September 15, 2005

The Liberty Line is a monthly e-mail update from the Liberty Education Forum. 

Reaching the Heartland

What Makes People Gay?
The Boston Globe Magazine recently had a lengthy article examining the origins of sexual orientation. The magazine highlights some of the mounting evidence that people don't choose their sexual orientation.  "This accumulating biological evidence, combined with the prospect of more on the horizon, is having an effect. Last month, the Rev. Rob Schenck, a prominent Washington, D.C., evangelical leader, told a large gathering of young evangelicals that he believes homosexuality is not a choice but rather a predisposition, something 'deeply rooted' in people. Schenck told me that his conversion came about after he'd spoken extensively with genetic researchers and psychologists. He argues that evangelicals should continue to oppose homosexual behavior, but that 'many evangelicals are living in a sort of state of denial about the advance of this conversation.' His message: 'If it's inevitable that this scientific evidence is coming, we have to be prepared with a loving response. If we don't have one, we won't have any credibility.'"  Read more. Read the Liberty Education Forum's recent report on this issue. "The Only question That Matters: Do People Choose Their Sexual Orientation?"

Gay Rams May Help Explain Human Sexuality
Gfn.com reports, "Researchers at Oregon State University have presented new studies showing about 8 percent of rams are 'male-oriented' suggesting that homosexuality may be biologically driven. The findings come from researchers at Oregon State, Oregon Health & Science University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sheep Experiment Station. The researchers found marked differences in the brain anatomy and hormones between male- and female-oriented rams, according to Fred Stormshak, distinguished professor of animal science at Oregon State, and an investigator on the project. In 'rams who like other rams,' the anterior preoptic area of the hypothalamus was about half the size of this part of the brain in heterosexual rams, he said.  Read more.

Debate Rages About Reparative Therapy
The Washington Post recently examined the effort by some on the radical right to provide reparative therapy in an effort to make gay people 'straight'.  "Until the early 1990s the treatment, also known as reorientation therapy, was largely relegated to religious groups or to the fringes of mental health. Mainstream therapists have been taught to help patients distressed about their homosexuality work toward self-acceptance, to overcome the internalized homophobia thought to be the cause of much emotional turmoil. Reparative therapists reject the views held by an overwhelming majority of mental health practitioners. They regard homosexuality as a pathological preference forged in the crucible of a troubled childhood and not, as most scientists believe, an inborn orientation significantly influenced by biological factors such as genetics and exposure to hormones in the womb.

"Mental health experts are alarmed by the resurgence of a treatment they say has been discredited. 'Reparative therapy is the laetrile of mental health,' said New York psychiatrist Jack Drescher, referring to the quack cancer cure banned in the United States in the 1970s. In the view of Drescher, chair of the APA's committee on gay, lesbian and bisexual issues, 'Many people who try this treatment tend to be desperate, very unhappy and don't know other gay people,' said Drescher, who has treated about a dozen men who previously underwent conversion therapy. (Men are far more likely than women to receive the treatment.) 'I see people who've been very hurt by this,' said Drescher, who said some people do manage to temporarily change their behavior, often by becoming celibate, but not their sexual orientation. 'They spend years trying to change and are told they aren't trying hard enough.'

Catherine Wulfensmith, 46, a family therapist in Monrovia, Calif., said she attempted suicide several times after reparative therapy failed to alter her attraction to women. 'I bought it hook, line and sinker," she said. "If you don't change, what are you left with?'  Read more.

Alabama Gay Rights Group Gaining Steam
The Associated Press reports, "With Alabamians scheduled to vote next year on banning same-sex marriages, a gay rights group is stepping up its visibility by opening offices in Birmingham and Montgomery. 'In order to change the hearts and minds of people, we have to be visible,' said Howard Bayless of Birmingham, chair of Equality Alabama.

"Equality Alabama opened an office in Birmingham in April and one in Montgomery in July. The Montgomery office is in a refurbished house on historic Perry Street, just down the street from the homes of Gov. Bob Riley and John Giles, state president of the Christian Coalition. Both pushed for a constitutional amendment which, if approved by Alabama voters next year, will fortify Alabama's statutory ban on same-sex marriages by making it part of the state constitution.  The location of the office down the street from Riley's and Giles' homes is a coincidence, but it has sparked plenty of laughs at Equality Alabama. 'The governor and Mr. Giles have to drive past it every day,' Bayless said.

Soulforce Launching Equality Ride
Soulforce is looking for young people interested in joining its Equality Ride. This two-month journey, scheduled for the spring of 2006, is a cross-country bus tour designed to confront college policies that ban the enrollment of openly GLBT students. From Brigham Young University to Wheaton College, there are over 100 religious and military colleges in the United States that have bans on GLBT enrollment.  To confront this problem, Soulforce is looking for young adults ages 18 to 28 to join an historic cross-country journey to bring a message of truth to several colleges that ban GLBT enrollment.  On each campus, Equality Riders will take a bold stand for truth on behalf of the gay community through press conferences, dialogues, debates, vigils, and where necessary, nonviolent direct action.   Send an e-mail to Soulforce if you'd like more information about participating. 

Keeping the Faith

Gay Issues Divide Mainline Protestant Churches
The Orange County Register recently reported, "Anguished debates about ordaining gay clergy and blessing same-sex unions are worsening the exodus from four bedrock, mainstream Protestant denominations - the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Church leaders say the moral and scriptural struggle over homosexuality, particularly with regard to clergy and marriages, is the canary in the spiritual coal mine. 'All this is only a sign of concern, of unrest,' said Episcopal Bishop Jon Bruno of the Diocese of Los Angeles, which includes Orange County. 'What people are really saying here in 2005 is: What is the church all about?'

"The answers from the four denominations will help shape national decisions on issues as far from homosexuality as stem-cell research, Ron Farmer, dean of the chapel and professor of religion at Chapman University in Orange, said. These faiths have produced most of the nation's presidents and many prominent theologians and activists. They still carry plenty of moral clout in a country where religion is playing an increasing role in private lives and the public square.  And their members are asking, 'What does the Bible really say?' Farmer said.  Read more.

Lutheran Vote Fails to Heal Rift Over Gay Issues
The Baltimore Sun reports, "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America officially welcomed gay and lesbian members in 1991, but it does not ordain practicing homosexuals or sanction blessing same-sex couples.  In the voting last week, a divided assembly of 1,000 Lutherans left those policies unchanged. On a question that required a two-thirds' majority to pass, members voted 503-490 against allowing bishops to ordain gay clergy candidates who were in committed relationships. Members voted 670-323 to maintain the prohibition on blessing same-sex couples, while trusting pastors and congregations to 'discern ways to provide faithful pastoral care for all to whom they minister.'

"Debates over homosexuality have opened deep rifts in some Protestant denominations. The ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire two years ago has divided the Episcopal Church USA. The United Church of Christ, in contrast, last month endorsed civil unions for same-sex couples. No split is seen as imminent in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

"'We're Lutherans,' says Phil Soucy, spokesman for liberal group Goodsoil. 'We're not going anywhere. We're inexorable about the practice of our Lutheran faith. The sides feel passionately and strongly that this is an issue that is an ultimate issue," he said. 'They see ultimate truths hinging on the outcome. And I think there is a broad spectrum in the middle who feels that with time will come clarity.'

"Both [sides] came away disappointed. For area Lutherans, as for the 5 million-member church nationwide, the decision to neither tighten nor loosen restrictions on homosexuals leaves unresolved questions that have divided other denominations. With the next assembly set for 2007, and a statement on human sexuality due in 2009, both sides are readying for a long struggle over the direction of the nation's largest Lutheran church." Read more.

Methodist Bishops to Speak at Pro-Gay Conference Despite Protest
The Christian Post reports, "Despite protests and criticisms from conservative Methodists across the nation, three United Methodist bishops will be speaking at a conference hosted by a group that advocates change in the denomination's ban on ordaining gay priest and blessing same-sex unions. Bishops Sally Dyck, Scott Jones and John Schol will participate in a panel discussion session during the first convocation of Reconciling Ministries Network – the largest unofficial United Methodist advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

"Bishop Jones, a keynote speaker at the Confessing Movement conference (a conservative group that opposes the ordination of gays and lesbians), said he is attending both conferences to foster the spirit of Christ. 'Too many people draw hard and fast lines, demonizing those who disagree with them. That is not the spirit of Christ,' Jones told United Methodist News Service.  'For me to attend both meetings doesn't mean I am in full agreement with either group, but reflects my recognition that both groups are composed of my sisters and brothers in the United Methodist Church, and I care about them and want to be in dialogue with them.'  Read more.

Catholic Bishop Expanding Outreach to Gay Catholics
In a clear departure from the direction of higher ups in the Catholic Church, a bishop in West Tennessee is reaching out to gay and lesbian members of his church.   Notre Dame Professor Father Richard McBrient recently wrote, "In June, Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis announced in his regular column in The West Tennessee Catholic the inauguration of a new diocesan ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics 'to be sure that we do not leave anyone behind,' and that 'all are welcome in their own home.'

"'I have become more acutely aware of the number of Catholics --- who are no longer comfortable in their home. In fact, some are no longer certain that the Church is their home.'"  Bishop Steib reported that he had met recently with several gay and lesbian Catholics, and later with their parents. 'For all of them,' he wrote, 'being Catholic is at the core of who they are. At the same time, they are people who are not sure of 'their place' in their home. They are people --- wonderful, good Catholic people --- who are gay and lesbian.'

"He urged his readers to recognize and accept their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as full-fledged members of the Church, 'welcome in their own home,' and to 'lay aside preconceived notions of who does or does not belong.'  The bishop pointed to Jesus as our model, and Jesus, he insisted, 'loved all, lived for all, and died for all.'

"Himself an African-American, Bishop Steib cited the era of slavery in the U.S. South, the 'march of tears' of Native Americans, and the grape strikes in California as reminders 'that God's work is always hampered when human beings are afraid of differences in each other.  A new ministry with gay and lesbian persons,' he explained, 'will push open even further the door to promoting understanding and compassion among all of us. It will open the door to 'home' for many who are an important part of who we are, and to a segment of our family that has been apart from us for too long.'"

The Bishop wrote, "God does not withhold love from any of us. I believe that wholeheartedly. God's love is unconditional and that is the gift God offers us in Christ Jesus: the gift of loving each other with that same Godly and unconditional love." Read more.

Cardinal Says Gay Adoption Will Harm Children
The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom reports, "The leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics has described proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt as a 'distorted social experiment' which risks making children gay. Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the recommendations of a Scottish executive expert group threatened to place children in an unstable environment that was 'gravely immoral'.  Writing in the Sunday Times Scotland, O'Brien warns: 'Scotland's adopted children must not become guinea pigs in some distorted social experiment aimed at redefining marriage, subverting the family and threatening the good of society.'

"The Scottish executive plans to change the law, extending rights of adoption. At present only married couples are allowed to jointly adopt. Unmarried and same-sex couples can be assessed for adoption but only one partner can legally adopt. A change in the law would bring Scotland in line with England which introduced similar changes two years ago. O'Brien said same sex relationships were 'unstable' and warned that ministers were disregarding the needs of children.  Read more.

Pro-Gay Politicians Banned From Phoenix Diocese
The Associated Press reports, "Politicians who support gay rights and abortion have been banned from speaking at Roman Catholic churches in the Phoenix Diocese by Bishop Thomas Olmsted, former bishop of Wichita.  So far, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is the only person affected.  She was forbidden to speak at a Scottsdale church, so an event was moved to another site.  Olmsted, who was Wichita's coadjutor bishop in 1999 and then sole bishop from 2001 to December 2003, wrote pastors in December saying churches may not invite to speak any public figure who disagrees with basic church teachings on abortion, gay marriage or other issues, The Arizona Republic reported.  Read more.

Orthodox Christians Leaves Council Of Churches Over Gay Issues
365gay.com reports, "The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has announced it will no longer be part of the National Council of Churches, saying the organization has become too political in supporting denominations that favor gays.  The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese has about 390,000 members and 240 parishes and races its roots to Arabic-speaking immigrants to North America.

"Based in Englewood, New Jersey, the Church has become dissatisfied with the Council's support for the United Church of Christ decision to support same-sex marriage and its acceptance of the Episcopal Church's consecration of Gene Robinson as its first openly gay bishop.'It got to be too much,' said Antiochian spokesperson Thomas Zain. 'There was no more reason to be part of [the NCC].'  Read more.

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.

Defending Freedom

New Study Shows the Impact of DADT on Military's Reputation
A new study, being finalized by DADT research expert Aaron Belkin, examines the impact of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on the military’s reputation.  Dr. Belkin leads the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM) at the University of California Santa Barbara.  Belkin’s study, being wrapped up this fall, uses empirical evidence to show how the policy is harming the military’s reputation in four distinct ways.  “The policy is inconsistent with public opinion and makes more people embarrassed for the military than proud of it; the policy does not attract any favorable media coverage, but it prompts many journalists, even those representing conservative publications, to criticize if not mock the armed forces in print and on television; it provides a vehicle for anti-military and anti-war protesters to portray the military as being out of touch with reality and on the wrong side of history; and it is inconsistent with the views of junior enlisted service members,” says the study.

Gay and Lesbian Families

Celebrating Families
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently highlighted Family Week in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The newspaper featured an op-ed from Mike Conway, a 40 year-old straight father of two who volunteered at the event earlier this summer. He writes, "During the course of my week in Provincetown, surrounded by the reality of hundreds of gay families, I began to emotionally understand and appreciate the struggles these parents and children face every day: children ostracized and threatened at school and on the playground for having two moms, parents in crises denied access to civil and legal resources, and the stares and antagonism that gay parents and their children constantly endure.  As a straight, white guy, I have never even been close to facing these sorts of things. But to the parents and children participating in Family Week, these issues are all too real - they cut to the heart and spirit of humanity. The issue for them is about loving families, nothing more."  Read more.

Speaking Out for Fairness
A Kentucky newspaper recently published an op-ed from a lesbian who outlined the importance of providing basic fairness for gay and lesbian families.  Gretchen Rinehart told readers of the Louisville Courier Journal about her two year-old daughter Gaby and her partner Sam.  Rinehart countered the voices on the radical right who are trying to prohibit adoption by gay people.  She writes, "There is no one who would be hurt more by an adoption ban than Gaby.  Because Sam is her adoptive mother, Gaby gets family medical careï...With two legal parents, Gaby will be provided with survivor benefits if something should happen to either of her mothers. Because of the adoption, Sam can make decisions for Gaby if an emergency should happen and she is the parent closest at hand. Are health care and a parent's care things we want to take away from a child?

"Banning LGBT people from foster care slams the door in the faces of kids who would have otherwise been given a loving home by a family or even means ripping them away from homes they are already in. Decisions about who makes a fit parent should be made﾿on a case-by-case basis. No child should lose a parent because of someone else's one-size-fits-all philosophy. Sam and I met in 1999 and built a life for three years before deciding to have a child. Our families and friends are joyously supportive of our child and of us as parents. You wouldn't know that, though, if the only criteria you were allowed to consider was our sexual orientation. We formed a family for the same reasons other families do -- to extend the reach of our love, to nurture and celebrate a new life, to grow as people through the challenges of parenting."  Read more.

A Sign of the Times
Travel agents, hotels, resorts, and cruise companies are catering to the huge gay and lesbian market by designing vacations specifically for gay couples who have children.  The New York Times reports, "Gay and lesbian travel has long been seen as a lucrative market, estimated at $56 billion a year, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, a trade group based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Family travel represents a small, but growing slice of that market. 'It is a niche within a niche, but we are starting to see some real attention paid to it,' said John D'Allesandro, the interim executive director of the association.

"Last summer, R Family Vacations took some 1,600 people on its first cruise - to the Bahamas aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. This year 2,200 people, including 630 children, went on a cruise in early July from New York to Halifax, Provincetown and Martha’s Vineyard.  Fedrica Van Sprang, her partner and their four children took the R Family Vacations cruise to the Bahamas last year and the New England cruise in July. 'It's a chance to meet other gay and lesbian families and not have to deal with the outside world for a week,' said Ms. Van Sprang, It was our own little utopia.'" Read more.

Healthwatch

Experts Credit the Web for Good News on AIDS Cases in SF
The New York Times recently reported on the recent drop in HIV/AIDS cases in San Francisco.  The newspaper examined possible causes for the surprising drop in the number of expected cases.  "The conversation over tossed salad, dinner rolls and iced tea was about dating. Mostly predictable stuff, like where to meet guys﾿But the gathering last week at a coffee shop in the largely gay Castro district here was not a casual pickup session. The dozen or so men were infected with the virus that causes AIDS, and the talk was of "responsible sex," not through condoms, necessarily, but through choosing sex partners who are already infected. 'I don't think I could sleep at night if I knew I had infected another human being,' said one of the men, Don Stewart, who tested positive for the virus, H.I.V., five years ago.

"The monthly social event, called Positive Space and organized by an AIDS prevention group, is among the scores of educational meetings, workshops, seminars and parties that health officials here say may be contributing to a significant decline in the incidence of H.I.V. among gay men in San Francisco.  The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a report in June that new infections in San Francisco among men who have sex with men were occurring at about half the rate previously calculated by city health officials - 1.2 percent a year instead of 2.2 percent. That is the lowest rate reported in San Francisco since 1997 and the lowest among five cities with significant gay populations studied by the disease control agency.

"Since the report's release, health officials here, known for their cautious approach to shifts in AIDS trends, have been scrambling to confirm the results and offer an explanation. Some officials have said that the decline has been fueled by conventional efforts like stepped-up H.I.V. treatment programs, easier and more regular tests, and so-called harm-reduction strategies like discouraging the use of crystal methamphetamine, a drug blamed for helping to spread the disease by lowering inhibitions.  But other signs, like the proliferation of matchmaking Web sites for men infected with H.I.V. and the relatively high number of men here who know their H.I.V. status, point to a growth in the number of men looking for partners with the same status. The practice is known as sero-sorting, which involves men choosing sex partners based on their common serostatus, a term that refers to the presence of antibodies to a particular infectious agent in the blood."  Read more.

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