Boston Globe Op/Ed by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said:

"I've heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry.

Some say let's choose another route and give gay folks some legal rights but call it something other than marriage. We have been down that road before in this country. Separate is not equal. The rights to liberty and happiness belong to each of us and on the same terms, without regard to either skin color or sexual orientation."

Are the Democrats running aware of this?

AT ISSUE: BEING WELCOMING ..

Well, the delegates to the annual meeting of the N.C. Baptist State Convention voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to expel Charlotte's (NC) Myers Park Baptist for welcoming gays and lesbians without trying to change them.

There was no roll call vote; delegates overwhelming raised their hand to signify that the Christians from Myers Park were no longer welcome! Now let's see, one group welcomes; the other does not.

IT MIGHT BE FUNNY IF... - an 8th draft

A friend of mine called yesterday. "WHY do you HAVE to blog about that creepy Craig "thing," it's disgusting ... the least you could do is give (Senator David) Vitter equal time with the hypocrisy issue!" Then without missing a beat this former actor created some hilarious ideas for a two man Craig/Vitter stage show.

Now in case you live under a political rock, the “ethics” of Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Larry Craig (R-ID) have come into question; Mr. Vitter has been visiting prostitutes for years and Mr. Craig likes to troll the toilets. Both conservative Republicans ran on “family values” platforms. Mr. Vitter’s type of “ethics” has not damage his Senate career but Mr. Craig says that he was “not only thrown under the bus but it has backed and ran over me again.”

So thinking about equality and tired of "driving a bus," I did a little research and found this interesting tidbit about the Vitter/Craig "whatever-you-want-to-call-thems." It seems that one influential gay lobbying group is tying the two of them together (figuratively) and is objecting to the Craig Senate Ethics Committee investigation.

Why? Because they say there is an "inherent contradiction between your (the ethics committee's) treatment of allegations of ethical misconduct by Senator Larry Craig and Senator David Vitter ... There is no explanation for the diametrically opposed responses to these two situations other than hypocrisy tinged by homophobia."

Now, let’s see, what can we name this "Vitter/Craig" stage show? It's a comedy right?

ALL IN ONE DAY ...

A few days ago I was musing about justice movements in the so-called Red States. And now look at this, all in one day: Jim Neil (right) a political unknown is running for the Senate in North Carolina. Unlike Senator Craig and that whole group who have sought to hide their sexuality, Neal volunteered his in a public forum. "I am indeed," Neal said when asked whether he was gay. "No secret and no big deal to me -- I wouldn't be running if I didn't think otherwise."

Rev. Stephen Shoemaker, Senior Pastor
And then there is Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, a congregation of nearly two-thousand people, that may find itself expelled from the North Carolina Baptist Convention this week because its unconditional welcoming of gays and lesbians.

Perhaps Mr. Neil's matter-of-fact attitude will be helpful to the church. But, you know, as I wander around the web I read similar stories ... small signs of hope; of justice. I just might move to North Carolina, vote for Mr. Neil and attend Myers Park Church. I just don't know about the Baptist part ... thanks guys!

LA TIMES THIS MORNING.

Under the title: Gay? Who cares? the following op/ed piece by Gregory Rodriguez appeared in this Morning's Los Angeles Times.

Last Tuesday, the New York Times ran a front-page story on the diminishing allure of gay enclaves in the United States. The next day, the San Francisco Chronicle published a Page 1 story explaining how same-sex couples in California are a lot more socioeconomically and ethnically diverse -- read: less white and less wealthy -- than you might believe. The Williams Institute at UCLA Law School will release a report today by demographer Gary Gates that all but poses the question: Is gay the new straight?


READ MORE HERE, it is excellent.

"Closet” Hurts Employee & Employer

And now this story: A survey of gay and lesbian employees across the U.S. has found that "fears about disclosing a gay identity at work had an overwhelmingly negative relationship with their career and workplace experiences and with their psychological well-being."

I came to realize this on a deeply personal level at the last two places I worked. The interesting one was about the other guy "in the closet" who damaged my career because of his own fears of being disclosed. The other? That's another story for another time.

HALLOWEEN IS CANCELLED

Yesterday’s emails from two old friends revealed two different angles about two well known events..

The first was from Jeff Prang, off and on mayor of the City of West Hollywood. It almost screams at you from the monitor,” Santa Monica Boulevard will once again be “pulsing” with excitement on Halloween night.” Conversely, the current mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom released a statement saying: "Halloween is canceled.” No more “pulsing” on Castro Street; he wants folks to “kick the Castro habit.”

Mr. Prang babbles on about, “the largest adult outdoor Halloween event in the world,” and is relaxing WoHo’s notoriously, restrictive parking zones for the evening. Mr. Newsom glumly watches as $40,000 is allocated to urge revelers to stay “Home For Halloween."

Both cities have web sites. San Francisco’s web site lists dozens of suggested Halloween alternatives while Weho’s extols the event and gives helpful “how to” hints and even “green” parking alternatives.

After wishing us “a fun and safe Halloween” Mr. Prang does have one word of caution.he pleads in large red letters, “Please Do Not Bring Your Dogs.” Apparently what some might find “pulsing” for the eyes or even morally horrifying, is even harder on dogs!

But to be kinder to friend Newsom, he is tired of revelry turning into riots, bashing and offensive gang activities. He has discovered what most mothers already know: while ever kid and a lot of adults like to dress up, Halloween can be dangerous.

Now, that is sad; sad for those of us who have been to the San Francisco event; sad for every kid who has held his parents hand on a chilly night, knocked at a door and found a “treat” … Perhaps the “trick” is not to give into the newer harsh realties of life. Perhaps.

However something tells me that in another fifty years someone will bemoan that lose of decorated houses, malls filled with kids at night and maybe, just maybe, rediscover that old fashion idea of taking a childs hand and walking around a local neighborhood. I hope so.

THE ROVE I KNEW

It’s funny how people come into your life. If you live long enough and pay attention to the world around you, you might realize that old saying that each of us is only six degrees from one another. Those connections are like haze on a mirror after a shower, but wipe the surface, dig into it and you will clearly see everything around you but probably not the glue that holds it all together.

Louie was gay; nothing unusual about that. He had retired to Palm Springs after a career as a geologist for Getty Oil and owned a comfortable house off Farrell Street, on Santa Ynez Way. His home was chock full with mementos, pictures of his kids, grandkids, art he had gathered on his travels; a library full of books, all kinds of videos, a fantastic classical CD collection – it was a place I felt at home. Like a lot of people in Palm Springs, he kept a spare room for visitors.

His compact back yard had the obligatory Palm Springs turquoise colored pool and water-tolerant plants. Pea-sized gravel surrounded fruit trees that served as a feeding area for birds. Louie was an amateur birder and each day he would throw out seed for the various kinds of finch that lived in the tall, tightly cropped oleander bushes round the yard that provide privacy.

And it was by the pool in the shade of the patio, on the floor in the library, driving off to Sunday brunch or birding at Salton Sea that I heard the tales of his journeys, saw the pictures of people in it, and got a glimpse of a man who had lived a full life. He was twenty years older and Louie intrigued me.

All of this is not to say I viewed him as a perfect man; I thought he drank and smoked too much, was temperamental and never watched his diet. He held a grudge beyond reason and could be insulting … we lost touch because of his drinking. I just did not know what to do with people I might call moody drunks. But for a long time I just enjoyed my Palm Springs weeks, lazy days by the pool, laughter and story telling.

And then on a Sunday brunch with the guys at Cedar Creek on Palm Canyon Drive, his best friend Joe Koons turned to me and sort of whispered, “You DO know who his son is don’t you?” “No!” “He’s the chief of staff for the Governor of Texas.” Looking back I realize there was something more in that whisper but at the time it passed by me.

His son -- all I knew about his kids was what Louie told me as I looked at their pictures in the living room. He had adopted them. Other than that I was mostly bothered by their visits to Palm Springs or his to Santa Fe, because that meant the house was closed for other over night visitors. And his wife; Louie told me he had come out and so they divorced. But when I saw the family photographs I just saw the usual grouping of people and smiling portraitures.

As I watched the news this week I saw a “Rove” standing beside the President, his voice cracking, talking about his love for the President and his country but over that “noise” I heard the memory of Joe Koons whispering in my ear. “You do know who his son is?”

Oh My God! Louie Rove; Karl Rove.

I started to wonder then if the son ever cried for the man who raised him and watched him grow up as he did for President Bush. Would Karl talk about his gay father, with the emotion he was showing then? I told a Texas based reporter that none of us knew where he is buried.

He replied that the service was private. I can respect a family’s intentions but it is so typical for families who want to "hide" a person’s sexual orientation to keep a funeral private, away from long-time friends. Gay deaths are cluttered with "private" family services.

There is a part of me that wonders why Karl did NOT "distance himself from his father.” Instead such things are reported like Karl having a picture of his father in his White House office; that they were “close”.

Were they close as you or I might think "close" is? I do not nor can I claim to know. But Louie was gay; people knew it; his son knew it. And as Louie was dying in Palm Springs, Karl was developing and implementing a successful political strategy based on inflaming an anti-gay political base through wedge issues like gay marriage in very specific key battle ground states in the general election.

My question is: How could a son do such a thing, and call it love – either of his father, or of his country?