Pedantic Political Ponderings: equality

Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts

16 July 2012

16 July 2012: Marriage News Watch

12 July 2012

FollowUp 6: Eugene Delgaudio Lies About Legislation Again

Dear Some,

So begins the latest lie from Eugene Delgaudio. This time it is a lie regarding potential litigation.

Another attack came sooner than even I feared.

I have just found out the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is launching another attack on myself and Public Advocate as a whole.

No. The Southern Poverty Law Center is not launching an attack. They are responding, yesterday in the linked blog post, to Mr. Delgaudio's appropriation and modification of copyright materials without attribution or payment. They are responding to Mr. Delgaudio taking that material, an engagement photograph, a shot of love, and turning it into a tool for hate. It is Mr. Delgaudio who launched the attack. The Southern Poverty Law Center is the defender of what is right. The following in bold is from the linked site.

It was supposed to be a reminder of one of the most special days shared by Brian Edwards and Tom Privitere – their engagement photo.

The black-and-white photograph shows the two men kissing with the New York City skyline in the background. The picture was one of several that Edwards posted on his blog to allow friends and family unable to attend the couple’s wedding to share their joy. But what was supposed to be a symbol of the life-long commitment between two people in love was hijacked by an anti-gay hate group.

Recently, the men discovered their photo had been taken from the Internet and used in an anti-gay mailer to attack a political candidate in Colorado. The city skyline had been removed from the background and replaced with snow-covered trees one might find in Colorado. Bold words, on a red background, were added: “State Senator Jean White’s idea of ‘Family Values?’” White supported Colorado’s civil union legislation.

“This photo represented our love and commitment and the many challenges we have overcome in order to share our lives together,” Edwards said. “When I first saw how our photo had been publicly destroyed and used against gay and lesbian families, I was shocked, heartbroken and livid. I don’t want this to happen to another gay or lesbian couple.”

Neither the couple, nor the photographer, knew about the doctored photo until a friend of the couple informed them. The mailer was the work of Public Advocate of the United States, a Falls Church, Va., organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an anti-gay hate group.

Today, the SPLC sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group and Eugene Delgaudio, its president. The letter, sent on behalf of the couple and photographer Kristina Hill, warns that the SPLC is investigating the unauthorized use of the copyrighted photo and demands that Delgaudio, Public Advocate and anyone acting on their behalf immediately stop using the photo. It asks Delgaudio to confirm within 10 days that he and Public Advocate have stopped using the photo.

The rest of the article, including the original and the doctored photographs, can be seen at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mr. Delgaudio's e-mail continues.

Last week I sent you several emails warning that the SPLC was determined to destroy our organization and our cause.

Together, you helped me raise a decent amount of money for the coming fight, but I must admit that we fell short of my goal...

And with the enemy so suddenly upon us, I am very worried.

So, again, Mr. Delgaudio is after money. He enriches himself at the expense of the happiness of others. Evil.

This attack is forming quickly -- I have not even received anything in writing, but they have already leaked it to the press.

Leaked it? No. Released it. A leak implies that there is something to keep secret.

They again claim that Public Advocate is a “hate group” simply because you and I refuse to embrace the Homosexual Agenda.

No. You don't need to embrace anything and you will not be labelled a hate group. Mr. Delgaudio makes money by encouraging hate and working actively against equality.

And they are demanding I “cease all operations” in this fight.

Almost. This is close to true. The Southern Poverty Law Center's cease and desist letter calls on Mr. Delgaudio to "immediately cease and desist any further unauthorized use of Brian and Tom’s images and likenesses, and any further unauthorized use of Kristina’s copyrighted photos or other intellectual property." It would be good if they could call upon Mr. Delgaudio to cease all operations, but that's not what's happening in this particular case. Mr. Delgaudio chose to start this fight and the Southern Poverty Law Center is attempting to end it. That is what a cease and desist letter is all about.

Public Advocate could soon be facing a serious legal battle for supposed “hate crimes” against the Homosexual Lobby.

The particular cease and desist letter is about intellectual property rights, not hate crimes. Mr. Delgaudio is, again, imagining future scenarios. (He is a liar).

My lawyers have warned me not to go into anymore details, but I can assure you this:

As long as I am able, I will continue to fight for the Family.

That is to say, he is going to continue to fight against my family, against the family of Brian Edwards and Tom Privitere, and against all other LGBTQ families. The supposed warning from his attorneys does not make sense. Any reasonable attorney would simply tell him to stop using the copyrighted material.

I will send you more information once I receive their letter and my legal team has a chance to review it.

He received it by e-mail before he sent his letter to everyone on his mailing list, begging for more money.

Your public advocate,

Eugene Delgaudio
President, Public Advocate of the United States

P.S. Please prayerfully consider chipping in with a donation of $10 or more to help Public Advocate fight for traditional values.

Sorry to remove the link where he begs for money. That is Mr. Delgaudio's obvious goal.

Because Public Advocate of the U.S. is a non-profit, charitable organization that fights the radical agenda of the homosexual Lobby, contributions are not tax deductible for IRS purposes. This email was not produced or emailed at taxpayer expense. Public Advocate's phone number is (703) 845-1808, its address is 5613 Leesburg Pike, Suite 17 Falls Church, VA 22041, and its website is http://publicadvocateusa.org/.

It is obnoxious that his hate is not taxed.

19 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
11 January 2012, FollowUp 1.
14 January 2012, FollowUp 2.
16 February 2012, FollowUp 3.
15 March 2012, FollowUp 4.
13 June 2012, FollowUp 5.

10 July 2012

10 July 2012: Marriage News Watch

02 July 2012

2 July 2012: Marriage News Watch

25 June 2012

25 June 2012: Marriage News Watch

23 June 2012

History: Alan Turing

Today, 23 June 2012, is the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing. As indicated in the film, when Turing was 41 years old he either was murdered or committed suicide after having gone through chemical castration for the crime of being a homosexual.

To say that Turing was a genius is perhaps an understatement. When one thinks of modern computers, particularly of artificial intelligence, one might be thinking of what we call a Turing machine. His one contemporary who had equivalent mathematical insights into machine "thinking" was Alonzo Church (warning, this gets into some very complex mathematical theory). These geniuses were linked by their theories which came together in the Church-Turing thesis.

Statue of Alan Turing holding an apple

I often feature information about and write about the importance of LGBTQ equality. We have made incredible progress over the last century. Oscar Wilde, the great playwright, was imprisoned in the late nineteenth century and put to hard labor for the crime of being a homosexual. The twentieth century saw Turing avoid hard labor but, like Wilde, he met an early death.

Oscar Wilde

One can only wonder what great works Mr. Wilde might have written had he been accepted as a first class citizen and lived a full life. One can only wonder what great algorithms Mr. Turing might have developed had he been accepted as a first class citizen and lived a full life. In recent years there has been a rash of teen suicide among young LGBTQs. One can only wonder what they might have accomplished had they felt accepted as first class citizens.

To be fair, one is probably no more likely to be a genius if one is gay or lesbian than if one is straight. Most LGBTQ people I know are not of genius caliber. Most are just ordinary people Ordinary people who long to be first class citizens. Not special other than how every human being is special. Wishing to not be placed on a lower tier of a caste system.

18 June 2012

18 June 2012: Marriage News Watch

16 June 2012

Praise: President Barack Obama on Pride 2012

President Obama spoke on 15 June 2012 to some of the LGBTQ Community who were invited to a reception at the White House.

13 June 2012

FollowUp 5: Eugene Delgaudio Lies About Legislation Again

Some,

The Homosexual Lobby is ready to launch their next major push to seize control of the Republican Party:

Oh my. The dreaded "Homosexual Lobby". The catch is, there is no organized homosexual lobby. Yes, there are groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, but no lobby in the sense that Mr. Delgaudio means.

A "conservative" Super PAC to buy Republican legislators.

The Homosexual Lobby has been infiltrating the once-conservative party for years.

New sham groups like GOProud and Log Cabin Republicans have tried to convince Republican legislators that it is okay to be conservative and pro-radical homosexualism.

Now this is funny. Many in the LGBTQ Community have been at odds with the Log Cabin Republicans and more recently GOProud for a long time. Since the Republican Party has had denial of equality to the LGBTQ Community as a Platform Plank for years, there are many who think that these folks should not endeavor to be in bed with the enemy. Their response is that if we do not engage the GOP, joining and attempting to influence them, then we will never make inroads and eventually achieve equality.

Still, aside from the gay squabbles, GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans are fairly small organizations. Mr. Delgaudio is correct that they have been members of the Republicans (infiltrating) for years. But they cannot have been both doing so for years and be new groups. He has to choose one or the other. While many liberal gays think they are sham, the members of those two organizations are real and are quite serious about what they are doing.

And they’re doing it with their swollen bank accounts.

It’s no secret that the Homosexual Lobby has access to more funding than the pro-Family Movement.

Vast amounts more.

This exaggeration is because Mr. Delgaudio is referring to himself and his donors as if they are the entire so-called "pro-Family Movement". That the National Organization for Marriage has tens of millions of dollars in annual donations, including from the presumed Republican presidential nominee, does not count in Mr. Delgaudio's tallies. Neither do the resources of the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and their allies like the Witherspoon Institute.

And last summer, it was this unlimited funding that persuaded four NY state senators to betray the voters who elected them by voting for homosexual “marriage.”

So, according to Mr. Delgaudio none of these four Republican state senators had a thought about being fair to all of their constituents as they claimed. The gay lobby bought and paid for these state senators just like the National Organization for Marriage has pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to those who would oppose them in the next election. But, money dedicated to bigotry is okay while money dedicated to equality is evil.

And the man who played an instrumental role in New York is leading this newest push.

Paul Singer is a billionaire who claims to be conservative, but he is fighting with his vast fortunes to institute homosexual “marriage” across this nation.

I don't know Mr. Singer so I can't speak to his individual politics other than to note that he does indeed appear to be pushing for equality among Republicans. What I do know is that there is more than one kind of conservatism. I am a fiscal conservative (albeit not one who screams socialism at any hint of new spending, just a citizen who appreciates a frugal government). Mr. Delgaudio is a "social conservative". These are hardly the same.

As part of the fight in New York last summer, Singer was responsible for more than $11 million being spent to push homosexual “marriage” through.

He openly gave each of the four Republican traitors a quarter of a million dollars for their vote!

If that were true then Mr. Singer and all four state senators would be in a state prison. I am certainly willing to believe that Mr. Singer donated generously to each of the four. But buying votes is illegal; I'm told it is still illegal even in New York.

And now he wants to repeat this strategy in the more than 30 states which outlaw homosexual “marriage.”

Singer has created a new radical pro-homosexual Super PAC specifically to infiltrate the Republican Party.

His “American Unity PAC” has only one purpose: Find conservative politicians who are weak on moral issues -- or just desperate for money -- and buy their votes.

Well, if one goes to the American Unity PAC webpage, there is only a Facebook link. Really. There is nothing there.

Slate Magazine ran a short article on this a few days ago. It does appear that Mr. Singer's goal is to sway Republicans to marriage equality.

Hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer is one of the country’s most important Republican donors. The 67-year-old is also a big supporter of gay rights, giving more than $10 million of his own money to equal rights causes across the country. Now Singer tells the New York Times’ Frank Bruni that he, along with some like-minded Republicans, will be putting forward $1 million to launch a new super PAC with the sole mission of encouraging GOP candidates to back marriage equality.

Back to the letter from Eugene Delgaudio.

Singer provided $1 million out of his own pocket to start this up, but he won’t stop there.

He is guaranteeing politicians that if they support homosexual “marriage,” he will keep the money flowing. It won’t matter if their own constituents reject them, Singer and his Super PAC will make the traitors rich.

The word traitors is entirely wrong and to be expected of Mr. Delgaudio. Supporting equality for all of one's constituents is far from being a traitor. It is being a small-c conservative. Perhaps a dictionary would help Mr. Delgaudio with that word (eleven meanings given at the link).

It is no coincidence that they announced the new radical Super PAC when they did.

Only weeks ago I had the pleasure of announcing that Public Advocate and its supporters were able to drive Sen. James Alesi from office.

Isn't it interesting that the National Organization for Marriage made the same pronouncement ... that they had driven Mr. Alesi from office.

Mr. Alesi was one of the four Republican traitors who received slush funds from Paul Singer.

But you and I still got to him.

And the pro-Homosexual “conservatives” realized that they would have to do even more to weather the pro-Family storm of fury.

So they are going to spend even more money than ever before to buy the Republican Party -- to add the Homosexual Agenda to the conservative platform.

Let's be realistic for a moment. Given that Willard "Mitt" Romney has donated to the National Organization for Marriage and signed a pledge to pass a Constitutional Amendment from the Family Leader or from the National Organization for Marriage to keep the LGBTQ Community as second class citizens. Given that the second and third and fourth place contenders for the Republican nomination, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich and Ron Raul*, signed the same pledge. There is zero chance that the GOP Party Platform will be modified to include equality for all.

* I should note that Dr. Paul did not really sign the Marriage Pledge. He signed the Personhood Amendment Pledge. When it comes to marriage equality, Ron Paul favors letting each state decide, preferably to maintain the caste system.

My friend, this could be their most dangerous strategy.

You and I saw how they made it work in New York.

The only counter-strategy mainstream Americans have is dedicated grassroots lobbying.

Through phone calls, letters and public campaigns to expose them, you and I can fight back.

Public Advocate is the biggest threat to the Homosexual Agenda... you can be sure that this new Super PAC is going to target us in the near future.

Mr. Delgaudio should make sure that he tells this to Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and Bryan Brown of the National Organization for Marriage. They each believe that they are the biggest threat.

For the Family,

Eugene Delgaudio
President, Public Advocate of the United States

And, of course, by "the Family" Mr. Delgaudio does not include my family. It is only families that meet a narrow definition of opposite gender spouses.

The letter was interesting in that it clearly demonstrates that Mr. Delgaudio, and likely many others among his fellow bigots, are scared of the impact that Paul Singer might have. In the short run, Mr. Delgaudio's letter goes on to a post script in which he begs for money as he always does. In the long run, equality will likely be the rule as it was for Blacks and for women. Perhaps Mr. Singer is tightening that timeline.

19 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
11 January 2012, FollowUp 1.
14 January 2012, FollowUp 2.
16 February 2012, FollowUp 3.
15 March 2012, FollowUp 4.

12 July 2012, FollowUp 6.

11 June 2012

Praise: Silent March Against NYC Stop And Frisk

GLAAD produced the video. Their commentary on YouTube:

On June 5, 2012, at the historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, where a backlash against police harassment in June 1969 launched the modern LGBT rights movement, local, state and national LGBT organizations, convened by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, joined civil rights, labor, and elected leaders to announce support for the campaign against the NYPD's stop and frisk policy, and issue a call to action to for the LGBT community to participate in the June 17th Father's Day Silent March Against Racial Profiling.
http://silentmarchnyc.org/

Organizers of the Stonewall event unveiled an unprecedented and growing coalition of over 50 LGBT national, state, and local organizations standing together in support of the March.

The Silent March has been organized by the NAACP, National Action Network, and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.

For more information about the Stonewall event visit:
http://rwdsu.info/en/archives/6/historic-stonewall-inn-lgbt-groups-condemn-st...

Join the March and invite your freinds on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/events/341929132541010/

Join LGBT Against Stop and Frisk and Racial Profiling at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/307075602713658/

That the NAACP supports equality for the LGBTQ Community is not and should not be a one-way street. We do not improve our lot by stepping upon others, but by elevating all to equality. This is a powerful message from Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Beit Simchat. It is an important message for all who treasure equality.

11 June 2012: Marriage News Watch

04 June 2012

4 June 2012: Marriage News Watch

01 June 2012

Praise: President Obama on Pride Month 2012

I really like this message from Barack Obama. On the issue of LGBTQ equality, he is an excellent leader. Thank you, Mr. President.

31 May 2012

Praise: Smoke-Free LGBTQ Proposal

As one who cannot tolerate tobacco to the point where when I was dating I would not go out with a smoker, this is particularly touching. Gays are as human as straights, but for various reasons have a higher percentage of smokers. It is my hope that as we gain equality we can lose the need for so much tobacco.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

30 May 2012

Praise: Barack Obama on Jewish American Heritage Month

Although I am Jewish, I was not aware of the history of Presidents Lincoln and Grant that President Obama describes here. Very interesting. The United States slowly is becoming a more perfect union, with greater equality for all. All benefit from equality.

29 May 2012

28 May 2012: Marriage News Watch

21 May 2012

21 May 2012: Marriage News Watch

17 May 2012

Praise: Minnesotans United for All Families campaign

The endeavor to write discrimination into the Minnesota Constitution might go the same way as it did with the North Carolina Constitution. This ad makes the same argument that was made to give those eighteen years old the right to vote. Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt was not the first LGBTQ to serve in Afghanistan and he was not the first to die for his country. He died a second class citizen. Thank you Representative Kriesel for your words of support.

Here are links for the Minnesotans United for All Families:
www.mnunited.org
www.facebook.com/mn4allfamilies
www.twitter.com/mn4allfamilies
www.pinterest.com/mn4allfamilies

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

15 May 2012

Praise: James Clyburn on Marriage Equality

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Representative Clyburn of South Carolina, number three in the minority leadership, is spot on regarding marriage equality. On the other hand, I suspect that national equality will only be possible through the courts, similar to what happened with interracial marriage as resolved by the Supreme Court in Loving v Virginia.

The legislative route is easier if there is a Democratic Congress. If we can simply see the overturning of DOMA, then marriages between people of the same gender may still not be possible in forty-four states, but those states would have to recognize marriages performed in the six states where marriage equality is the law (Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont) as well as the District of Columbia. Without DOMA, that recognition of marriages would be required by Article IV, Section One of the United States Constitution.

Either way, thank you to Leader Clyburn. Well said.

14 May 2012

Praise: Audra McDonald on Obama and Marriage Equality

While the hyperbole of "superhero" is at first hear a bit extreme, Ms. McDonald may be entirely accurate. If President Obama's words stop a teen in North Carolina from committing suicide, he is a superhero. Saving a life is what heroes do. Thank you, Ms. McDonald. Your prescience may also be saving lives.

Thank you, Freedom to Marry, for sharing this video.

Various Direct Links