Law Enforcement Officer Fighting for Fairness
Sergeant Greg Lemke is breaking down barriers, defying stereotypes, and changing his community.  Not only is he a highly respected police officer, but Lemke is also an openly gay elected official in the middle of the heartland.   

Law enforcement is traditionally one of the most homophobic work environments.  Lemke is working hard to change that reality.  He teaches a sexual orientation diversity training seminar to police academy trainees, helping them confront their assumptions and stereotypes about homosexuality. The goal is to have all new officers trained to treat gay victims and fellow officers with better understanding.  As much as the training, Lemke is changing minds through his refusal to accept anything less than excellence in himself or equal treatment from his co-workers.

In the years since he came out, Lemke has tackled a number of gay rights battles.  He challenged a police department policy that did not allow him to leave his pension to his partner—and won.  That issue sparked his interest in politics and eventually led the Moorhead City Council to pick him for a vacant seat on the council.  In 2003, he was elected in his own right to city council.  His partner sums up Lemke's political philosophy, "He's passionate about being a vehicle for change, being a voice for the people who don't have one."  Click here to read more about Sgt. Lemke. 

Florida County Silencing Voices of Tolerance
In a sign of how far the radical right will go to push their anti-gay agenda, the Hillsborough County, FL Commission voted of 5-1 to direct the county government to "abstain from acknowledging, promoting or participating" in gay pride recognition or events.  They also voted to make it particularly difficult to undo this decision, requiring a two-thirds supermajority to overturn the policy.

The New York Times reports that the measure was passed after a Gay and Lesbian Pride Month display at a county library led to a citizen complaint.  A graduate student created the exhibit on gay authors and literature to fulfill a requirement for a course on diversity.  The measure has come under fire from gay rights activists and their allies.  Mayor Pam Iorio of Tampa said: "Gays and lesbians are part of our diversity and deserve our respect. We should build on tolerance, not intolerance." 

Georgia School District Decides No Clubs are Better than a Gay-friendly One
The forces of intolerance are going to extreme measures to undermine basic fairness.  In White County, Georgia, the subcommittee on schools decided to cut all extracurricular clubs for the sake of blocking the formation of a gay/straight alliance.  The measure limits students' freedom of assembly and undercuts after-school activities known to reduce juvenile crime.  The northeast Georgia county gained national attention when The Advocate profiled the struggle to form a gay-straight alliance.  After pressure, the school board eventually agreed to allow the students to start the club, but later school administrators recommended eliminating all non-curricular clubs at White County High School.  Removal of all clubs neutralizes the argument that gays are not being treated equally by a publicly funded school.

West Virginia Court Awards Gay Partner Custody
The West Virginia Supreme Court has awarded custody of a 5-year-old boy to his deceased mother's partner, marking the first official recognition of the rights of a "psychological parent" in that state.  The child was taken from partner Tina Burch by his relatives and given to grandparents after his mother, Christina Smarr, died in a car crash.  The decision overrules a previous circuit court ruling that she didn't have legal rights to her former partner's child.  The judges gave weight to the argument that the boy's biological father, who was not involved in the child's life, supported Burch having custody.  ''Both of the child's biological parents not only acquiesced in, but actively fostered, the relationship,'' Justice Robin Davis wrote in the majority opinion. 

Keeping the Faith

United Church of Christ Delegates Support Same-Sex Marriage

The United Church of Christ (UCC) continues to be a firm ally to gays and lesbians of faith.  On July Fourth, the UCC became the first mainline Christian denomination to officially support same-sex marriage. The equal marriage rights resolution states, in part, "[i]n the Gospel we find ground for a definition of marriage and family relationships based on the affirmation of the full humanity of each partner, lived out in mutual care and respect for one another."  Hector Lopez, a minister from a small Latino church in Southern California, said he was not enthusiastic about same-sex marriage at first.  But after officiating at about a dozen such ceremonies in Oregon and seeing the respect and commitment of the couples, he said, "I experienced a passionate conversion."  Click here to read more.

Gay Inclusive Catholic Politicians in Canada Targeted By Church
As Canada prepares to enact civil marriage equality nationwide, some Catholic Members of Parliament (MP) are being punished for it.  Charlie Angus, a New Democratic MP who supported the federal government's same-sex marriage legislation has been denied communion at his church.  Similarly Windsor-Tecumseh MP Joe Comartin has been barred from involvement in church activities until he has "a change of mind" in using the term marriage with reference to same-sex unions, says Bishop Ronald Fabbro of the Diocese of London.  Both MPs stand by their votes.  "I've always felt that faith was based on not being afraid of the world, and it seemed to me so much fear and suspicion of the other (was used).  If I had any doubts about the steps I was taking at the beginning, I certainly didn't at the end," Angus said. 

U.S. Episcopalians Stand By Bishop Robinson
The U.S. Episcopal Church has humbly but firmly defended its decision to ordain an openly gay bishop.  While Anglican leaders chastised the U.S. church by asking them not to attend this year's meeting of the Consultative Council, they did request that the North American churches send representatives to explain the theological reasoning behind the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.  The answers provided will be critical to the question of whether or not the 77-million strong Anglican Church will split. The U.S. church laid out its position in a 130-page document, "To Set Our Hope on Christ." The report argues that "members of the Episcopal Church have discerned holiness in same-sex relationships and have come to support the blessing of such unions and the ordination or consecration of persons in those unions...We believe that God has been opening our eyes to acts of God that we had not known how to see before." 

Archbishop of Canterbury Condemns Christian Bigotry
The Archbishop of Canterbury is calling Christians to task for anti-gay bigotry.  While some Christians use "biblical grounds" to oppose homosexuality, Archbishop Rowan Williams said, it tends to be more about social prejudice and inherited ideas.  He also noted the positive pressure from some Christians to accept that homosexual relationships have elements of the same qualities associated with marriage.  "I think one of the problems we face at the moment is distinguishing between two rather different things.  One is the sort of hesitation which many people quite rightly feel about moving too quickly to a new scheme which might jeopardize what's said about marriage.  And the other is plain prejudice and bigotry about homosexuality as such, of which there is an awful lot in Christian circles." 

School Adopts Anti-Gay "Morality Code"
St. John the Baptist, an Orange County, California Catholic elementary school, has adopted a policy banning gay parents of students from coming to campus or functions together.  The policy bars people from "giving witness to a lifestyle that is in conflict with the morality of the Gospel."  The decision comes as a response to a group of parents who urged the Costa Mesa school to ban any more same-sex couples from enrolling their children after two gay men enrolled their twin sons at the school last year.  

Southern Baptists End Disney Boycott
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) recently voted to end an eight-year boycott against Walt Disney Co.  The Disney resolution, passed at the SBC's 1997 convention, called for Southern Baptists to refrain from patronizing Disney theme parks and Disney products, largely due to the company's decision to recognize the partners of its gay and lesbian employees.  Eight years later, Disney still provides domestic partner benefits and theme parks in California and Florida continue holding annual "Gay Days."  

SBC delegates also approved a resolution that encourages parents to investigate their children's public schools to determine whether they are "too accepting of homosexuality."  Houston lawyer Bruce Shortt, who co-sponsored the measure, disapprovingly said many public schools promote gay acceptance through officially sanctioned gay clubs, anti-bullying courses, and safe schools programs.  Click here to read more.

Minister Punished by Congregation for Preaching Equality
Serving justice often results in personal sacrifice, as a West Virginia pastor recently learned.  The congregation of Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church voted 100-72 to fire its minister after he wrote an editorial proposing an alternative, inclusive Christian view of homosexuality.  "Gay and lesbian Christians are no different than the rest of us," the Reverend Jeff Falter wrote in a Feb. 26 article in the Inter-Mountain of Elkins. "They deserve full equality in the church and in society, for they are my brothers and sisters, people for whom Christ died."  Click here to read the editorial.  To read more about this story, click here.  

Defending Freedom