2.0 has the details:

This has already been nicknamed the "gay-bash" tour because three of the acts are on the record for rebuking the "gay lifestyle." Mary Mary, the enormously popular duo, has a large gay following but has compared gays to murderers and prostitutes. Hezekiah Walker is a minister of the Pentecostal faith, traditionally inhospitable to gays, and, heads a Brooklyn mega-church well-known for its anti-gay views. Walker was also the subject of an unfounded gay rumor that has become urban legend.

The piece de resistance: Donnie McClurkin, the famously "ex-gay" gospel singer who emerged from sexual abuse and 20 plus years of "active" homosexuality to evangelize against the gays. "What makes his otherwise inspiring story so troubling is that he is now violating young people in much the same way that he was violated," Keith Boykin pens one of the most definitive profiles of the "ex-gay" evangelist: "By teaching young people that they can pray their way out of who they are, he is essentially creating a generation of newly confused adolescents." The New York Times reports the gospel tour but does not mention McClurkin's back story—an odd omission because several of their top political reporters are gay.

McClurkin has performed for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush—the "ex-gay" gospel singer is seen [above] over the shoulder of Erica and Tina Campbell of Mary Mary—and belongs to the anti-choice and anti-gay, black mega church wing of the Republican Party.

As the controversy continued to swirl with more statements from bloggers condemning his position, Obama released his own statement defending his decision to appear on stage with notorious homophobes in order to raise money and votes for his presidential bid:

"I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all other citizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country.

I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin's views and will continue to fight for these rights as President of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division."

Joe.My.God and other white gay bloggers like Wayne Besen seem disappointed by this statement and have renewed calls for Obama to drop McClurkin from his 3-stop South Carolina "Embrace The Change" Gospel Tour. The controversy is starting to be widely reported in outlets like The New York Times (Obama Criticized Over Singer), USA Today (Obama under fire for gospel tour with anti-gay singer) and others.

Bloggernista has published the text of a letter Alexander Robinson of the National Black Justice Coalition, the only national Black LGBT advocacy organization, has sent to Senator Obama requesting a meeting to discuss the matter and express disappointment at his refusal to not appear with McClurkin.

Bloggernista is a black gay bloogger who agrees with conservative blogger Chris Crain that this McClurkin-Obama controversy appears to reflect simply bad advance work by Obama staffers since a quick Google search of the other people on the gospel tour (Mary Mary and Hezekiah Walker) would have immediately revealed the problematic anti-gay history that Rod McCollum has been reporting.

To Mad Professah just saying that it's bad advance work by staffers lets Obama off the hook. It's not just about McClurkin. Once the controversy bloomed and the tour became under a more public spotlight, the homophobic views of the other performers should have been enough for Obama to take a more drastic step: refusing to appear with McClurkin (which Obama is already agreed to do, at least at one of the stops) is not enough. He should actively seek to make public appearances with prominent pro-LGBT Black people in South Carolina as well. If he needs help in finding such people, I'm sure NBJC can help identify them!

U.S. House Vote on ENDA This Week

Bloggernista and HRC Backstory are reporting that H.R. 3685, a.k.a. ENDA or the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (sometimes known as SPLENDA) will likely be brought to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday October 24th.

Mad Professah encourages everyone to contact their Congressperson and tell them to support The Baldwin Amendment to H.R. 3685.

11 Openly Gay College Presidents!

Towleroad linked to an Inside Higher Ed article about the Massachusetts marriage of the openly gay president of Hampshire College to his male partner of 27 years. John Hexter married Manfred Kollmeier. Interestingly, Towleroad ends his post with a link to a September 7 Chronicle of Higher Education article which claims that there are 11 openly gay college presidents. Here's the list:

1. Sean T. Buffington, University of the Arts


2. Raymond E. Crossman, Adler School of Professional Psychology


3. Ralph J. Hexter, Hampshire College


4. Michael J. Hoyle, McIntosh College


5. Cynthia E. Huggins, University of Maine at Machias


6. Theodora J. Kalikow, University of Maine at Farmington


7. Neal King, Antioch University Los Angeles


8. Charles R. Middleton, Roosevelt University


9. Tullise (Toni) A. Murdock, Antioch University


10. Richard Ortner, Boston Conservatory


11. James Warwick, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Los Angeles Division

It's interesting how many of these openly gay or lesbian chief executives are at a liberal arts college.

Nalbandian Defeats Federer To Win Madrid AMS title

David Nalbandian of Argentina came back from a set down to defeat World #1 Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to with ATP Master Series title in Madrid, denying the Swiss star his career 15th AMS shield. It was Nalbandian's 6th career title.

Craig Hickman has more photos.

Trader Joe's Now Open Until 10pm!

One of the biggest benefits of living in Los Angles just got better. Trader Joe's has extended its hours: it's now open from 9am until 10pm!

Harry Potter Author Reveals Dumbledore Is Gay!

While in New York City on an author's tour J.K. Rowling revealed in response to an audience member's question that Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter's headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was gay.

"Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling explained Friday in front of a packed house at New York's Carnegie Hall, where she capped off her first U.S. book tour since 2000.

Which explains why the brilliant wizard was briefly blinded as a young man by the charm and skill of Gellert Grindelwald, his companion turned arch-nemesis who turned out to be more interested in the Dark Arts than a three-bedroom craftsman in Hogsmeade.

After Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down," Rowling explained, he went on to destroy Grindelwald in what is considered in the wizarding world to have been the ultimate wand-toting battle between good and evil.

That love, she said to raucous applause, was Dumbledore's "great tragedy."

"If I had know this would have made you so happy, I would have told you years ago," Rowling said.

Barney Frank Urges Colleagues To Support Baldwin Amendment

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is urging his Congressional colleagues to support U.S. Rep Tammy Baldwin's amendment to H.R. 3685 to restore a prohibition against employment discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression.

Bloggernista has the text of the statement:

FRANK URGES COLLEAGUES TO SUPPORT REP. BALDWIN’S GENDER IDENTITY AMENDMENT
TO ENDA

Congressman Barney Frank is urging his colleagues to vote for the
amendment to be offered by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to include
transgender individuals in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act when it
is considered on the House floor.

“The decision to offer such an amendment came out of a Caucus which
Chairman George Miller held of the Democratic Members of the Education and
Labor Committee. After some discussion, it became clear that offering
such an amendment would offer us the best chance to achieve Speaker
Pelosi’s goal of adopting in the House the most inclusive ENDA bill for
which majority support existed.

“I argued in favor of transgender inclusion when I testified on the
original legislation on September 5, but many of us believed that sending
the full inclusive bill to the floor would open the door to a series of
demagogic procedural moves that would have endangered our chances of a
passing any bill at all. The discussion held by the Democratic Members of
the Education and Labor Committee, Congresswoman Baldwin and myself
resulted in this approach and I believe it meets the goal of giving people
the opportunity to support a fully inclusive bill while avoiding the
potential parliamentary death traps that would otherwise have resulted.
I will on the floor of the House be repeating essentially the arguments in
favor of transgender inclusion which I made in the September 5 hearing,
because we will now be able to do that in a procedural setting that allows
us to maximize support for an inclusive bill without endangering our
chances of getting any bill at all.”

(Spl)ENDA Passes U.S. House Committee 27-21

Bloggernista is reporting that the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee reported out H.R. 3685 to the House floor by a vote of 27-21. Some wags are calling this controversial bill "Split-ENDA" or SPLENDA, because it is a purported LGBT employment non-discrimination bill which was stripped of transgender protections in a much debated and controversial strategic move by openly gay U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) a few weeks ago. This lead to a coalition of 300-plus groups called United ENDA to call for opposition to H.R. 3685 in favor of the original ENDA, H.R. 2015, which included protecions for transgender individuals and prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of gender idenity or expression.

HRC Backstory has the details of the four obnoxious Republican amendments that were defeated.

Souder Amendment #1:

This Amendment would have stripped H.R. 3685’s protections against discrimination based on “perceived sexual orientation.” Adoption of this amendment would have left unprotected people who are discriminated against because their employers thought them to be gay, whether or not this was in fact the case. The protection of an individual based on his or her perceived membership in a particular category is common in state civil rights laws protecting gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, as well federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (protecting individuals “regarded as” disabled).

Souder Amendment #2:

This Amendment would have removed a provision of H.R. 3685 that prevents employers from using being married, or being able to get married, as a proxy for discrimination based on sexual orientation. Conditioning a job on marriage would per se discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation in the 49 states where same-sex couples do not have equal access to marriage. As Representative Rob Andrews (D-NJ) noted in today’s committee markup, this amendment would give employers a “road map” to continue to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Souder Amendment #3:

This Amendment would have added a provision to H.R. 3685 that would explicitly protect employees from adverse treatment by their employers if, because of their sincerely held religious beliefs, they refused to consent to a company’s anti-discrimination policy or refused to participate in a diversity training program. Essentially, this amendment would ensure that any employee who expressed a religious objection to homosexuality could “opt out” of agreeing to an anti-discrimination policy or attending diversity training. However, federal law, namely Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, already prevents an employer from discriminating against someone based on their religious beliefs.

Hoekstra Amendment:

This Amendment would have altered the already broad religious exemption in H.R. 3685 to provide protections for any religious school which “maintains a faith-based mission”. The religious exemption in H.R. 3685, following the model of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, already exempts all religious educational institutions “controlled, managed, owned or supported” by a religion or religious entity or if the institution’s curriculum is “directed toward propagation of a particular religion.” This language has provided broad protections for religious organizations, including religious schools, for nearly forty years. This amendment would have broadened the exemption even further, with ambiguous, untested language regarding a “faith-based mission.”

Interestingly, openly lesbian U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced Wednesday that she would offer an amendment to H.R. 3685 to restore transgender protections to the bill on the House floor. I presume this was a collegial move by Baldwin to not offer her amendment in committee. Frank and House Speaker Pelosi have claimed that a trans-inclusive ENDA does not have enough support in the Democratic caucus to pass the U.S. House and that she will only bring H.R. 2015 to a vote when she is assured it will pass. Regardless, it is unlikely that either version of the bill will become law since the Republican minority could filibuster the bill in the United States Senate, or if by some miracle it does pass the Congress, President Bush will most likely veto it.

MRSA More Deadly Than AIDS

Bloggernista covers the story which has been freaking people out all week. There's a more deadly bug out there than HIV, and this time it's not sexually transmitted and it's a bacteria: methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, colloquially known as MRSA or "staph infection."

An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that MRSA kills more than 19,000 Americans annually, which is more than succumb to AIDS every year, despite the fact there are only 90,000 MRSA infections per year and over 1 million Americans infected with HIV.