An interesting story in the news today from Uganda via All.Africa.com.  It sounds like transgender Georgina has been re-educated, and it reads like a parody propaganda piece.

Sadly, whenever some progress regarding GLBT rights is glimpsed on the civil level (not just in Uganda), you can generally count on a response like this from fundamentalist religionists.  Kampala today, Gainesville (ought to be some wicked sermons next Sunday) tomorrow?

A man shocked parents on Sunday when he confessed to recruiting school children into homosexuality as part of a programme to promote the practice in Ugandan schools.

George Oundo said funders gave them “much money” and training abroad and that he would target mostly the needy children who had problems of tuition and pocket money and “others who like outings.”

Oundo warned parents to know their children’s friends. Homosexuals, he added, were targeting mostly children “because they are easy to initiate and they like easy things”.

Oundo said he got seriously involved in promoting homosexuality in 2003. “I was taken to Nairobi for training,” he said. “I used to supply pornographic materials in form of books and compact discs showing homosexuality to young boys in many schools,” he explained.

The training, he said, was facilitated by Gay and Lesbian Coalition. “I also got the pupils’ telephone contacts. We used to meet with both girls and boys in schools during ceremonial parties,” he asserted.

He said he only stopped his activities after becoming a Born-again Christian. He told all this to about 50 parents attending a seminar at Hotel Triangle, Kampala on Sunday. It was organised by Family Life Network, a local charity which promotes family values.

Oundo said he got saved at Pastor Martin Sempa’s church, the Inter-Faith Rainbow Coalition against Homosexuality, based at Makerere University Kampala.

Oundo asserted that he had been a renown gay and lesbian activist for five years and had operated under the umbrella group, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). He said he had taken on the female role and his name was Georgina.

“Praise God. Recently I realised that I have been victimising young people into devilish ways,” Oundo said. “I confess before the parents of the victimised children and they should forgive me.”

He hoped to go back to his former school, Muyenga High (Jinja), where he recruited many students and repent.

He said he was initiated into the vice at 12 by friends like Victor Mukasa, a gay activist, after his parents separated and he was being raised by a single mother.

“I was brought up in a poor family. Lack of parental care, love and the loneliness may have led me to join gay activities,” he added.

Oundo said he experienced a transgender transition because he “wanted to be a woman”. “Just go to the Internet and Google the name Georgina and you will see how I have been defending gay activism,” he explained.

Oundo said homosexuality was spread by international human rights organisations. He said after he denounced the gay activities, he received threats from a gay activist who accused him of betrayal.

George ‘Georgina’ Oundo and another gay activist, “Brenda” Kiiza, were arrested on September 10, 2008, for “recruiting homosexuals”. But they were released on September 18, 2008 after their lawyer and the international human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, protested.

In July 2005, local government officers raided the home of Juliet Victor Mukasa, the former chairperson of SMUG. They seized documents and arrested another lesbian activist. Mukasa sued for torture and court awarded her damages.

Gay rights activists have become more vocal in their campaign for recognition and have featured prominently at international conferences, particularly relating to HIV/AIDS.

Last year, education minister Namirembe Bitamazire announced an investigation into homosexuality in schools following complaints by MPs that the illegal activity was rampant in schools.

The Uganda AIDS Commission chief, Kihumuro Apuuli, also noted at the time that schools had become a breeding ground for the vice, which targets youth aged between 15 and 24. He said parents and guardians had a big responsibility to inculcate African values into their children.

Sodomy is a crime under the penal code and the Constitution prohibits “marriage between persons of the same sex”.

Pastors of Pentecostal churches last week called for a commission of inquiry into allegations of sodomy and homosexuality in churches.

Other pastors yesterday told journalists in Kampala the war against sodomy would be long and challenging but must be fought.

Uganda: Homosexual Admits Recruiting Students

I’m referring here to the news coverage of the City of Gainesville, Florida’s anti-discrimination ordinance, which City Commissioners passed just about one year ago.

The Associated Press news story, “Fla. conservatives fight transgender restroom rule” (and there are headline variations) is getting a great deal of attention.  (I follow transgender-related news every day — have for many years — and that’s a lot of attention.)

With the economy going down the toilet, I don’t find it very surprising that many of the folks who cheerleaded for those who brought it on — are ramping up diversionary societal acrimony.

It’s been going on in Montgomery County (Maryland) too, among other places, and I expect it will become (even more so) staple fare for the LaBarberas, the Barbers, the Sheldons and the like.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A blond girl heads from a playground into a women’s restroom. A scruffy man, lurking outside, darts in behind her. ”Your City Commission Made This Legal,” the words on the TV screen read.

The dark ad came from opponents of a gender identity provision added last year to the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance, which now allows the city’s roughly 100 transgender residents to use whichever restroom they’re most comfortable using.

Foes want to repeal the new protection with a March 24 ballot measure that has divided Gainesville, a generally gay-friendly university city surrounded by staunchly conservative north Florida.

Those who support the transgender protections say their opponents are really unleashing a broader attack on the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender individuals in general.

The city commission approved the restroom provision by a 4-3 vote a year ago. Before the ink could dry, Bible-quoting opponents angrily began working for its repeal.

”You are trying to operate in a realm you do not have the authority to operate in,” one pastor, George Brantley, told the commissioners.

The debate is expected to become noisier as the ballot nears with opponents resorting to more TV ads and campaigns pegged to such slogans as ”Keep Men out of Women’s Restrooms and vice versa.”

Organizations defending transgender rights are mustering their own campaign.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force notes 108 cities and counties nationwide have similar transgender protections. An attempt to repeal an ordinance in Montgomery County, Md., failed when a court ruled opponents did not collect enough signatures to place it on the ballot.

Citizens for Good Public Policy, the group behind the commercial that aired last summer in Gainesville, collected more than 6,000 signatures last summer to win a referendum. If approved, the repeal measure would also prevent the commission from adding protections beyond what the state requires: race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability and marital status.

Cain Davis, chairman of Citizens for Good Public Policy, said the issue is about regulating a ”government gone wild” and ensuring public safety, charging that sexual predators could now simply enter a women’s restroom claiming to be a transgender individual.

”We know when men go into women’s restrooms, bad things can happen,” Davis said.

City Commissioner Craig Lowe, leader of a group called Equality is Gainesville’s Business, called the ads from Davis’ group a grossly distorted attempt to whip up fears.

Lowe’s group believes anti-discrimination protections for people who change their sexual orientation are good for business and foster diversity. He noted that 433 of the Fortune 500 companies have policies covering sexual orientation and 153 cover gender identity.

Since the ordinance took effect, police have reported no problems in public restrooms stemming from the law.

Retired postal worker Donna Lee, who became a female with surgery in 2001, moved to Gainesville from Ocala last March after hearing about the anti-discrimination ordinance. The 60-year-old is working to save the protections.

”We just want to live our lives with the basic civil rights that everyone else has,” Lee said.

But some are taking no chances.

Computer programmer Clare Holman, who was born male but now lives as a female, said she simply stays away from public toilets.

”I don’t want to run afoul of the law by using the wrong restroom,” Holman said.

——

On the Net:

Equality is Gainesville’s Business: http://equalitygainesville.com

Citizens for Good Public Policy: http://citizensforgoodpublicpolicy.org

~~~~~

Related …

The View From (Ab)Normal Heights

City of Gainesville: Gender Identity Anti-discrimination Ordinance Legislative History (PDF)

City of Gainesville: Meeting Agenda (1/28/08) (PDF) [see pages 40-42]

City Of Gainesville: Ordinance No. 051225 (1/28/08) (PDF)

Transgender ordinance backlash (2/3/08) (St.Petersburg Times)

News and views for Wednesday, December 24th through Friday, December 26th …

[TN, USA] “Making it the fourth hate based shooting in three years, another Memphis transgender woman has been shot and is in a Memphis hospital in critical condition … My Eyewitness News reports that [the victim, Leeneshia] Edwards, is in critical condition at “The Med”.  Nicole Holliwell, her cousin,  told My Eyewitness News that  Edwards was shot in the jaw, side and back and is undergoing multiple surgeries.” — Memphis transgender woman shot

[USA] “The Bush administration issued a “right of conscience” regulation last week that could enable health care workers to deny treatment to gay patients based on religious beliefs, according to activists. Issued Dec. 18, the rule allows the federal government to withhold funds from health care facilities if they do not permit workers to opt out of performing medical procedures they find objectionable based on religious or moral grounds … In a Dec. 19 statement, HRC said a health care worker might be able to refuse to administer an HIV test to gay patients and even be exempt from telling them where else they could receive the test. Additionally, pharmacists could refuse to fill a prescription for hormone therapy if they have objections to transgender people, HRC says … The regulation goes into effect around the time President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Cristina Finch, senior legal counsel for HRC [Human Rights Campaign], said Obama could issue another rule to rescind President Bush’s upon taking office, but undoing the regulation could take several months. Congress also could take action on the regulation, but there is no indication from lawmakers or from the Obama administration on how they plan on reacting to the rule, Finch said. The Obama transition team did not respond to a request for comment on how it would respond to Bush’s regulation.” — Rule change could allow doctors to reject gay patients

[USA] The San Francisco Bay Guardian has an article on the disproportionately high risk of sexual assault faced by LGBT prison inmates: “This year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted the first national survey of violence in the corrections system. It found sexual orientation to be the single greatest determinant for sexual abuse in prisons — 18.5 percent of homosexual inmates reported sexual assault, compared to 2.7 percent of heterosexual prisoners … Alex Lee, a co-director of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project, read a statement from Bella Christina Borrell, a 56-year-old transgender inmate: “Female transgender prisoners are the ultimate target for sexual assault and rape. In this hyper-masculine world, inmates who project feminine characteristics attract unwanted attention and exploitation by others seeking to build up their masculinity by dominating and controlling women.” Of course, there are policies in place that should protect inmates from each other. PREA [the Prison Rape Elimination Act, passed by Congress in 2003] stipulates that sexual assault during incarceration can constitute a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, and mandates that facilities employ a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse. However, like many things in life, the theory and practice have little in common … Advocates recommend that an effective classification system must be implemented. First, corrections officials have to acknowledge that factors like an inmate’s sexual orientation or transgender status put them at an exceptionally high risk for violence. Second, steps must be taken to reduce the instances of harassment, abuse, and sexual assault suffered by inmates. Female transgender inmates must be issued sports bras and should be allowed to shower separately from the general population to curb humiliation and predation. If an assault occurs, victims should not be placed in punitive custody, the complaint must remain confidential, and assailants cannot be allowed the opportunity to retaliate. Finally, corrections officers should have to participate in an extensive training program to help them deal with these factors. Bambi Salcedo, a transgender ex-convict who now works with transgender youth at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles put it simply: “We have to realize that homosexual and transgender inmates must be treated with dignity in the correctional system.” — Sentenced to rape

[USA] At Polymorphous Perversity, “In White v. U.S. [PDF of the opinion here], the D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed a sentencing enhancement for a prison guard who physically and sexually assaulted a transgender prisoner … While I’m generally predisposed to favor more lenient sentencing, this strikes me as appropriate. “Reduced physical capacity” is a real stretch, since trans people aren’t physically impaired in any way by virtue of being trans. But trans people are certainly especially vulnerable to abuse in prisons, especially given the dominant practice in the U.S. of housing inmates on the basis of their birth sex. And when a prison guard exploits that vulnerability, a sentencing enhancement may serve to deter such exploitation in the future.” — Increased sentence for targeting trans prisoner

[USA] “Special rights and protections under the law of the land” could be coming for “transgender and transsexual people” in 2009, one of a number of troubling prospects foreseen by one “Bible-believing Christian.” — Why Christians should be troubled by the election of President-elect Obama

[Canada] “A transsexual Quebec inmate who hasn’t physically completed the transformation to a woman has created an incarceration quagmire for federal corrections officials after being transferred into a men’s prison … Veilleux had previously been held at the Tanguay prison for women in Montreal while awaiting sentencing, but other female inmates weren’t comfortable with her presence there … said lawyer Andre Boissonneault. “Legally she is a woman but she hasn’t had her operation, so she’s partly a man,” Boissonneault said. “That caused some problems.” … [transgender Quebec lawyer, teacher and politician Micheline] Montreuil, who has visited clients in the prison where Veilleux is currently incarcerated just north of Montreal, says it is a rough institution that caters specifically to men. “I don’t know how she’s going to react but knowing how inmates are, she could face harassment and could even be assaulted,” said Montreuil.” — Transsexual Quebec inmate sentenced to serve time in male prison

[New Zealand] “Noeleena Lochhead feels like she has been let out of an asylum. It has been 18 months since the 61-year-old transformed from Noel to Noeleena. The Waimate woman had a sex change operation in Thailand in May last year a decision she has never regretted. “I have never had any regrets. I feel more at peace and feel I am free,” she said. “I use the analogy that I have been let out of the asylum. I climbed over the fence and ran and ran and I am never going back to the asylum because I had been inside for 50 years.”" — Sex change brings `freedom at last’

[UK] “The Christmas angel tells us: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy for all people.” The Pope, on the other hand, has been using this Christmas season to spread entirely the opposite message, a message of fear and exclusion that seems more bad news than good … In direct opposition to the theology of Deuteronomy, Isaiah writes that “to the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and hold fast to my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name that is better than sons and daughters” — yes, better than sons and daughters. And what is true for eunuchs is true, by direct analogy, for people who are gay. Inclusion is not a piece of trendy modern theory. It is a biblical imperative. Those who take the Bible as if it were a reference book cannot mentally accommodate the idea that the story being told is about the developing consciousness of the people of Israel, of how they got it wrong and how they are led to a new understanding by God … And one last thing. Why on earth did the Pope think Christmas a good time to ignite this sort of row? For while we are all spitting tacks, those worryingly androgynous angels are trying to get their own message across: peace on earth and goodwill to all. And all means all.” — The Pope has forgotten Christ’s word

Pretty much right after I came out to my Mom as a transsexual — a transgender woman — my Mom entered an Orthodox Christian monastery as a novice nun. I was never quite sure if my coming out wasn’t the “last straw” event that led her to join the monastery; however, she left her particular order about a year-and-a-half after joining it.

For those who aren’t aware, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church split in 1057 over the idea of a Pope being in charge of the church — the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are pretty similar in their approach to Christianity otherwise.

Within this past year, my Mom converted to Catholicism, so she has chosen to embrace a church where I believe the doctrine states that the Pope is infallible — at least, as a non-Catholic, that’s how I understand the doctrine to be. Does my Mom believe the Pope is infallible, or at a minimum speaks with tremendous spiritual authority? I have no idea — I never asked her what her thoughts are on the subject of her faith regarding the Pope.

But, with that thought of an infallible Pope in mind and my Mom’s recent conversion to Catholicism, perhaps I let things news like this get to me a bit too much: The Pope’s Christmas message included the message that the world needs to be protected against gays and transsexuals.

Time Magazine adds:

Without actually using the word, Benedict took a subtle swipe at those who might undergo sex-change operations or otherwise attempt to alter their God-given gender. Defend “the nature of man against its manipulation,” Benedict told the priests, bishops and cardinals gathered Monday in the ornate Clementine hall. “The Church speaks of the human being as man and woman, and asks that this order is respected.” The Pope again denounced the contemporary idea that gender is a malleable definition. That path, he said, leads to a “self-emancipation of man from creation and the Creator.”

This goes a bit beyond what the Catholic Church has said about transsexuals in the past (here, here, and here).

So, Merry Christmas, gays and transsexuals, from the Pope!

The Los Angeles Times has a piece up this morning entitled Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion. The subheader for the piece is The Bush administration plans a new ‘right of conscience’ rule that would allow more workers to refuse more procedures. Critics say it could apply to artificial insemination and birth control. From the piece:

The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new ‘right of conscience’ rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control.

For more than 30 years, federal law has dictated that doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further by making clear that healthcare workers also may refuse to provide information or advice to patients who might want an abortion.

It also seeks to cover more employees. For example, in addition to a surgeon and a nurse in an operating room, the rule would extend to “an employee whose task it is to clean the instruments,” the draft rule said.

…Health and Human Services Department officials said the rule would apply to “any entity” that receives federal funds. It estimated 584,000 entities could be covered, including 4,800 hospitals, 234,000 doctor’s offices and 58,000 pharmacies.

Not mentioned is that transsexuals like me might have difficulties receiving hormone prescriptions, or filling hormone prescriptions because of the religious convictions of providers.

The August press release on the new rules is here; the proposed rules are here.

These new rules are strongly supported by the Christian Medical Association (CMA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. From the July CMA press release calling for ‘right of conscience’ regulations:

[Below the fold: CMA and AHA comment on the proposed 'right of conscience' regulations.]

Read the rest of this entry »

News and views for Wednesday, November 12th …

[TN, USA] “The nation’s largest gay civil rights organization is calling for a thorough investigation of the murder of a transgender woman who was preparing to sue Memphis police … The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement Wednesday, saying the Memphis Police Department needs to renew its “commitment to treating transgender people with respect and fairness.” Police say the shooting is under investigation and no arrests have been made.” — Group Wants Probe of Transgender Woman’s Death

[TN, USA] “When the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act passed through Congress in 2007, President George W. Bush vetoed the bill. President-Elect Barack Obama has pledged to support the bill. The transgender community, however, would still be left in the cold should it pass. The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition is pushing a Hate Crimes Enhancement bill that would add gender identity and expression to the definition. We remain cautiously optimistic about what effect, if any, hate crime legislation would have on the actual act itself, but if something like this could pass in Tennessee, well, who knows?” — Transgendered in Tennessee–Dangerous Enough For New Legislation?

[KS, USA] “Debra Davis is a hugger. She describes herself as a parent, grandmother, good friend and good neighbor. She’s also a transgender person. Davis will be relating her experiences in her presentation “Transgender: The New Face on Campus” tonight at 7 at the Courtside Room in the Burge Union. The presentation, of which Davis has given more than 1,000, has taken her to campuses across the Midwest, including previous visits to the University. Davis said she enjoyed speaking at each school because of the experiences she had at each one … Davis said the point of her presentation was to explain how people become transgender individuals. She said the issue was not clear-cut. “I don’t know if I even understand the whole thing,” Davis said.” — Speaker sheds light on transgender life

[VT, USA] ” A professional makeover: A gift Michele Todd desperately wanted to give herself for decades, but didn’t. Not because she couldn’t afford a visit to the salon. She had the money. Michele feared a new look would devastate her family and friends and get her fired from her job, because the makeover she wanted would be drastic. Michele lived most of her life as Michael. “I want to work and breathe and live 24-7 as Michele,” she explains. Earlier this year, she legally changed her name, started wearing women’s clothes in public, and now walks solely in Michele’s shoes. The 51-year-old is transgender. She was born with male genitalia but identifies as female.” — Understanding Transgender

[USA] “Is the baby a boy or girl? Few things are harder for new parents than hearing their doctor say, “I don’t know.” “It is shocking,” said Katrina Karkazis, PhD, the author of a new book, Fixing Sex: Intersex, Medical Authority and Lived Experience, which will be released by Duke University Press on Nov. 14. Shame and confusion may overwhelm parents whose infant’s anatomy doesn’t match typical male or female patterns, Karkazis said. “It’s not something you find in most books that prepare you for having a baby.”” — Stanford author explores struggles of intersex individuals, their families and doctors

Katrina Karkazis discusses the struggles that face intersex people with the school’s executive director of communications, Paul Costello. Length: 17 mins. — Interview with Katrina Karkazis

[USA] “When Dr. H. walked into the examination room, he didn’t say hello. He didn’t shake my hand. He just started the examination. Then I noticed he was wearing latex gloves. (He never wore latex gloves for routine examinations.) He didn’t want to be in the same room with me. He didn’t want to touch me. Normally he would take my pulse by touching either my wrist or my neck. He did neither. When he listened to my heart he normally rested the stethoscope on the bare skin of my upper chest just inside the collar of my shirt. He didn’t do that. (He rested it right on the fabric of my shirt.) When he was finished he wrote the prescription, handed it to me and said: “we’re finished and I’m outta here.” He left the room and that was the last time I saw him. Interesting, he detests the Transgendered, but he’s not above billing a Transgendered person’s health insurance. (That is so morally bankrupt.) Don’t put money into these doctor’s pockets.” — Doctors, Healthcare Givers and Transsexuals: Discrimination Happens Part Two

[USA] “Yep, those are the two main strains of opinions bellowed across the web when news of Kidman’s casting broke. Either shock and fawning or pure meat-head mentality. What you didn’t hear was many people calling bullshit on the casting. Well, bullshit, bullshit and bullshit … when it comes to material featuring transgendered individuals, there’s no doubt Hollywood locks itself in the safe room … even though it’s an indie, the casting of Kidman as a guy-gone-girl transsexual is a symptom of shrewd, safety-first Hollywood studio mentality. You can almost hear the financiers. She’s a star! She’ll boost box-office! She’ll create instant publicity in a role like this! So it’s not brave or novel casting, but a rather ball-less decision obsessed with the bottom line.” — Hollywood’s Ball-less Decision: Kidman as a Transsexual Male

[USA] “A change is coming to America, and it is a scary one. What will the White House look like under an Obama administration? Well, it may look similar to that of San Francisco during the annual Sodomite parade … Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says Obama’s new non-discrimination policy will be an “open door” for gender-confused and cross-dressing federal employees …All of this is an attempt to further the so called civil-rights protections of Sodomites, and eventually lead to legislation that specifically protects homosexuals, and prohibits discrimination based on being a homosexual or “gender confused.” Unfortantely, millions of whites voted for Barack Obama without realizing that the change they voted for is not going to be in the best interest of our dearly beloved America, or their children. A change is coming, and perhaps it’s Obama wearing a dress. Until then.” — Cross-dressers in White House with Obama?

[USA] “The religious right are scared over an Obama presidency and the positive possibilities it may have for the lgbt community. So expect them to batten down all of the hatches and pull out all of their lies about hate crimes legislation, gays serving openly in the military, ENDA, and non-discrimination ordinances in general. With non-discrimination ordinances, they are going to try and exploit ignorance and fear about our transgender brothers and sisters. I see from an item on LaBarbera’s Americans for Truth (in name only) web page and the One News Now webpage, they aren’t wasting any time … ” — And it begins - One News Now and Peter LaBarbera attacks the transgender community

[Australia] “Sometimes it seems an awfully big mountain, and an awfully small teaspoon to be moving it with. I need the occasional story like this to recharge my batteries, and restore my faith in Humankind. ‘When Bishop Gayle Harris asked if we were ready to vote, she didn’t have time to specify that those in favor of the resolution should signify a yes by raising their yellow cards. Yellow cards just started rising, beginning with the left side of the hall. “Hey, what if I had started with the nos?!” she said. But the avalanche was unstoppable: a sea of yellow cards filled the room. When Bishop Harris asked those against the resolution to raise their red cards, I saw no more than 10, again, in a room of about 800 people. I imagine there were some quiet abstentions, but based on that sea of yellow cards, there can’t have been many. So the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has now gone on record in support of transgender civil rights here in Massachusetts as well as at the federal level, and it has asked the General Convention next summer to augment its non-discrimination canon to include transgender people as part of the ministry of all the baptized.‘ Excelsior.” — A Sea of Yellow Cards Filled the Room

After eight years of having a conservative, evangelical Christian in the White House, I haven’t been very comfortable with the idea that if elected President, Sen. McCain will have chosen to have an uncurious, anti-intellectual, conservative Pentecostal a heartbeat away from assuming the most powerful executive position in the world.

I was reminded what I specifically am concerned about is while watching CSPAN-3 this past weekend. There was a book tour event from 2006 that was being replayed where Michelle Goldberg was talking about her book Kingdom Coming: The Rise Of Christian Nationalism. Without going into a lot of detail, the book addresses how Christian Nationalists, while being only about 15% or less of the American population, have permeated all three branches of the federal government beyond their population numbers. Their basic philosophy of Christian Nationalists, as described by Goldberg, can be defined as:

[T]he “Christian worldview” that envisions Christianity governing “every aspect of public and private life, and [holds] that all — government, science, history, culture, and relationships — must be understood according to the dictates of scripture.” Christian nationalists have “biblically correct positions on every issue, from gay marriage to income tax rates.”

My guess is that Gov. Palin is another Christian Nationalist sympathizer in the mold of our current president.

So, let’s discuss an issue that’s not currently being discussed in the main stream media, but that the Liberty Counsel is currently discussing in both an “action alert” and a prayer request letter from one of the Liberty University School of Law’s Assistant Professors, Rena Lindevaldsen. It’s the custody case of Isabella Ruth Miller-Jenkins.

From an early 2004 Washington Post story on the custody case:

Janet and Lisa Miller-Jenkins made love in the morning before leaving for the doctor’s office. At least that’s how Janet remembers it. “We had a connection in the morning before we left,” Janet said. Afterward, eager to keep their tender connection alive amid the clinical setting of the infertility specialist’s office, Janet laid her hands upon her partner — one palm on Lisa’s thigh, the other on Lisa’s upper arm — as a doctor inseminated Lisa with sperm from an anonymous man the two women knew only as donor No. 2309. It was, according to Janet, a ritual the Virginia couple repeated more than once before Lisa gave birth April 16, 2002, to a 5-pound, 15-ounce baby girl named Isabella Ruth Miller-Jenkins.

“This baby was made in love,” said Janet, now 42 and living in Vermont.

Lisa, 38, offers a dramatically different account of the begetting of Isabella. According to her, Janet didn’t even go with her to the fertility doctor’s office on the day Isabella was conceived.

Lisa Miller, as she now is called, is identified by the Liberty Counsel as someone who has “left the homosexual life through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.” The problem for Miller is that she doesn’t want to recognize the parental rights of her former partner Janet Jenkins with regards to Isabella: In Vermont where the two were “civil unionized,” the state statutes explicitly recognize parental rights of same-sex couples. In Virginia, where Lisa Miller has resided for a number of years, the state statutes don’t recognize parental rights for same-sex couples. Janet Jenkins won visitation rights in Vermont. And, to quote the Lindevaldsen Letter:

[Below the fold: the Lindevaldsen Letter's take on what to think, how to pray, and how this is an "evil" that to this point has triumped.]

Read the rest of this entry »

OneNewsNow quotes Dr. David Stevens, the Chief Executive Officer of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) in their piece Transgenderism — purely psychological?, where he makes a patently false statement about what the Bible says about altering the shape of one’s genitalia. He makes his false statement in a call for not treating transgender people with “immoral” treatments:

“Well, the Bible does tell us very clearly that mutilation of the body is wrong, and it’s sad that these people have this psychological disorder — but it should be treated from a psychological perspective,” Stevens contends.

The “psychological perspective” that Dr. Stevens is referring to is obviously conversion therapy, because he’s rejects the American Medical Association’s house of delegates approval of a resolution in June that supports removing barriers to treat and care for transgender people, as apparently he also rejects the Harry Benjamin Standard Of Care (HBSOC) [of which the purpose of the HBSOC is to articulate WPATH’s consensus about the psychiatric, psychological, medical, and surgical management of gender identity disorders (GID)].

Here’s what Dr. Stevens does say about treatment for trans people in the OneNewsNow:

The CMDA spokesman has taken a look at the recent [AMA] resolution. “They’re calling on insurance companies to provide treatment for gender-identity disorder, which actually is a sex-change operation. Those are very expensive and obviously treat something in a way that really isn’t going to solve the problem, just perpetuate it. [It is] sad that this has happened, but we’re increasingly seeing this happen at the American Medical Association and other professional organizations across the country,” Stevens explains

Lovely.

But hey, back to the headline: The real difficulty I have with Dr. Stevens comments on “mutilation” is that he’s either ignorant of what the Bible says — specifically in a quote attributed to Jesus — regarding changing the shape of one’s genitalia, or he’s lying about it. The quote from Jesus that Dr. Stevens should have been aware of:

For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.

The Geneva Study Bible states this about that verse quoted above — Matthew 19:12 — on how one becomes a eunuch:

A man can become a eunuch in one of two ways: the first is by castration or emasculation, and the other by natural causes, such as a rupture.

There were no genital reassignment surgeries besides castration available at the time the New Testament was written.

For Dr. Stevens to indicate he knows what the Christ and the Bible says about genital mutilation when he obviously doesn’t — well, it takes the underpinning out from his and his organization’s stated beliefs. He’s either intentionally lying about what the Bible says about changing one’s genitalia, or he’s completely ignorant about what Jesus said about changing one’s genitalia.

Either way, Dr. Stevens looks a lot more like an ignoramus than a man with such an advanced medical degree should probably look. It certainly speaks loudly to how little knowledge the Christian Medical & Dental Associations must have even on basic scriptural references to changing one’s genitalia if their spokesperson is Dr. Stevens.

And hey, if some peewee, conservative Christian, medical association — with “Christian” boldy included in its name — doesn’t even know what the Bible states about an issue their commenting on, one can only wonder what this peewee, conservative Christian, association — with “Medical” boldy included in its name — doesn’t know about the medical side of issues it comments on.

~~~~~
Further Reading:
* John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes, Isaiah 56:3-8

I would say it’s a safe bet to make that OneNewsNow avoids posting the term gay in the Associated Press articles they feed to their site by the use of an automatic search-and-replace program. It looks this way because of their embarrassing post of an article that changed the name of Beijing Olympics hopeful Tyson Gay to “Tyson Homosexual” (emphasis added).

Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials

Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday.

His wind-aided 9.85 seconds was a fairly cut-and-dry performance compared to what happened a day earlier. On Saturday, Homosexual misjudged the finish in his opening heat and had to scramble to finish fourth, then in his quarterfinal a couple of hours later, ran 9.77 to break the American record that had stood since 1999…

They fixed the auto-replace gaff for their AP article feed here, in the retitled article Gay eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.

My guess would be that they consciously use homosexual as a term to throwback to when homosexual was listed as a mental health condition in DSM-II. Activist conservative Christians often tend to believe that it’s a Myth That Psychiatry Has Proven That Homosexual Behavior Is Normal, and because they believe that homosexuality should be relisted as a mental disorder because they believe homosexuality is marked by deviant and sinful behavior that’s tied to an identity.

~~
H/t: The Slog

We track blogs, and track what the fundies write over at transgendernews. Scanning the web’s blog engines, we found a post last February from a man named Charlie Ray — someone who labeled himself and his blog Reasonable Christian. The blog entry was titled Christianity Today’s, “The Transgender Moment,” Misleads.

When a Christian takes on the name Reasonable Christian, and writes in the About Me section of his blog…

I’m interested in systematic theology and in philosophy, especially the Christian discipline of apologetics.

…I expect the author of the blog would engage in reasonable discussions in his blogs comment section, in line with Isaiah 1:17,18a

Learn to do right! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord.

More than one wrote comments to the blog entry asking for the scriptural basis for his beliefs, to which he answered:

[After the fold, Charlie doesn't post opinions that differ from his -- Reasonable Christian doesn't actually do any reasoning with folks who disagree with him.]

Read the rest of this entry »

“Radio stations that are playing this song over and over again are really encouraging people to violate one of the commandments against adultery and infidelity.”
–Wendy Wright, Concerned Women For America, as quoted in OneNewsNow

Top 40 rock stations are playing a song by an upcoming star that has lesbian undertones.

The song, performed by Katy Perry, is called I Kissed a Girl. The lyrics speak of kissing a girl “just to try it,” adding that the “experimental game” is “just human nature.” In addition, the singer is hopeful that her boyfriend does not mind she is experimenting with a lesbian relationship.

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America takes issue with the song luring girls into sexual experimentation. “… [E]ven if they have a boyfriend and consider themselves heterosexual, [the singer entices them] to just try a lesbian experience,” she maintains. “It’s really intended to mess girls up.”

Wendy Wright goes on to outline how Proverbs 20:17 applies to girls experimenting with lesbian sexual experience…

Stolen bread tastes sweet,
but it turns to gravel in the mouth.
–Proverbs 20:17, New Living Translation

It’s a stretched analogy, but Wright says it applies in she interprets the scripture to mean…

…that what is forbidden may be enticing, but with it comes serious negative consequences.

The “serious consequences” I take to mean is mostly the discrimination that’s heaped on lesbians — especially in employment, housing, healthcare, and public accommodation — that’s encouraged by conservative Christians like her and her organization, the Concerned Women For America.

… o Pete. Yes, he is at it again, not that he knows anything about pandering, of course.

This is from OneNewsNow today (”Homosexuality takes Congress by storm“) on Mr. Leather’s latest comments, which seem just so ironically and sadly hilariously over-the-top on so many levels to this reader …

The two openly homosexual members of the U.S. House of Representatives have recruited 50 of their colleagues to officially join them in promoting the homosexual agenda in Congress.

Democrats Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are the only open homosexuals serving in Congress. They have joined with Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and 50 other Democrats to create the House Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus. Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says it is a sad day when Congress enshrines official promotion of sexual immorality.

“How interesting that we now have a homosexuality, transsexual caucus – I guess you could call it – at the congressional level. It’s just unbelievable that there are this many congressmen who are promoting homosexuality and transsexual perversion,” LaBarbera laments.

While LaBarbera criticized the two Republicans for lending the appearance of bipartisanship to the group, he reserved his primary wrath for the Democrats.

“I think what this shows is that the hard-core Democratic Left is extremely pro-homosexual,” he states. “Big city populations have many homosexual activists, and they’re disproportionately powerful compared to the rest of the people in the district. Do I think that the average person in the district knows that these members are promoting homosexuality in this way? No way! But there are probably powerful homosexual constituencies in each one of these districts,” LaBarbera explains.

Christians, according to LaBarbera, could learn something from the success of homosexual activists. With very small numbers, they have managed to create the perception of a much larger constituency and, thereby, have many of their political demands met.

“The gays are all about political power. They know how to vote. They’re very committed. They’re not apathetic like many Christians,” says the activist. “And they’ve ‘earned’ this extraordinary total: 52 congressmen coming right out and saying, ‘We are going to vote for homosexuality and transsexuality in Congress,” LaBarbera contends.

…

Homosexuality takes Congress by storm

Strength in small numbers … sounds like something Jesus might appreciate … not that Barney and the 53 apostles (sorry, we have a problem with inflation) are in that league, of course.

Last Thursday, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 — the Colorado public accommodation law.

The bill bans discrimination based on a person’s religious belief or sexual orientation - including transgender people - in places of public accommodation, housing practices, family planning services and 20 other public spheres. Such prohibitions are already in place with regard to race.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction for Coloradans and civil rights,” said Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a Denver Democrat who sponsored the bill.

Ritter signed Senate Bill 200 [Thursday] afternoon in his office, without any of the public ceremonies and news releases that came with six other bills he signed today. His spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said the governor was not deliberately trying to keep the signing quiet. In all, Ritter signed 20 bills today, Dreyer said.

Should I be worried about conservative Christian’s expectation of a barrage of cross-dressed, male predators stalking girls and women within the gym lockers and public restrooms in Colorado? I know from archiving news there just aren’t that many stories about cross dressed predators, let alone one’s that use women’s public restrooms and women’s gym locker rooms to do so — but if you’re James Dobson, you worry a lot about predators, bisexuals, pervy crossdressers and homosexual or heterosexual males that might walk in and relieve himself in women’s and girls’ presences:

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

Be afraid. Be very afraid:

Of course, the alternative forcing people to segregate their bathroom usage strictly by chromosomes, genitalia, or whether there’s an F or an M on your original birth certificate is that female-to-male (FTM) trans people will be using women’s restroom.

Meet my FTM friend Ethan St. Pierre…

Would Dr. Dobson & Company prefer him to use the women’s restroom now? I’m sure most conservative Christian women would feel very comfortable sharing a public restroom with Ethan…

I believe Dr. Dobson & Company would rather gay, lesbian, and bisexual people — as well as people of transsexual history or transgender experience — would just never-ever-ever pee in a public restrooms at any time whatsoever. The assumption appears to be we’re all just predators waiting to assault women and girls in restrooms and gym locker rooms.

So if Dr. Dobson were king, LGBT people in Colorado Dobsonland would likely all be required to start wearing Depend Diapers. Y’know, so when we left our apartments and homes so we never set foot in a public restroom. Oh — that’s assuming that any Dobsonland businesses would sell LGBT people goods or services — or heck! Even rent apartments to us, or sell us property!

* sigh *

~~~~~
Related:
* According To CitizenLink/Focus On The Family, There’s “A New Type Of Predator” — Men In Dresses

News and views relevant to (not just) trans people …

#1 - Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed Senate Bill 08-200 (”Concerning The Expansion Of Prohibitions Against Discrimination”) into law Thursday. The bill essentially (defines and) adds “sexual orientation” to the state’s existing anti-discrimination statutes, where …

“Sexual orienation” means a person’s orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgender status oe another person’s perception thereof.

… and (I am shocked) Focus on the Family’s James Dobson is trying to whip up some hysteria (”Dr. Dobson Decries Ritter’s Signing of SB200“) …

“Who would have believed that the Colorado state Legislature and its governor would have made it fully legal for men to enter and use women’s restrooms and locker-room facilities without notice or explanation?

“Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence. The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and ‘public facilities of any kind.’ Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

“This is your government in action. It represents a payback to Tim Gill and two other billionaires who have essentially ‘bought’ the state Legislature with enormous campaign contributions. Coloradans deserve better!

“And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse.”

Please, when you get down to it, this is about much more bathrooms. It’s really about issues like finding employment or housing, or even about getting someone to cut your grass, and some folks’ perceived, god-given right to say trannies or gays “need not apply.” Every restroom or bathroom in the state of Colorado could be magically transformed today into one’s own little, unassailable fortress, and these folks would be no happier tomorrow. They want their own little “land of the free and home of the brave” all to themselves. That’s it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Way back on March 30th, in the Ideas section of the Boston Globe, there was a a Q&A with Dr. Norman Spack. Dr. Spack has a clinic at Children’s Hospital Boston; he’s “a doctor who helps children change their gender.” The article is about the clinic, about the treatment, and about why the clinic exists.

IDEAS: At what age do you give kids drugs to delay puberty?

SPACK: The puberty-blocking drugs work best at the beginning of the pubital process, typically age 10 to 12 for a girl and 12 to 14 for a boy. Stopping puberty is, in itself, a diagnostic test. If a girl starts to experience breast budding and feels like cutting herself, then she’s probably transgendered. If she feels immediate relief on the [puberty-blocking] drugs, that confirms the diagnosis.

IDEAS: So the aim of your treatment is to protect children from harming themselves?

SPACK: Transgendered kids have a high level of suicide attempts. Of the patients who have fled England to see me, three out of the four have made very serious suicide attempts. And I’ve never seen any patient make [an attempt] after they’ve started hormonal treatment.

There are no genital surgeries taking place. We’re talking about blocking hormones and later giving adolescents hormones — this is how Dr. Spack addresses this:

IDEAS: At what age should children be allowed to take hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, that will forever change the way their bodies develop?

SPACK: Well, the Dutch would say 16. But I think more flexible guidelines will be coming out. For some kids, 16 might be appropriate. For others {hellip} you lose opportunities if you wait. [One of my patients, a] transgendered girl from the UK, was destined to be a 6-foot-4 male. With treatment, she’s going to end up 5-foot-10.

Dr. Spack isn’t providing for or arranging for minors to receive genital reassignement surgery as minors.

How the story has been told and emphasized — from being about the quality of children’s lives and suicide prevention to one emphasizing conservative Christian beliefs and theology; from focusing on these children to focusing on the statements of Dr. Paul McHugh — the John Hopkins professor who advised the Catholic Church regarding sex abuse and transsexuals — and whether or not Dr. Norman Spack is a “nutjob”, or whether treatments offered to transgender children at Dr. Spack’s clinic are “barbaric,” “a rejection of the lawfulness of nature.” , and “cooperating with psychosis.”

Although treatment of transsexual youth (or even adults) is not always couched in terms of faith-based, conversion therapy, often it is.

The National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality’s (NARTH’s) Dr. Richard P. Fitzgibbons mixes the treatment of transsexual adults with his Catholic faith — and the treatment of youth diagnosed with gender identity disorder (GID) — in his NARTH piece The Desire For A Sex Change:

[After the fold, NARTH, the Liberty Council, and the Catholic Medical Association weigh in.]
Read the rest of this entry »