A small example of how inaccuracies are passed off as facts

I was just reading the notes that were taken during the discussion on the Senate Judiciary Committee for the same-sex marriage bill in New Jersey.  These notes can be found on the terrific blog, Box Turtle Bulletin.   Timothy Kincaid took detailed notes and commentary all evening.  Some of what he heard are the same old notions of male/female marriage being the "gold standard" to which all should strive to achieve.  One senator pointed out that homosexual activity in prison was evidence that being gay was a choice.  And as Kincaid notes, anti-equality folks are incapable of saying the word gay.  It's always homosexual, just to remind you again that gay relationships are all about sex.

Part way through the hearing Kincaid writes that someone has stated that Catholic Charities in Massachusetts lost its license to provide adoption after same-ex marriage was deemed constitutional.  Then he writes in parenthesis, completely untrue.

And it most certainly is.  This is an important point, because religious exemptions have been proposed to many of the marriage bills, including this one in New Jersey.  They have been seen as friendly amendments, not proposed changes to water down the law or lessen chances of its passage.  I haven't spoken to any same-sex marriage supporter who believes that churches should be required to marry same-sex couples.  Separation of Church and State means just that.  But this is the fear that is being fostered.  And as long as a falsehood like Catholic Charities in Massachusetts lost its license to provide adoption is allowed to go unquestioned, these falsehoods will continue perpetuating that fear.


The story with Catholic Charities in Massachusetts is quite simple.  For 103 years, the organization placed children in foster homes, including some foster homes with same-sex couples.  This was what the organization did.  After same-sex marriage became an option in Massachusetts, the Catholic Church, having spent over a million dollars trying to defeat it, lost the battle.  It then decided that it change its policy and not place foster children with same-sex couples as it had done for years.  Cardinal Sean O'Malley (right) even used the term "do violence to them," to describe what happened to children in these situations.

Catholic Charities worked through the Department of Social Services in Massachusetts.  The state of Massachusetts cannot legally discriminate, so Catholic Charities was not allowed to change its stance on same-sex foster parents that it had embraced for many years.  As a result, many members of the Board of Catholic Charities resigned, not in protest over same-sex marriage but over the church's decision to change its adoption policy.  These board members are lay leaders in the Roman Catholic Church in Boston, including the Chair of the Committee, Peter Meade (left), who wrote an op-ed in a Boston newspaper explaining his decision as well as his support for same-sex marriage.

So Catholic Charities did not lose its license to place children in foster homes any more than it will lose permission to feed the poor in Washington if it follows though on its threat to withdraw its social service support in DC if the city allows same-sex marriage.

In the midst of heated debate, sometimes people misspeak without knowing it.  Other times, however, the "inaccuracy" is not a slip of the tongue at all. Statements are calculated to instill fear, in this case fear that religious institutions will be required to marry gay people or lose their tax exempt status.  This is simply false.

Thanks, of course, to Timothy Kincaid at Turtle Box Bulletin, for his report on the hearings.

New Jersey marriage news from the NYT

Tonight's news re: same-sex marriage from the New York Times.


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A bill to legalize gay marriage has cleared the New Jersey state Senate Judiciary Committee, paving the way for a full Senate vote Thursday.  Monday night's committee vote was 7-6.

New Jersey is the best chance for proponents to add a sixth state allowing same-sex unions.  A similar measure was voted down last week in the New York state Senate. Last month, voters in Maine overturned a law that was enacted this year to allow same-sex weddings but never took effect.
Gay marriage is recognized in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa. It becomes legal in New Hampshire in January.


Proponents want the New Jersey bill passed quickly because Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine (right) has said he'd sign it before leaving office.


Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie (left) says he'd veto it. He takes office Jan. 19.

News Items

1. According to the BBC, Antonio Ruiz is the first gay man to receive a letter of apology from the Spanish government for being imprisoned in 1976 for being gay.  Mr. Ruiz received both a letter and nearly $6,000 in reparations for three months that he was incarcerated under a law enacted during the Franco Regime.  Although Franco died in 1975, the law was still in effect after his death.   Ruiz's letter and compensation were made possible through Spain's Historical Memory Law of 2007, which recognizes victims of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco Regime.

2. Many LGBT groups are expressing outrage at the Grammy nomination of an singer who has called for the murder of gay men.  The singer, Buju Banton, sings in “Boom, Bye Bye” that “faggots get up and run” when he comes, that “they have to die,” and that he will shoot them in the head or “burn them up bad.”  He not only has refused to stop singing the song, but has insisted, “There is no end to the war between me and faggots." In a statement, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center said, “It’s an affront to LGBT people, and to all fair-minded people around the world, that Buju Banton was nominated."


3. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has spoken out against the nomination of the first out lesbian to be assistant bishop of Los Angeles.  Asking that the bishops of the Communion continue to acknowledge  a "gracious restraint" in order to hold the church together, Williams reminded all that Rev. Mary Glasspool's position as assistant bishop was not final, and that there was still time to stop her appointment.  His quick response to Glasspool's selection was especially difficult for many since he has yet to condemn the Ugandan "Anti Homosexual Bill of 2009," graciously or otherwise.

4.  It looks like we may be seeing a vote on equal marriage rights in New Jersey this week after all.  Since Gov. John Corzine has promised to sign the bill into law before he leaves office in January and because his successor has vowed to veto it, the next few days are the only opportunity to pass an equal marriage bill.  It remains quite uncertain, however, if the bill will pass the legislature.

New Jersey Showdown

When John Corzine lost his reelection bid for Governor of New Jersey, we knew it was not a good day for marriage equality.  Chris Christie, the Republican Governor-Elect, has vowed to veto any pro gay marriage bill to leave the legislature.  Still, a recent poll had shown that a majority New Jersey voters favored same-sex marriage.  There was hope that the legislature would pass a marriage bill before Corzine left office in January.

That hope is fading.  An anti-gay marriage group has spent half a million dollars on radio ads and mailings urging people to call their representatives to tell them not to take up the vote.  I've heard some of the ads, and not one -- not one -- gives a logical reason for opposing same-sex marriage.  Other than saying "because traditional marriage is between a man and a woman," the ads set up a false choice of either addressing unemployment or marriage equality.  The gist of these ads is, "Can you believe that with so many New Jersey citizens out of work that the legislature is actually thinking about changing traditional marriage?"  Subtext:  Unemployed?  Blame gay marriage!

The campaign has been effective.  A poll released today showed that a majority of New Jersey citizens now oppose same sex marriage. Some legislators are having second thoughts about passing a marriage bill, saying they don't want to anger the electorate.

Interesting.  When are they going to start worrying about our anger?  Maybe when it's so loud that they can't ignore it.