Log Cabin Republicans disagree with HRC on McCain

Log Cabin Republican blogger disagrees with the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

• HRC and John McCain

Log Cabin Republicans blog:

We understand the general election starts today and Log Cabin will do its part to educate gay and lesbian voters about Sen. McCain in the weeks ahead. Contrary to what many Democrats are saying, Sen. McCain is not George W. Bush. Most gays and lesbians understand that fact. Sen. McCain isn’t going to use gay people as a wedge issue. He won the GOP nomination with no help (and with outright hostility) from many so-called “social conservatives.” This is a significant achievement for all gay and lesbian Americans.

HRC glosses over McCain’s principled stand against the anti-gay federal marriage amendment. As I pointed out in this column for the Washington Blade, McCain didn’t just vote (twice) against the marriage amendment. He put himself on the line, bucked his own party leadership and President Bush, and took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to speak against the proposal. In 2004, he gave one of the most impassioned speeches from the Senate floor on the issue. That isn’t insignificant.

Is his record perfect? No. But it’s inclusive and shows positive signs. We will hear more about his priorities and record in the months ahead. Stay tuned…

Many bloggers think the Human Rights Campaign's high-stakes strategy hints at a developing split within the gay community over McCain.

Although the Log Cabin* hasn't decided whether to endorse McCain, he's signaling he wants to be viewed as a Big Tent Republican comfortable with gay people. McCain seems intent on coming across as likable to election-deciding independents, who tend to be gay-friendly, polls show. Notice how he has been nearly silent about the upcoming gay marriages in California.

Though many people in the LGBT community claim you cannot be Republican and gay....this simply isn't true; the ideals of the political party you're part of go a lot deeper than your sexual orientation.

LGBT blogger slams Barack Obama

There are many pieces floating around blogs right now about Barack Obama’s relationship with the LGBT community. Below are exerts from InterstateQ (North Carolina based LGBT blogger). Thoughts?

President Barack Obama? Could it really happen? If so, the LGBT community should be worried. While many may applaud the junior senator from Illinois’ “big tent” approach to his campaign, it is also a strategy that has left the LGBT community standing at odds with forces from the religious right and rabidly anti-gay “ex-gay” movement.

In South Carolina, Obama’s “big tent” campaign strategy coalesced in the form of gospel concerts attracting huge numbers of African-American voters and featuring a “respected leader” in the “ex-gay” movement.

From New Hampshire state Rep. Mo Baxley:
Obama lost the support of many in the LGBT community when he featured [anti-gay] entertainer Donnie McClurking at campaign events in South Carolina and then went ahead with the events even after being personally informed of the entertainers’ very public and virulently anti-gay remarks - making him the only Democratic candidate to be protested by members of our community. While Obama certainly has a pro-LGBT platform, in this circumstance, his actions speak louder than his well-intentioned words and we can not support a candidate that harmed the LGBT community in South Carolina in his quest to become president.

If Obama wins the U.S. presidency the LGBT community is in for four years of being subjected to a dangerously employed “big tent” strategy that places an oppressed group of citizens at the same table as their oppressors. Obama’s presidency would see James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Donnie McClurkin and other anti-gay leaders sitting down with LGBT community leaders telling them how much they are evil while Obama sits back and says, “We should work together and hope for change.”

Obama may not have the courage to stand up to the right-wing bullies if he becomes president, just like he wasn’t able to stand up against them and say, “I’m sorry Donnie, but your views do not match my view of America. My campaign is about one of equality and that isn’t something you stand for. I’ll have to ask that you not perform. I can’t give you a platform for hate.”

Attorney General Stumbo to seek his old seat in the House

Attorney General Greg Stumbo will seek his old seat in the state House, he said on WHAS radio (Louisville) this morning.

Freshman Rep. Brandon Spencer, D-Prestonsburg, decided to resign after "prayerful consideration," he said in a letter to Governor Beshear.

Stumbo spoke to Floyd County election officials and told them he would accept the Democratic Party's nomination for a special election to fill Spencer's spot in the 95th House District.

Stumbo spent 24 years in the Kentucky House, 19 in leadership before being elected Attorney General.

At a minimum, Stumbo being back in the Kentucky House will irritate Representative Stan Lee. Stumbo ruled the way Lee wanted on the domestic-partner issue at Kentucky universities, but Stumbo included “a blue print on how to offer domestic partner benefits legally” in his ruling.

Stumbo had been considering a possible run for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell. He had said he would likely challenge McConnell if polling done by an exploratory committee showed him within 10 percentage points of McConnell (see Ditch Mitch KY to stay updated on McConnell).

The "Gay Issue" to Governor Fletcher and the Kentucky GOP

According to today’s Herald Leader, the Republican Party of Kentucky and soon to be ex-Governor Fletcher called tens of thousands of voters since Friday asking them whether they "want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco."

But, that’s not all:

Then, last night, Fletcher's lieutenant governor candidate Robbie Rudolph echoed that to a crowd of more than 200 GOP faithful in Lexington. "Do you want a couple of San Francisco treats or do you want a governor?" he asked.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, called it Rudolph's "Rice-a-Roni speech."

I take genuine offense to the comments made by the Republican Party of Kentucky, Governor Fletcher, and running "mate." Their comments prove their hatred of homosexuals, and that they have no intention of allowing a “fair and equal Kentucky” so long as they are in office.

The Republicans, along with Fletcher, are at Battle Stations right now, with all hands on deck using buckets to pitch water out of a ship that is submerged.

We don’t want it to be like San Francisco here; just fair. We also want someone running the commonwealth who hasn’t been indicted, doesn’t think he’s above the law, and doesn’t flip-flop on issues.

LOGO presidential debate - gay marriage.

Six of the candidates seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination participated Thursday in a two-hour forum in Los Angeles devoted to issues of concern to gays and lesbians. The event — moderated by journalist Margaret Carlson was broadcast live on Logo, a lifestyle cable channel aimed at gay and lesbian viewers.

For anyone who missed the LOGO presidential debate you can watch it here.







The basic subject of the LOGO debate was gay marriage, non-discrimination, etc. This is what Law Digest says about gay marriage:

The legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States are complicated by the nation's federal system of government. Traditionally, the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government, even if that marriage was not recognized by one or more other states (as was the case with interracial marriage before 1967). With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, however, a marriage was explicitly defined as a union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law. (See 1 U.S.C. § 7.)

However, many aspects of marriage law affecting the day to day lives of inhabitants of the United States are determined by the states, not the federal government, and the Defense of Marriage Act does not prevent individual states from defining marriage as they see fit; indeed, legal scholars have stated that the federal government cannot impose a definition of marriage onto the laws of the various states.

Kentucky Constitution, Section 233A: Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

Kentucky Revised Statutes
Section 402.005: Definition of marriage. As used and recognized in the law of the Commonwealth, "marriage" refers only to the civil status, condition, or relation of one (1) man and one (1) woman united in law for life, for the discharge to each other and the community of the duties legally incumbent upon those whose association is founded on the distinction of sex.

Gay marriage? It isn't going to happen in Kentucky anytime soon. I'd settle for the following for now (progress takes time):

• A Kentucky law prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• A Kentucky law prohibiting discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• A Kentucky law prohibiting discrimination in credit based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• A Kentucky law prohibiting discrimination in service based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• A Kentucky law giving me the legal right to visit my "partner" in the hospital.
• The Governor, as well as the Kentucky House of Representatives and Senate to leave the issue of "domestic-partner" at Kentucky educational facilities alone.

For additional coverage about the debate visit InterstateQ.

House Speaker Richards must lead Governor Fletcher by the nose.

Thanks to the efforts of House Speaker Jody Richards, Governor Fletcher has agreed to meet with executives from Peabody Energy for a private meeting on July 25 at the Louisville International Convention Center.

House Speaker Richards (who must now apparently do Fletcher's work for him) requested a meeting with Peabody Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce to gauge Peabody’s commitment and time schedule to locating an alternative fuels plant in Kentucky if the legislature approves tax incentives.

Governor Fletcher should have taken this action himself prior to calling the House and Senate into special session. This would have established the need for a special session assuming Peabody Energy is in fact going to make a decision soon about locating a plant in Kentucky as Fletcher has claimed.

Instead, Fletcher added a total of 66 other items to the agenda of his executive order calling the House and Senate into a special session, including a ban on domestic partnerships at all Kentucky public institutions that the Senate has already approved.

Governor Fletcher, Senate President Williams, and House Speaker Richards will be attending the meeting in Louisville.

Kentucky Senate Passes Ban on Domestic-Partner Benefits.

As most of you probably know, the Senate passed a bill to ban domestic-partner benefits at all Kentucky public institutions.

Senate Bill 5 (passed 28-6): Create a new section of KRS Chapter 61 to define a "public agency" as any agency participating in a state-administered retirement system or plan, any agency participating in the state health insurance plan, and any public institution subject to KRS Chapter 164; define "family member" as the employee's spouse, natural or adopted children, stepchildren, and children for whom legal guardianship has been awarded; require public agencies to allow the employee to select health insurance coverage for only the employee and family members of the employee.

Amend to make technical changes; add grandchildren for whom legal guardianship or legal custody has been awarded to the definition of "family member"; declare an EMERGENCY.

It remains to be seen what the House of Representatives will do with Senate Bill 5 when and if it makes its way to the House after the "cooling off period."

Fletcher's appeal to his right wing ultra-conservative voters appears to be paying off. Hasting Wyman's Southern Political Report released a poll conducted by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion showing Democrat Steve Beshear with a 41 percent to 38 percent lead over Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Kentucky's intolerant Senate President, David Williams under fire.

The new heads of the Kentucky Democratic are "seriously considering" filing an ethics complaint against state Senate President David Williams.

According to party vice-chairman Jennifer Moore, she's looking into the possibility that Williams violated legislative ethics rules when he asked Frankfort lobbyists to pleadge donations money that would be used for 2008 campaigns of republican senators. It's illegal for Frankfort lobbyists to give directly to legislators or caucus funds controlled by legislative leaders. Williams has said that was not the case with his solicitation.

But Moore says there are serious questions about Williams' conduct. No lobbyist has filed a complaint against Williams. At least two have told me they felt pressured to give and questioned the legality of the "pledge cards" but believed it would be political suicide to file a complaint against the powerful senate president.

Dr. James Holsinger for anti-gay U.S. Surgeon General.

President Bush's choice for surgeon general likely will face questions about his stands on AIDS, sex education and abortion during the confirmation process.

Dr. James Holsinger clearly has some pretty definite views on right and wrong; he's got it straight all right. Dr. Holsinger has made his negative views on homosexuality known for nearly two decades.

• In the early 1990s, Holsinger resigned from the denomination's Committee to Study Homosexuality because he believed the committee "would follow liberal lines," according to Time magazine. At the time, he warned that acceptance of homosexuality would drive away millions of churchgoers.
• As a member of the Judicial Council, he voted with the majority in 2005 that a Virginia pastor could deny church membership to an openly gay man.

Aside from him clearly being "anti-gay," Holsinger’s record is mired with incompetence, zealous conservatism, and, of course, sizable campaign contributions to Republicans.

As Chief Medical Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs under Bush’s father, Dr. Holsinger was neglecting our vets long before Walter Reed made it fashionable.

• A government investigation found “several cases in which incompetence and neglect led to the deaths of patients.” Dr. Holsinger was forced to admit blame for the deaths of six patients in less than a year at a single Chicago hospital alone.
• But the problems weren’t limited to Chicago. In Wyoming, a patient scheduled for surgery for a treatable cancer died after he was ignored for 45 days following the resignation of the staff urologist over a contract dispute. Thirty VA hospitals were found to have “high numbers of patient complications and other indicators of substandard care.”
• A decade later, Dr. Holsinger was appointed Kentucky’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Family Services. By the end of his tenure, a Kentucky newspaper found that the state was at the bottom of the nation for almost every health measure. Kentuckians die at a rate of 18 percent above the national average, the newspaper reported.

Placing people in positions who are fair, honest, and have a compassion for their work and bettering our culture doesn't seem to be a priority for either the Bush or Fletcher Administrations.

Honesty and integrity isn't part of the Fletcher Administration.

Beshear Pledges To Air Finances Answers challenge from Fletcher
By John Stamper, Herald-Leader

FRANKFORT -- Answering a challenge from Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Democratic candidate for governor Steve Beshear said yesterday he will release his financial information, including tax returns, sources of income and a list of business partners.

Fletcher had challenged Beshear to release the information Wednesday as he deflected questions from reporters about his refusal to release the names of donors to a legal defense fund set up to pay bills stemming from an investigation of state hiring practices.

If Beshear agrees to release his personal financial information, as Fletcher has, "then he can talk to me about a legal defense fund and so can you," Fletcher told Mark Hebert of Louisville's WHAS-TV. "Then he's got some ground to stand on."

Told of the challenge, Beshear promptly pledged to release his financial information within the next three weeks.

"The people of this state deserve to know that a governor has no conflict of interest from his own financial interests," Beshear said yesterday. "So I'm going to release a detailed list of all my assets and liabilities, everybody I owe, what I own and where my income comes from so that nobody can have any questions about whether I have any conflicts or not."

Beshear said it was "ridiculous" for a governor with so many ethical problems to challenge his integrity.

After being told of Beshear's response, Fletcher's campaign manager, Marty Ryall, said Fletcher has no intention of releasing the names of donors to his defense fund until after Attorney General Greg Stumbo leaves office in December.

[...]

Fletcher's decision to withhold the names of donors was criticized heavily during the GOP primary for governor by opponent Anne Northup and Lt. Gov. Steve Pence.

Pence implied that Fletcher might be steering state contracts or handing out plum appointments to individuals who donate.

In an interview on Louisville radio yesterday, Pence said he will not support Fletcher during the fall election unless he releases the names of donors.

Governor Fletcher can dish it out, but can't take it.....he is unwilling to submit to his own statements and challenges. What difference does it make? Even if the governor did something illegal, he can just give himself a pardon (literally).

Governor Fletcher doesn't stand his ground on anything.

• Fletcher promised to change the good ol' boy culture of state government but became part of it instead.
• He punished those who disagreed with him.
• He took the Fifth Amendment because he had things to hide.
• He pardoned his whole administration because he was afraid of how high up the investigation into hiring abuses would reach.
• He cut a deal to end the investigation to keep anything else from coming out.
• Fletcher became the very thing he had vowed to change.

Not to worry however. The general election isn't far......afterwards, Kentucky will have a new chief executive leading the government.

Governor Fletcher and Attorney General Candidate Stan Lee.

by John Aravosis (DC)

"Now they're telling us that when the states banned gay marriage they also banned providing health insurance, inheritance, hospital visitation and more to gay couples. Funny, but I don't recall hearing any of that when the religious right was pushing these things."

Fletcher Vs. Northup for Governor.

Most of the publicity for the election of the commonwealth's chief executive has been centered around unseated U.S. Representative Ann Northup (R) and our current chief executive, Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Though Fletcher has been conservative in a lot of areas, not nearly as conservative as Northup.

Is Governor Fletcher the lesser of the two evils should the primary come down to the Fletcher and Northup? You decide!

FLETCHER:
Kentucky Equality Federation is no fan of Governor Fletcher.

We cannot forget that he refused to veto unconstitutional funding to the University of the Cumberlands, leading the Federation to hold a protest outside the Governor's Mansion during the Governor's Annual Derby Breakfast (that brings approximately 15,000 people to Frankfort from around the nation).

Governor Fletcher also rescinded an executive order Governor Patton had established protecting LGBT people from discrimination in government.

Let us not even address the ugly hiring scandal. We're sick of hearing about it....and the bottom line is that the Fletcher Administration violated laws in our opinion.

NORTHUP:
Now, on to Northup; while part of Kentucky's Congressional Delegation, Northup voted in a manner inconsistent with Kentucky Equality Federation Values:

Northup voted NO on this issues:
Vote 535: H R 6375: Requiring the Secretary of Defense to Submit to Congress An Annual Report and to Provide Notice to the Public on Congressional Initiatives in Funds Authorized or Made Available to the Department of Defense. (no government/public oversight on Pentagon spending)

Prosecuting Hate Crimes - Expand the federal criminal civil rights statute to include violent acts against a person because of a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability.

Northup did NOT vote on these issues:
Vote 423: H RES 844: Congratulating the International Aids Vaccine Initiative on 10 Years of Significant Achievement in the Search for HIV/AIDS Vaccine, and for Other Purposes.

Northup voted YES on these issues:
Warrantless Wiretapping - Warrantless surveillance of telephone and e-mail conversations that Americans in the U.S. have with people abroad, even when there is no evidence that they are conspiring with foreign terrorist organizations. It would authorize Warrantless surveillance of Americans with no judicial check if the U.S. is attacked, or when the president decides there is a threat of attack.

Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment - Amendment the United States Constitution that would deny the right to marry to all same-sex couples and jeopardize all other protections that same-sex couples have under state or local law. Send to states for ratification.

Anti-Marriage Court-Stripping Bill - A bill to strip all federal courts -- including the U.S. Supreme Court -- of jurisdiction to decide the constitutionality of the anti-gay federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Domestic Partnership - Block the implementation of the Dictrict of Columbia's domestic partnership law. Every year since 1992, Congress has blocked a measure passed by the D.C. City Council that would allow city employees to purchase health insurance for their partners and provide hospital visitation rights to other domestic partners in the city.