Some of the news that is fit to print

Cohen: Don't Ask, Don't Think

Richard Cohen on don't ask, don't tell.

In one of those itsy-bitsy items you're likely to miss, the New York Times reported last week that, since 1998, the military has discharged 20 service personnel who spoke or had studied Arabic, six from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. They all had, in some way, been caught being gay. Try translating that into common sense.

Kushner for Kerry

Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, author of Angles in America, in a recent issue of The Advocate writes a column in favor of Kerry.

An unmannerly pre–Election Day splenetic [Advocate]
“I’m too angry to write about this election,” writes Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Tony Kushner. “I think what’s really driving me nuts is that 50% of my fellow citizens are going to vote for Bush, and I don’t understand it.”

Are the kids safe?

This via Andrew Sullivan's blog...
NOW, INCEST: Alan Keyes goes on the attack again, saying children of gay parents will live in families where "incest becomes inevitable."

Sullivan continues...

I await the outrage of Matthew Dowd, Lynne Cheney, Bill Kristol, Bill Safire, Mort Kondracke, Maureen Dowd, and on and on. Oh, wait. It's only if you say a positive thing about gay people that you're a homophobe.

Um, what?

Not the best buy?

Not the best buy? [Washington Blade, 8.20.2004]
Circuit City donates money to anti-gay pols
By BRYAN ANDERTON

Circuit City may be the second-largest retailer of electronics in the United States, but some gays are saying they’ll go somewhere else for their DVDs and home electronics.
That’s because the Circuit City Stores, Inc. Political Action Committee has a long record of donating money to anti-gay legislators.
“I think it’s important that we know who our friends are and who our friends aren’t, and if we choose to vote with our checkbook, that’s completely appropriate,” says Equality Virginia Executive Director Dyana Mason.

No place like home...

Bay Area is tops in nation for gays [SFChron, 5.3.2004]
That's hardly news, but atlas does hold some big surprises

Two Washington, D.C., statisticians who spent more than two years crunching numbers have determined what many here already knew: The Bay Area is the gayest place in the country.

"The Gay and Lesbian Atlas," a 232-page tome that goes on sale today, is chock full of maps, graphs and other information about the country's gay population. Using statistics from the 2000 census, co-authors Gary Gates and Jason Ost of the Urban Institute found that San Francisco (a metropolitan statistical area determined by the census, which includes San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties) has the highest concentration of same-sex couples households in the country. It is followed by Santa Rosa (Sonoma County) and Santa Cruz-Watsonville (Santa Cruz County). Oakland (including Alameda and Contra Costa counties) came in fifth place. California has more same-sex households than any other state.

"The Gay and Lesbian Atlas" uncovers some unexpected trends and confirms some long-held beliefs, among them:

-- Gay men and lesbians don't always flock to the same neighborhoods, which can be explained partially by the disparity in their incomes. On average, gay men have higher incomes than lesbians. Berkeley and the Mission District in San Francisco were among the 10 most popular neighborhoods in the country for lesbians -- but not for gay men.

-- Gay seniors don't necessarily live where most gay people live. Among same-sex couples, the highest concentration of gay seniors lived in North Dakota, followed by South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, West Virginia and Nebraska.

-- Minority same-sex couples tend to live near other ethnic and racial minorities, rather than in known gay areas.

-- Same-sex couples with children often live in states and metropolitan areas not known for large gay and lesbian communities. Same-sex couples are most likely raising children in Mississippi, South Dakota, Alaska, South Carolina and Louisiana.

-- The states with the most same-sex couple households are California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Love by any other name...

Well, with the Massachusetts high court decision earlier this week, we can expect the gay marraige issue to be a "wedge" isue in this presidential campaign. The situation leaves me in a quandry. Of course I fully support the Massachusetts court's ruling and, in fact, I remain completely baffled that any group would oppose two people sealing their love in a formalized way. I can understand any church not wanting to recognize such marraiges and I think that is their perogative. Religions are, essentially, closed clubs. They set their own rules and regulations, to a certain degree. Although one wonders how people would react if a church said that a mixed-race couple could not wed?

But the question that I really don't get is: Is the scantity of marraige really under attack?

So I support the Masachusetts decision, but I wish this decision came down a year from now so it would not be the subject of a presidential political campaign. There has been steady progress on gay rights, and my sense is that most people today, while not classified as pro-gay, are not anti-gay to any degree. We have come a long way since Stonewall riots on Christopher Street in New York.

Anway, there is an interesting piece in the NYT this morning...

Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name [NYT, 2.7.2004] By DINITIA SMITH Examples of homosexual behavior in the animal world have been increasingly drawn into charged debates about homosexuality in American society.

Other links...
You can read exerpts of the Massachusetts decision here
And read more on this issue here

Harassing the gay...

Harassment affects gay kids' schoolwork [USAToday, 12.08.03]
The level of harassment faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students appears to play a role in their academic performance and aspirations for college, a survey released today suggests.

Rainbow money...

Cities come out about wooing gays -- and their dollars Tourist bureaus, some in unexpected places, are openly advertising for gay and lesbian visitors [USAToday]
FORT LAUDERDALE -- When civic leaders rolled out the rainbow carpet here almost a decade ago, Fort Lauderdale was nearly alone among destinations in trying to woo gay and lesbian travelers.

Don't ask don't work...

How 'Don't Tell' Translates
The Military Needs Linguists, But It Doesn't Need This One [WP, 12.03.03]
Cathleen Glover is gay. She is fluent in the Arabic language and well-versed in Muslim liturgy. But she now cleans swimming pools---no longer in the Army, to which she volunteered acknowledging her sexual preference and was discharged.

After 10 Years, Telling Tales Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Veterans, Activists Speak at N. Va. Forum on Gay Issues [WP, 12.03.03]
Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) organized the first "congressionally sponsored gay and lesbian issues forum." Gay military veterans and others spoke out about their problems with the military "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Gay merriage stories...

Opponents Of Gay Marriage Divided [WP]
A broad array of religious groups and conservative political activists has united behind the idea of a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. But the fledgling coalition is deeply divided about what, exactly, the amendment should say.

Blacks Object to Gay Marriage Comparison [AP]
Conservative blacks are objecting to recent comparisons between the gay marriage and civil rights movements, arguing that sexual orientation is a choice.