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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
The youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was arrested early Friday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, law enforcement officials said. John Ellis Bush, 21, was released on $2,500 bond for the resisting arrest charge, and on a personal recognizance bond for the public intoxication charge.
It's not the first time Florida's first family has experienced legal problems with one of their children. Noelle Bush, the governor's daughter, was arrested in January 2002 and accused of trying to pass a fraudulent prescription at a pharmacy to obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
Normally, I would refrain from commenting on the family of a prominent politician. But Jeb Bush was elected on a "conservative" platform of family values. In other words, he somehow felt qualified to tell other people how to live their lives and run their families. Once again, conservatism is revealed to be a sham. If a person is always talking about his or her family or values, it is a good bet the family is a mess. One has to look no further than the Bush family to prove this point
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More women - particularly those in their late teens and 20s - are experimenting with bisexuality or at least feel more comfortable reporting same-sex encounters, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I can't wait to see how the right wing spins this one! I'm sure they are going to blame the "gay agenda", rather than women being more honest about their sexual orientation.
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In Bush's feckless speech, it seems he wants to solve the problem he helped create in New Orleans by spending a small fortune, bringing in more troops and funneling more faith based money to churches that support his right wing agenda.
The problem is, we have no money and no troops to send. If we had a surplus of money and men, we'd be doing a little better in Iraq. Basically, because Bush screwed up, he is going to spend freely and pass on the deficit to our children and grandchildren. He had no rainy day fund, so now that the rains literally came, he is going to soak taxpayers. Having failed at responsibly governing, Bush wants to set things right by more irresponsible spending.
He also can't seem to help rewarding his friends. Every other sentence he mentioned funneling money to churches. What he is really doing is buying off black preachers so they won't criticize him. This administration has no shame, and this poorly executed speech only confirms how clueless the Bush administration truly is.
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An article in today's The New York Times says that investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process.
How do they plan to do this, by hanging around the seminary showers? I hope they are successful and root out every gay priest in America, leaving the remaining five straight priests to run every church in the nation.
What a sad, pathetic joke. I wish gay priests in seminary would have some self-respect and just walk out, instead of indulge the Vatican in this ridiculous charade.
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Richard Cohen, left, Displays His Morals On The Howard Stern Show
Former Moonie and naked cult member Richard Cohen was on Howard Stern this morning to make an ass of himself, talking about his bizarre "transformation" from gay to straight. In typical fashion, he was a buffoon and a self-promoting media ho, who plugged his book every six seconds. Two things he failed to bring up:
1) He was kicked out of the American Counseling Association for malpractice (whoops!) 2) He once left his wife and child to have sex with men in New York City (Yikes!)
A joint session of the Massachusetts state legislature delivered a resounding defeat today to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. By a staggering 157-39 vote, lawmakers killed an amendment that had won a healthy majority of support just one year earlier.
The GLBT community owes a great deal of gratitude to Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, MassEquality and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. They persuaded foes and solidified the support of friends. This victory, following the legislative vote in California, gives an incredible amount of momentum to marriage rights in America. It appears, for the first time, that the pendulum has swung in our direction. There is a long, brutal road ahead, but the good guys and gals are finally winning.
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As California gays and lesbians ratchet up pressure to get Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change his mind on vetoing gay marriage legislation conservatives are voicing their displeasure at his explanation for turning down the measure.
For a change, these conservatives have a point. The governor's flawed reasoning is twisted and his actions cowardly. He is making no Republican friends by opposing marriage equality. And he is losing liberal and moderate friends in L.A. who he will have to face for the rest of his steroidal life when he returns home.
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In an attempt to stop the political bleeding over his paltry response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said yesterday that he bore some responsibility for failures of the federal government.
"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Mr. Bush said in an appearance in the East Room with President Jalal Talabani of Iraq. "I want to know what went right and what went wrong."
I think this is an important first step. But having seen his apology on television, I'm not sure Bush helped himself. First, it is pathetic that it is considered huge news that five years into his presidency he finally said he might have done something wrong. Second, I don't think I've ever seen someone more uncomfortable apologizing in my life. It didn't look sincere, and seemed as if Karl Rove had to leave his hospital bed (kidney stones) to shove Bush onto the podium with a cattle prod. If Bush was going to bother apologizing, at least he could have made it look a little less painful.
However disappointing his mea culpa, it was a good start, because this sorry president has a lot to be sorry for. If anything, it was good practice for his future apologies for huge deficits, Iraq and lying about weapons of mass destruction. Don't worry George, it will only get easier.
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All too often we have to report on athletes who say hateful and ignorant things about gay people. So, with great pleasure I commend Miami Heat superstar Shaquille O'Neal for helping police track down a gay basher. Today, Shaq is an even bigger giant than usual for his brave and heroic actions.
AUTHOR WAYNE BESEN PRAISES TENNESSEE FOR TAKING STRONG ACTION AGAINST 'EX-GAY' BOOT CAMP
Every State In The Nation Should Shut Down Unlicensed 'Ex-Gay' Groups That Harm Clients, Said Wayne Besen
NEW YORK - Wayne Besen, author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth, today applauded the state of Tennessee for ordering ex-gay group Love In Action to comply with state guidelines or be shut down for operating two unlicensed facilities. If the ex-gay group does not follow state rules by Sept. 15, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities will issue a cease and desist order.
"Tennessee sent a strong message that Love and Action is not above the law," said author Wayne Besen. "This dangerous and dysfunctional group should be held accountable and expected to adhere to professional standards like other mental health facilities in the state. Tennessee is rightfully and responsibly protecting its citizens from unscrupulous and unlicensed practitioners posing as genuine mental health professionals. I urge every state in the nation to look at their local 'ex-gay' groups to determine if they meet basic mental health guidelines."
The state of Tennessee released the following statement:
"DMHDD staff met with Mr. John Smid, Executive Director of Love In Action, on August 19, 2005. Based on the meeting, it was determined that Love In Action is operating two unlicensed mental health supportive living facilities in Memphis.
In accordance with DMHDD's licensure procedures, a certified letter was sent to Mr. Smid. The letter dated August 23, 2005, stated licensure staff's determination that Love In Action was operating two unlicensed facilities. The letter further stated that he must stop operating the homes within seven (7) days of receiving the letter, or apply for a license within the same time period.
The Department's Office of Licensure determines the seven day period based on the date the organization receives the letter. This is verified by return receipt from the Post Office. Licensure did not receive a return receipt from the post office, so another letter was sent Thursday, September 8th. If Mr. Smid does not respond by September 15th, licensure staff will revisit Love In Action, to determine if the agency is still operating the two homes. If the homes are still operating, licensure will recommend to the Department's Commissioner that a cease and desist order be issued to Love In Action, in accordance with DMHDD Licensure Law."
In May, 16-year old Zach told his fundamentalist Christian parents that he is gay. Horrified by the news, they vowed to fix him by sending him to Love In Action's "ex-gay" boot camp in Memphis to be reprogrammed. The young man blogged about the incident and it made national news.
I look out of my window in Brooklyn and see a beam of light soaring skyward from the World Trade Center site. Following the tragedy of 9-11, I found this luminous image greatly inspiring, as it represented America's steely determination to rebuild the Twin Towers and defeat Al Qaeda.
Four years later, this grand incandescent spectacle is just as symbolic. This time, however, it highlights George W. Bush's utter failure to capitalize on the catastrophe to unify America and build a stronger nation. Like the President's lofty post 9-11 promises and patriotic speeches, if one looks past the shimmering light, there is a big empty, hollow pit of nothingness.
If we travel from the Big Empty to the Big Easy, we find another barren hellhole that this administration promises to rebuild. However, with no credibility, who can believe what Bush, Condi and Rummy have to say? If one thing New Orleans and New York have exposed, it is that modern conservatism is an ill-conceived experiment that has failed. It is an amoral, elitist political propaganda machine that is consumed with nothing more than achieving power and rewarding the friends of the powerful.
With more than 11,000 abuse claims in the last five decades, it appears the Vatican, in need of scapegoats, may be poised to ban honorable gay priests. The American prelate, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, who is overseeing a sweeping Vatican evaluation of every seminary in the United States, told the National Catholic Register that men with "strong homosexual inclinations" should not be enrolled, even if they have remained celibate for years.
His comments come as Roman Catholics anxiously await a much-anticipated Vatican document on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood. According to a report in the Associated Press , O'Brien and several other U.S. bishops have said they expect that document to be released soon.
"I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary," O'Brien told the independent newspaper. He said that even gays who have been celibate for a decade or more should not be admitted, the Register reported in its Sept. 4-10 edition.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a joke. If the Vatican moves to ban gay priests there would be too few priests for the Catholic Church to operate. This would force them to allow women priests or allow male straight priests to marry.
The Vatican's line of reasoning is also incoherent. They say that heterosexuals are not entering seminaries because there are too many gay priests. What a bunch of homophobic nonsense. It is likely that it is the celibacy rule that is keeping most sexually healthy heterosexuals out. Banning gay priests will only exacerbate the trouble providing priests to community churches.
The most disturbing part of O'Brien's statement is that it equates homosexuality with pedophilia, even though most child molesters are heterosexual. What O'Brien is suggesting will lead to nothing but failure and more abuse, as good gay priests leave and only the most sexually stunted, self-loathing and closeted will apply. And, I suspect, there will be not even a small increase in heterosexuals who enroll. In the end, we are talking about a hyper-closeted Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy. It didn't work for the U.S. military, and it won't work for Rome.
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