Gay Rights Measure: U.S. House May Vote Today To Ban Job Bias

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cleveland and Cincinnati and a handful of other Ohio cities have already adopted local ordinances that protect workers against on-the-job-bias. Today, Rep. Barney Frank's bill outlawing employment discrimination against gay Americans is supposed to come up for a vote on the House floor. The measure has 9 cosponsors, including one Republican, retiring U.S. Rep. Deb Pryce (OH-15) who is leaving a Columbus-area seat when her term expires next year. In fact, it appears Pryce is the only Ohioan who has signed on for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007.

The bill exempts the military and a handful of other occupations.

A Kentucky blogger at The Bridge says the White House has already assured the religious right a veto can be expected if the civil-rights bill moves forward. In Ohio, gays are not covered by laws that ban employment discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion or ethnic background. Gov. Ted Strickland issued an executive order earlier this year that outlaws jobs bias by state agencies against gays.

Ohio's New Anti-Bullying Law: Christian Right Says It Opens Schools To Gay Activists

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Nothing is much meaner than schoolyard bullies, the apprentice thugs who pick on kids because they are bigger or older. But some Christian right zealots -- the same people who consider the Harry Potter books a form of witchcraft -- have launched a campaign this month aimed at Ohio's public school districts. The goal: Portay anti-bullying efforts as anti-Christian brainwashing because religious people disapprove of homosexuality.

Throughout the coming school year, local boards of eduction across Ohio will begin enacting anti-bullying policies compelled by HB 276, enacted during the last legislative session. The measure was designed to reduce the numbers of schoolyard meanies, including those who pick on kids by using hateful words . Indeed, sticks and stones can break bones. But names can also cause trauma.

Linda Harvey of Columbus, who runs an Ohio organization called MissionAmerica, is urging Christians to stop school boards from putting measures in effect that include gays and lesbians as students who should not be slurred or preyed upon by bullies. She says the "homosexual activists" will be out in force.

"They want to insert language in local districts that was kept out at the state level, adding specific categories about incidents of bullying, including ones for 'sexual orientation' and for 'gender identity.' Why? By adding such categories, any bullying incident over homosexuality becomes a rationale for advocates to stigmatize all disapproval of homosexual behavior as the cause of such bullying."

She adds:

"Next come the social engineering programs recommended to solve this supposed attitude problems, ranging from establishing 'gay' clubs for students, to peer 'watchdog' programs training kids even as young as middle school to report so-called 'homophobe slurs' on the part of their classmates. I am not kidding."

So, is it okay to use a slur? Shouldn't a kid who calls another a f-ggot be counseled that such language is not fit for home, hearth or a public school playground in Ohio. Harvey contends the"f" word and its ilk are not improper because she knows of no evidence "that people are born homosexual.' She says that counseling students who use anti-gay slurs would be unfair and harmful.

"It's a type of discrimination, and it further normalizes the immoral and high-risk homosexual lifestyle."

Her commentary appears in this month's CitizenUSA, a newspaper that is distributed in evangelical churches across Southern Ohio. And there is information of MissionAmerica's other goals on its Internet portal, including some interesting reading about Harry Potter as a helpmate of Satan.

Ohio State Rep. Tom Brinkman: Judge Says He's A Crook

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Sharon Coolidge of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the big story that is rocking the Hamilton County Courthouse and will cause waves in Ohio politics: Common Pleas Judge Bob Ruehlman Judge says State Rep. Tom Brinkman is a "real criminal."

Ruehlman is a Republican, as is Brinkman, but he was was livid that Brinkman reportedly changed 1,000 signatures on an anti-gay rights petition circulated in Cincinnati and wasn't prosecuted for an elections law violation.

The complaint filed with the Hamilton County Board of Elections that began the investigation originated with Citizens to Restore Fairness, an organization that favored rights for gays and others who faced discrimination in Cincinnati. Judge Ruehlman said Brinkman tried to cheat and his actions took away "the right for people to decide issues when you cheat like that."

Brinkman is a conservative pro-lifer who represents the 34th district in the state House. He has introduced bills that would outlaw abortion in Ohio. He faces term limits next year from his state House seat, which covers the East Side of Cincinnati and some suburbs.

In the past, Brinkman has told the Bellwether he didn't tamper with the petitions illegally. He said he got advice to do what he did from a lawyer, David Langdon, who was a special counsel for former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican who was the state's top elections official. Langdon also was involved with Citizens for Community Values, the Cincinnati area group that led the fight for the anti-gay marriage amendment adopted in a 2004 statewide referendum. Langdon was co-author of the amendment.

Brinkman has made noises that he might for Congress in OH-02. But Ruehlman's blast probably cut the legs out from under any political future he might have. Opponents will always point out that a judge called him a crook in open court.

Ohio Christian Newspaper Labels Obama An 'Abomination'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Sen. Barack Obama gets manhandled as a pro-gay, pro-abortion Democrat who "mimics scripture to suit his own needs" in a major story headlining the current edition of Ohio's Citizen USA newspaper. The print and online publication has an audience of socially conservative evangelical readers across the state, and the attack was timed to follow Obama's campaign swing through Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland last week.

Last month, the newspaper ran an editorial apologizing to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, for an editorial that gossiped about his marriage. But this month, the gloves were off in a piece focused on Clenard H. Childress Jr., a Baptist minister from New Jersey. Childress heads Christians for Social Justice, a group based in Columbus that has targeted the Illinois senator. Childress is an African-American and contends Obama has strayed from the principles that are preached in black churches. Citizen USA's article appears under the headline: "Clergy groups say an Obama led nation would be an abomination."

Other pro-choice Democrats are not mentioned. The paper traditionally supports Republicans, and last year endorsed Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in the gubernatorial campaign against Strickland.

Childress says Obama is deceiving the "scripturally illiterate" by contending into the Bible is vague or obscure on the subject of homosexuality. "I would like to ask Senator Obama the question, 'How obscure is this verse?' Leviticus 18:22 clearly says, 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is an abomination.' That sounds pretty definitive to me."

Childress appealed to Ohio's African-Americans to reject overtures from Obama. "This man does not reflect your values . . . the values that at one time made African-Americas a very strong and resilient and great people. We have drifted away from those values but we're coming back. By bestowing our allegiance to Barack Obama it would be a great setback for African-Americans." Click HERE to read the story.

How Soon We Forget: Conservatives Slammed Edwards Over Gay Remark

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- When former Sen. John Edwards was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2004, Republicans were in high dudgeon accusing him of taking a cheap shot at Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian. By comparison, Ann Coulter's ''faggot" remark is radiocative.

Edwards mentioned Mary Cheney's sexual-orientation during a Cleveland debate at Case Western Reserve University. It touched off a hurricane of condemnation that nearly rivals the Category 5 storm now battering Ann Coulter, who dismissed Edwards as a "faggot" last week.

This Meet the Press transcript has former RNC chair Ken Mehlman firing flak at both Edwards, and Sen. John Kerry, for even discussing Mary Cheney, an official in the Bush campaign at the time, and using the word "gay." Mehlman said her lifestyle was a personal issue and off-limits. Neither Edwards nor Kerry used a slur to point out her sexual orientation.

MR. MEHLMAN: Well, Tim, I think it's pretty simple and I think that, as you pointed out, most of the American people understand it, and that is, it's wrong to bring up the private life of a member of the vice president or president's family to make a political point. It's that simple.

MR. MEHLMAN: Tim, I think fundamentally it's pretty simple. Again, you don't use the private lives of the member of the family for political purposes.

MR. MEHLMAN: Remember the famous Dean scream? The famous Dean scream was seen as relevant because it was a window into something that people thought was bigger. And I think what you saw when John Kerry--when he brought that inappropriate point up in the debate, it was part of a larger pattern here, a pattern of someone who is literally willing to say anything--anything--in order to win.

Mehlman's larger point is clear -- there are inappropriate topics that should be off-limits. By the standard he laid down in 2004 over the Edwards incident, Coulter's ''faggot" remark was nuclear by comparison. She's radioactive.

A portion of the exchange between Dick Cheney, John Edwards and moderator Gwen Ifill at the Cleveland debate that kept the row going is as follows:

IFILL: Senator Edwards, 90 seconds.

EDWARDS: . . . Now, as to this question, let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.
And I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and so does John Kerry.
I also believe that there should be partnership benefits for gay and lesbian couples in long-term, committed relationships.
But we should not use the Constitution to divide this country.
No state for the last 200 years has ever had to recognize another state's marriage.
This is using the Constitution as a political tool, and it's wrong.

IFILL: New question, but same subject.
As the vice president mentioned, John Kerry comes from the state of Massachusetts, which has taken as big a step as any state in the union to legalize gay marriage. Yet both you and Senator Kerry say you oppose it.
Are you trying to have it both ways?

EDWARDS: No. I think we've both said the same thing all along.
We both believe that -- and this goes onto the end of what I just talked about -- we both believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.
But we also believe that gay and lesbians and gay and lesbian couples, those who have been in long-term relationships, deserve to be treated respectfully, they deserve to have benefits.
For example, a gay couple now has a very difficult time, one, visiting the other when they're in the hospital, or, for example, if, heaven forbid, one of them were to pass away, they have trouble even arranging the funeral.
I mean, those are not the kind of things that John Kerry and I believe in. I suspect the vice president himself does not believe in that.
But we don't -- we do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
And I want to go back, if I can, to the question you just asked, which is this constitutional amendment.
I want to make sure people understand that the president is proposing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage that is completely unnecessary.
Under the law of this country for the last 200 years, no state has been required to recognize another state's marriage.
Let me just be simple about this. My state of North Carolina would not be required to recognize a marriage from Massachusetts, which you just asked about.
There is absolutely no purpose in the law and in reality for this amendment. It's nothing but a political tool. And it's being used in an effort to divide this country on an issue that we should not be dividing America on.
We ought to be talking about issues like health care and jobs and what's happening in Iraq, not using an issue to divide this country in a way that's solely for political purposes. It's wrong.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds.

CHENEY: Well, Gwen, let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much.

Cincinnati Gay Rights Group's Election Fraud Concerns Get Action

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- The Hamilton County Grand Jury handed up a couple of indictments that allege election law violations. The criminal charges can be viewed on the last page of the grand jury link, and apparently involve petitions circulated in Cincinnati over a proposed ballot issue to limit gay rights in the city. Backers withdrew the issue, and it never reached the electorate.

The plan had the support of Republican State Rep. Tom Brinkman and Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values. They have never been accused of any illegal activities, although they are lightning rods for criticism from the left.

Gay rights activist Gary Wright complained about about the possibility of election law irregularities last year. His concerns appear to have drawn the attention of the authorities, and the criminal cases coming could expose just how hardball these referendum issues are played. Equality Cincinnati, the organization Wright led, has some info on its Web site if you scan down the page.

Student Lawyers Win Gay-Rights Immigration Case

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A victory in an Ohio federal appeals court by University of Michigan volunteer student lawyers who stopped the Bush's Administration's move to deport a gay refugee could add to faculty unease at another campus -- Southern Methodist University.

Last week, 68 SMU professors and theologians signed a manifesto questioning the school's plans for a $500 million presidential library and think tank that would open after President George W. Bush leaves office. They gave him low marks on gay rights, civil liberties and the environment.

But until now, few knew the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Ohio invoked the Convention Against Torture and ruled last week a 47-year-old homosexual Guatemalan faced serious persecution at home. The man sought asylum in the U.S., claiming he had been raped, beaten, and extorted by authorities in his homeland. Justice Department lawyers contended he should be kicked out even though U.S. diplomats said authorities in Guatemala turned a 'blind eye" to violence against gays. The Bush Administration said the claim of government-countenanced gay bashing was 'without merit."

The appeals court noted there was evidence of ''social cleansing" in Guatemala and cited a U.S. State Department "letter that the Guatemalan police turn a deliberate blind eye toward the persecution of homosexuals in that country."
The full text of the 22-page opinion is available HERE.

Heather Bobkova and Rita Abro, the Michigan student lawyers, obtained the court order invoking the Convention Against Torture.

Official info about the presidential library is HERE , and the SMU campus portal is HERE.

The SMU faculty letter first draft is pretty critical of the president:

“We count ourselves among those who would regret to see SMU enshrine attitudes and actions widely deemed as ethically egregious: degradation of habeas corpus, outright denial of global warming, flagrant disregard for international treaties, alienation of long-term U.S. allies, environmental predation, shameful disrespect for gay persons and their rights, a pre-emptive war based on false and misleading premises, and a host of other erosions of respect for the global human community and for this good Earth on which our flourishing depends.”

“[T]hese violations are antithetical to the teaching, scholarship, and ethical thinking that best represents Southern Methodist University.”