December 15, 2005

Reaching the Heartland

Nature or Nurture?
In the wake of the Catholic Church's decision to ban gay men from seminaries, columnist Ellen Goodman wrote about the nature-nurture debate as it relates to sexual orientation.  LEF has been focusing on this same issue—including our white paper highlighting the evidence showing people don't choose their sexual orientation.  In preparing her column, Goodman interviewed Chandler Burr, the author of LEF's white paper.  Goodman writes, "Somewhere along the way, the dividing line over gay issues picked up and moved. It's no longer between red and blue states, or left and right wings, but between nature and nurture. Or to be more precise, between those who believe that homosexuality is a choice and those who believe that homosexuality is innate.

Vatican Announces Ban on Gay Priests
Late in November, the Vatican finally issued its long awaited policy that bans gay men from becoming priests.  The New York Times reports, "The document's official release ended months of piecemeal leaks on one of the most sensitive issues facing the church.  It was officially published in two forms, as a booklet that ran for seven pages, in the English translation with footnotes, and in the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.  According to the text of the document itself, the church will not admit to a seminary nor ordain 'those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called `gay culture.'

"Only candidates who had experienced 'homosexual tendencies' that were 'transitory' will be ordained, the directive said, provided such tendencies had been 'overcome' three years before ordination as a deacon, a step on the path to full ordination as a priest.  But the document did not provide definitions of terms like 'tendencies,' 'deep-seated' or 'overcome,' though Cardinal Grocholewski gave several specific instances of homosexuality that could be considered 'transitory' and thus possibly acceptable."  Read more.

Bishop Supports Gay Priests
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Bishop Matthew Clark assured gay priests and seminarians on Sunday that they are welcome in Rochester's Roman Catholic diocese.  'We deeply value your ministry,' Clark wrote in his weekly column in the Catholic Courier, referring to priests who are gay and dedicate their lives to service. And to gay men considering becoming priests: 'We try to treat all inquiries fairly. You will be no exception.'

"'I was really stunned that the bishop is basically saying that he is going to defy the Holy See,' said Andrew Dick, a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in Rochester. '(The bishop is) obligated and all Roman Catholics are obligated to follow the directions of the pope.  The thing that really struck me is he's pretty much saying, 'I'm not going to do that.'"  Read more.

Gay Priest Criticizes New Vatican Policy
The Rev. Thomas J. O'Brien writes in The Detroit Free Press, "I am coming out as a gay, chaste Jesuit priest because it hurts too much not to.  I deeply love the church and the Jesuits.  I believe this document will do more harm than good in the long run, and, in fact, is a kind of smoke screen to say that the official church has 'done something.'  I find the document flawed in particular ways:

• It requires three years of a chaste life by homosexuals applying to Catholic seminaries.  It says nothing about requiring chastity from heterosexual applicants.
• It reaffirms its judgment that homosexual tendencies are "objectively disordered."  There is plentiful evidence that this is not true.  Lesbian sisters and gay brothers and priests have, indeed, been models of relating to people -- especially to the disenfranchised and excluded of society.
• The document prohibits anyone from 'support(ing) the so-called gay culture.' Does this mean that I cannot support civil rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people and transsexual individuals?  Jesus taught us God loves all people.  Indeed, in his ministry, Christ reached out to those excluded by the Jewish religious leaders of his day.
• This document reveals a fundamentally disordered view of gender and sexual orientation.  It forces many people to hide the fact that they are gay.  How many popes have been gay?  How many cardinals and bishops have been gay?  Since this is such an embarrassing topic to church officials, they simply don't speak about it.  Scholars such as Jeannine Gramick and Thomas Thurston have documented evidence of gay and lesbian church officials throughout history.

"Thankfully, God is greater than any religion or any church. Thankfully, God's love for all people is the foundation of Jesus' teaching and ministry.  I love the Church.  I ardently desire to continue ministry as a priest in the Society of Jesus and in the Archdiocese of Detroit."  Read more.

Mixed Signals in Boston
The Associated Press reports, "Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley is calling for an end to prejudices against gays.  In a letter sent to the nearly 300 parishes in the Boston Archdiocese, O'Malley says he doesn't want gays to feel like the church discriminates against them despite its opposition to same-sex marriage.  O'Malley says the church's opposition to gay marriage is not based on hostility toward homosexuals, but rather the conviction that marriage between a man and a woman is important for children and society.  O'Malley says many homosexuals in the church lead holy lives."  Read more.

Meanwhile, 365gay.com reports, "The Vatican's top man in America has asked Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to step in and stop allowing Catholic Charities of Boston to place adoptive children with same-sex couples.  Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo Higuera, the papal nuncio to the United States made the recommendation in a letter to O'Malley, the Boston Herald reports, quoting an unnamed source. Although he is the ambassador to the U.S. from the Vatican he cannot issue a direct order to O'Malley.  However, as a senior diplomat he represents the views of the Holy See.  It became known earlier this year that a handful of children had been placed with gay and lesbian couples.  At the time Catholic Charities said that because it accepts money from the state it could not discriminate."  Read more.

American Baptists Approve New Anti-Gay Language
Christian Post reports, "Amid the ongoing controversy over gay policies within the American Baptist Churches of USA, the denomination added a new phrase to its self-definition in favor of a stronger stance against homosexuality.  With growing criticism over the denomination's lack of stringency and action against homosexuality, the General Board voted during a Nov. 17-20 meeting to alter a phrase on the 'We Are American Baptists' document.  The new wording reads that American Baptists are believers 'who submit to the teaching of Scripture that God's design for sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man and one woman, and acknowledge that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching.'  The vote passed 59-45 with five abstentions."  Read more.

Defending Freedom

Supreme Court Hears Military Recruitment Case
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Rumsfeld v. FAIR case.  Justices will decide whether the Uncle Sam can withhold government funding for law schools who refuse equal access to military recruiters because of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

Many law schools have non-discrimination policies that require all job recruiters to provide equal treatment for gays and lesbians.  The DADT policy violates the non-discrimination rules so many schools banned military recruiters.  Congress responded in 1994 by blocking federal funds from schools that did so.  The 'Solomon Amendment,' as the fund-blocking provision became known, was challenged by a group of law schools who argued a constitutional right 'to be free from compelled endorsement of messages repugnant to them.'

CNN.com reports, "The Supreme Court demonstrated deep skepticism that universities should be allowed to turn away military recruiters and still accept federal funds.  Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, several members of the bench said schools opposed to the military's policy could simply refuse the government's money. And Justice Sandra Day O'Connor added that there is nothing stopping schools from allowing recruiters while still making their objections known by posting disclaimers. More than ideology is stake.  The military said it has pressing needs for educated talent with highly specialized skills, such as translators, engineers and lawyers.

"The Pentagon has suffered recent shortfalls in its recruiting goals, and officials worry military preparedness in time of war may be threatened.  They say schools are free to bar the government from campus but should not continue receiving government money as a result.  Universities receive about $35 billion a year in federal funds, much of it for medical and scientific research.  They argue their anti-discrimination policies are constitutionally protected and that academic freedom should not be compromised as a condition for accepting government benefits.  During oral arguments, the justices appeared open to claims by the government that it wanted a 'fair shot' at top students."  Read more.  Listen to oral arguments.

Watch Video of Speeches from the 2005 LEF National Sympoisum Now you can watch video of some speeches from the 2005 Liberty Education Forum National Symposium in New Orleans.  Click here to watch speeches from conservative law professor Dale Carpenter, Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry, and Jimmy Creech from Soulforce.

Courage Under Fire World War II veteran Rupert Starr from Columbus, Ohio is a former prisoner of war.  In late 1944, he was captured by the German Army after he volunteered to go behind enemy lines.   Click here to watch a brief video highlighting Starr's story of courage and sacrifice.

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Gay and Lesbian Families

The History of Marriage
The Associated Press recently highlighted the work of marriage expert Stephanie Coontz, the author of 'Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy or How Love Conquered Marriage.'  "'The debate over gay marriage has social conservatives decrying the destruction of the sanctity of marriage, but a nationally renowned marriage expert argues the institution was thrown into chaos long ago.  Once people started eschewing marriage as a business proposition and instead partnered up based on something as fleeting as love, all convention was thrown out the window,' says Coontz.

"Proponents and opponents of gay marriage are anxiously awaiting a state Supreme Court ruling on whether gay couples should be allowed to marry in Washington State. 'People may have their own opinions about the morality of homosexuality,' Coontz said.  'As a historian, I can only say: Heterosexuals revolutionized marriage.  Gay and lesbian marriages, there is no evidence that they are going to make marriage worse.  They are some of the few people clamoring to enter marriage.'"  Read more.

Dying Officer Becomes Center of Gay Rights Debate
The New York Times recently highlighted the story of a terminally ill New Jersey law enforcement investigator who wants to make sure her partner receives her pension.  "The cancer in Laurel Hester's lungs keeps her voice to a whisper, so a noisy public dispute over gay marriage was the last thing she wanted at the end of her life.  She said she only sought to leave her longtime partner, Stacie Andree, the pension she earned as an investigator with the Ocean County prosecutor's office so Ms. Andree could keep their house.  'I'm not on a crusade,' said Ms. Hester, a 23-year veteran who once headed the county's narcotics division.  'My concern is really that I don't have a lot of time left, and Stacie would not be able to afford the mortgage without assistance.'

"New Jersey law allows municipalities to extend domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian couples who work in local government.  Dozens of New Jersey towns and counties have opted to do so, but Ocean County has not addressed the issue until Ms. Hester's case.  She first made her request to county officials last fall, soon after doctors discovered her cancer.  But only last week did Ocean County freeholders respond.  And after one board member, John P. Kelly, told The Asbury Park Press that the board had denied Ms. Hester's request because it would violate 'the sanctity of marriage,' she was reluctantly thrown into the glare of public scrutiny.'"  Read more.

Witness to a Wedding
Gay conservative Jonathan Rauch recently wrote about a wedding he attended for a gay couple in Massachusetts.  Rauch will be speaking at the 2006 Liberty Education Forum National Symposium.  He writes in National Journal, "Both grooms wear tuxedos and boutonnieres.  The minister, a young seminarian in the United Church of Christ, tall in his robes, begins.  Under order of the state Supreme Court, same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and today the minister will marry Jamie Beckland and Michael Pope.  'Every relationship of love is holy, sacred, and worthy of public affirmation and celebration,' he says, with a touch of emphasis, slight but sufficient, on the word 'every.'  'We pray that this couple will fulfill God's purpose for the whole of their lives.'  Emphasis again, this time on the word 'whole.'  Not everyone in the hall picks up the inflection, but the grooms do.

"Jamie is 27, originally from Wisconsin, now a development officer at the Brookings Institution in Washington.  Michael, also 27, works at a private research company. They plan to move to Massachusetts, the place where Jamie lived when they met and the only state where their marriage has legal force.  For all the differences, Jamie and Michael and their families have this in common: divorce.  The newlyweds' immediate families count eight divorces between them, four on each side.  Michael's parents divorced when he was 6, Jamie's when he was 10.  'I think there's a whole generation of kids from broken homes who only want to be married once,' Michael says. This marriage of two men, so radical by some lights, aspires to reconsecrate the deepest of marital traditions."  Read more.

Healthwatch

HIV Rate Increases Among Gay and Bisexual Men
The San Francisco Chronicle reports, "A new snapshot of the AIDS epidemic in the United States is showing a possible decline in HIV diagnoses among African Americans over a three-year period but also indicates a more recent jump in positive tests among gay men of all races.  African Americans account for just over half of the new HIV cases reported each year in the United States, but new data tracking the epidemic in 33 states show a 5 percent decrease in positive tests each year among blacks from 2001 to 2004.  The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found that new HIV diagnoses among gay men were relatively stable in 2001-03 but increased 8 percent in 2004 -- coinciding with reports of increases in unprotected sex and in incidence of sexually transmitted diseases."  Read more.

FDA proposes Condom Labeling that Warns of Risk
The Advocate reports, "The FDA wants condom packages to warn that condoms are less effective at stopping some sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes and human papillomavirus, than others.  The agency also wants packaging to advise that condoms that use a common spermicidal lubricant should not be used by people at risk of catching HIV.  In proposed rules posted on its Web site, the Food and Drug Administration said the changes to male condom labels would provide people with more precise information on how well condoms work.  They would apply to latex condoms, which make up about 98% of the market; rules for other condoms are forthcoming.  The FDA would not insist condom manufacturers use FDA-provided language, but they would have to include the information in some form on their packages.  Read more.

World AIDS Day Marked with Marches and Education Campaigns
The Advocate reports, "Schoolchildren in Senegal pledged to abstain from sex and Indian village women cast off a veil of shame about their HIV status as World AIDS Day was marked around the globe (on December 1st).  About 40 million people worldwide are now infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  Some 3 million of them are expected to die of AIDS this year.  Africa, with only 10% of the world's population, suffers over half of its HIV infections.  Heavily Muslim Senegal is a relative bright spot on the continent, with only about 1% of the population infected. Dozens of children packed into a schoolhouse in the central Senegal town of Fatick to learn more about the disease.  'Our teacher told us that AIDS is a very dangerous disease,' said 13-year-old Aissatou Niang, wearing a green head scarf.

"Such frank talk among African children is likely to cheer AIDS activists, who say science can help treat those with HIV but that ignorance or taboos surrounding its transmission and symptoms means AIDS is hard to halt—and treat.  'We want to say to people that HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence—there is treatment, there is life after HIV,' Karen Stewart, with the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, said at a rally in Lagos, Nigeria.  Read more.

Circumcision Can Lower Risk of HIV
The Advocate reports, "Despite recent studies showing that circumcision can reduce the odds of heterosexual men contracting HIV, with one South African study showing it cut infection risks by 61%, the procedure is not expected to gain popularity in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reports.  Although there have been no studies of the effects of circumcision among gay men, many health experts believe that circumcised gay men, particularly those who are the insertive partner during anal sex, are also at a lower HIV risk than their uncircumcised peers.  Circumcision was once routine for newborn boys in the country, with as many as 90% undergoing the procedure, but today the percentage has fallen to just over 50, with that number expected to decrease further, health experts say.  Much of the decline is due to doctors abandoning the point of view that the procedure is medically necessary. Some state Medicaid programs and private health insurers also have stopped paying for the procedure.  Read more.