He says it’s a boycott.

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that ex-gay/former homosexual/alleged mouthpiece of God James Hartline is planning to organize his thousands of followers into not tip employees of the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

We have to back up a little, so here’s the story. Doug Manchester is a large shareholder of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, which is named for his family. He contributed $125,000 to Proposition 8 — also known as the California Marriage Protection Act — which is the ballot measure that would undo the California Supreme Courts’ marriage equality ruling.

LGBT civil rights activists and union leaders have organized a boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt because of the $125,000 donation. The Unite Here Local 30 is supporting the boycott; Unite Here Local 30 turns out to be the local that represents workers at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

Fred Karger, Public Relations Chair and founding President of Californians Against Hate organized a news conference about the LGBT boycott of the hotel. From a Union-Tribune article entitled Gay-rights supporters to boycott Manchester Grand Hyatt:

Fred Karger, who is helping to organize the boycott and is running an organization opposed to Proposition 8, said he is also urging the public to boycott Manchester’s other hotel, the Grand Del Mar.

“This is someone who is giving an exorbitant amount of money to write discrimination into the constitution for the very first time,” he said.

Karger said he hopes the boycott will send a message to other potential contributors to the Proposition 8 campaign.

“Our goal is to create a business loss for people who contribute,” he said. “We want to make it a little uncomfortable.”

From the Californians Against Hate website:

[More after the fold]

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s a coffee story with San Diego conservative Christian batsh*ttery in it — NOT involving San Diego’s usual source of coffee-related conservative Christian batsh*ttery — how do we not mention this story?

San Diego’s own The Resistance — not to be confused with MassResistance — has a character in the organization’s lead that’s balking at the new Starbucks logo. From Mark Dice, in The Resistance’s press release:

(San Diego, CA) Starbucks has recently introduced a new version of their logo which features a topless mermaid with her legs spread, which has caused outrage from a nation wide Christian media watchdog organization. The Resistance, with has over 3000 members nationwide, is boycotting Starbucks across the country saying their new logo is inappropriate.

“The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute,” explains Mark Dice, founder of the group. “Need I say more? It’s extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves…

[The actual word Mike Dice/The Resistance uses without any asterisks -- probably not a workplace friendly word.]

Read the rest of this entry »

And not from what Olivia St. John is concerned about, as I see it. A resident WorldNetDaily gadfly (to use a relatively polite term), St. John is at it once again this morning (”Homosex in a public park near you“) over “the homosexual agenda,” longtime staple fare at WND …

But in the midst of all this, the reality is that children are at serious risk as the homosexual agenda proliferates in our nation’s public schools and continues invading our public space. The homosexual movement does not view moral people as friends, but our children are strongly desired, and they represent a hub around which the homosexual movement spins.

…

Those influenced by the “rulers of the darkness of this world” are doing their best to “call evil good and good evil” by using the public airwaves, public parks and public schools to push deviant sexual practices into the faces of our innocent children.

An entire generation is at risk.

Talk about fiddlin’ while Rome burns, I wish the Ms. St. Johns out there paid more attention to what the “rulers of the darkness” are leaving for future generations — 4,000 down and a helluva payback. Yup, nevermind death and taxes, let’s worry about “transsexual sex in public parks.” Sheesh …

Question 3: How many non-Jewish civilians were murdered during World War II?

Answer: While it is impossible to ascertain the exact number, the recognized figure is approximately 5,000,000. Among the groups which the Nazis and their collaborators murdered and persecuted were: Gypsies, Serbs, Polish intelligentsia, resistance fighters from all the nations, German opponents of Nazism, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, habitual criminals, and the “anti-social,” e.g. beggars, vagrants, and hawkers.
–Jewish Virtual Library

No kidding, James Hartline’s latest piece on his blog is Gay Activists Take A Page Out Of Hitler’s Mein Kampf To Evict Boy Scouts From Philadelphia Headquarters . Obviously, Hartline either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that gay men were among those who the Nazi’s killed, and that Hartline himself would have been imprisoned in a concentration camp — and possibly gassed — in his youth for being a homosexual and a habitual criminal.

Sub-topics in his latest piece include The Swastika - Rainbow Flag Connection, and California - Schwarzengger [sic] - The Nazi Connection — where he states…

The disasterous [sic] pro-homosexual laws currently being implemented in California could just as easily have been written in Hitler’s Germany. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a history of close ties to those involved in Nazism. In fact, Schwarznegger’s father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a volunteer member of the Sturmabteilung, or SA — the notorious Nazi storm troopers also known as brownshirts.

Right — Teh Gays, as part of the homosexual agenda are planning a new Holocaust to get rid of all the heterosexuals(!) — well, Teh Gays in an evil cabal with Gov. Schwarzenegger, that is. (*eyes roll*)

Harline’s over-the top comparison between LGBT people and Nazis is just insincere and deceitful — seriously, even Hartline in his deepest moments of insanity can’t honestly believe gays are mass murderers like Hitler.

Jon Stewart pretty much summed it up on his show in 2005 (Someone disagrees with you? Compare ‘em to a Nazi. Works like a charm. A Hitler charm):

And the Hitlers keep on coming. Yes, Adolf Hitler, one of the worst mass-murders in all of history, has become the go-to metaphor and comparison for anyone you have a minor disagreement with.

…Here’s my point. When you compare people to Hitler, enh, you lose a little credibility.

…[P]lease stop calling people Hitler when you disagree with them. It demeans you, it demeans your opponent, and to be honest, it demeans Hitler. That guy worked too many years, too hard, to be that evil to have any Tom, Dick and Harry come along and say “Hey, you’re being Hitler.” No–You know who was Hitler? HITLER!

And of course — there’s the correlative to Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies, which The Economist reworded as…

“[A] good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument.”

Mr. Hartline’s Nazi/Hitler references would pretty much not be worth mentioning, except James Hartline seriously wants to be my City Councilman here in San Diego New Sodom. That there are some people have given him money, and consider him a candidate worth supporting — well, incredible just isn’t a strong enough word.

~~~~~
Related:
* James Hartline’s steep slide into insanity
* James Hartline: San Diego is on fire because of the homos
* Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline
* Writing Like James Hartline 101

Let me begin by saying that I believe it’s unlikely that ex-gay, Christian right, City Council candidate James Hartline is really a pedophile. But, it certainly is strange that Hartline, in slamming an LGBT friendly teacher I know, pulled out the pedophilia card in the process of railing against the “radicalized pro-homosexual teacher”. Here’s what Hartline wrote:

For pedophiles who are looking to improve their dark techniques for accessing the minds of small children, [Voice of San Diego reporter Emily] Alpert’s article and [the third grade teacher]’s classroom propaganda will certainly add to the arsenals of every child molester’s instructional manual. Take for example, the twisted response that [the teacher] gives to another question by Emily Alpert in her Voice of San Diego article:

Q: How do you see those issues playing out in the classroom? Do you see them on a daily basis?

[Teacher]: “They come up often, even in third grade. It takes innocent forms … Like, ‘How can you be using a pink crayon?’ Something stupid like that. I always use that opportunity to tell them my favorite color is pink. It’s not. It’s blue. But the eyebrows go up. … If you do like pink, what does that say about you? I bring up gay and lesbian. I’ll mention those words in the third grade.”

Pardon me, but Hartline lived a gay man for most of his life.   Since he lived the majority of his life as a gay man, should we now consider him a potential danger to children? He’s tied pedophilia to being gay … does that mean he molested kids when he lived the “homosexual lifestyle?”

No, it doesn’t. Being gay doesn’t equate to being a child molester. In his heart, I’m about sure he knows that gay doesn’t equate to pedophilia, otherwise he would have had to previously say that he shouldn’t considered safe to be left alone around children.

So, this all said, I’m irritated.  Pious hypocrites irritate me, and James Hartline is as self-righteous and irritating as a pious hypocrite can come.

Egads.  Ex-Gay City Council Candidate James Hartline is at it again on why the San Diego / Southern California firestorm is due to teh homos:

Believe what you want. The Bible never, ever lies.

Sinners will do what sinners will do. But Christians are responsible for conveying right and wrong in this nation.

Thus, that is why the Bible says that judgment begins at the House of the Lord. The fires are striking at places where Christians are claiming Christ, but refuse to do anything about the plagues of sin in this nation. But do not think that the judgment stays in the House of the Lord. It is coming, surely it is coming after the rebel, the one who shakes the fist at God and rejects His pure offer of grace and salvation.

However, regardless of the acts of Christians, What is the excuse of any of you when you rebel against God?

Don’t blame your rebellion on me or what I say. Blame it on your own shaking of the fist at God!

The time is short. What will you do in the hour of your own judgment? Who will you blame? The Bible is truth. Yet, have you accepted it? What will you say to God? What will be your excuse? It won’t be me.

Well, if God is involved in this, I’m going to blame Christian Republicans for their idolatry.  On September 9th, we here in San Diego put up an idol of Pete Wilson at Horton Plaza!  Heavens!

Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
Deuteronomy 4:15b-18

The Christian Republicans have sinned.  That’s why we have the fire and brimstone here in San Diego.

…Right?

Well, of course I’m not being serious.    Just making the point that if one states “Believe what you want. The Bible never, ever lies,” then one could also make the case that there may be other Biblical reasons God might be striking San Diego / Southern California with fire and brimstone.

And really, if God were really involved in creating the San Diego Firestorm and it was God’s rebuke of LGBT folk that were the reason why, wouldn’t it have been more likely that Hillcrest — the area of San Diego with the highest concentration of LGBT citizens, as well as being the home to San Diego’s LGBT Community Center — would have been where God would have made sure that the fire raged the hardest? 

Not a lick of firestorm flaming was in Hillcrest, by the way.

~~~~~ 
Further Reading:
* James Hartline Needs to Get A Clue

~~~~~
Related:
* James Hartline Says San Diego Is Burning Because…
* Firestorm 2007 In San Diego
* Category: Ex-Gay James Hartline

Is it just fire, or is it fire and brimstone? If you’re James Hartline, you know why San Diego County is on fire…

They shook their fists at God and said, “We don’t care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in San Diego!” Then Mayor Jerry Sanders mocked the Christian vote and signed off on this rebellious legal document to support same-sex marriage.

And then the streets of La Jolla under the Mt. Soledad Cross began to cave in.

They shook their fists at God and said, “We don’t care what the Bible says, We want the California school children indoctrinated into homosexuality!” And then Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the heinous SB777 which bans the use of “mom” and “dad” in the text books and promotes homosexuality to all school children in California.

And then the wildfires of Southern California engulfed the land like a raging judgment against the radicalized anti-christian California rebels.

And incredibly, James Hartline literally wants to be *my* city councilman. Egads.

This bizarre man is noticeably delusional — his belief that he speaks for God is just beyond belief.

~~~~~
Related:
* Firestorm 2007 In San Diego
* James Hartline Filled Out A Form All By Himself
* Category: Ex-Gay James Hartline

James Hartline was happy. Outrageously happy. Back in early September, the San Diego City Council stuck 4-to-4 on a vote for a friend of the court brief supporting marriage equality.

By golly, Mr. Hartline is certainly not happy now. As the California Catholic Daily phrased it back on September 10th (when Councilwoman Frye announced she was changing her vote to support the friend of the court brief for marriage equality), the elation Hartline and his conservative Christian peers felt about blocking marriage equality  turned out to be a “Premature Celebration.”

And boy-oh-boy, did it really turn out to be a premature celebration. Republican Mayor Jerry Sanders changed his public position on marriage equality, and after previously indicating he would veto the resolution he instead signed the San Diego City Council resolution to support marriage equality.

San Diego Mayor Supports Gay Marriage

In response to the turn of events in San Diego, Mr. Hartline promised a report on Mayor Sanders’ support for marriage equality. In fact, he put together three pre-reports entitled The Corruption of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), as well as a fourth pre-report entitled entry The Deceptions of Mayoral Candidate Jerry Sanders.

All of the first three pre-report posts began with the following blurb:

The James Hartline Report is working on a breathtaking report revealing corruption between Mayor Jerry Sanders and radical elements of the local San Diego gay rights movement which we believe played a key role in his decision to betray voters in his support of same-sex marriage. This report will be released within the next 24 hours. The James Hartline Report has been receiving a tremendous number of requests for this report. In the meantime we are now going to re-release a number of historical James Hartline Reports outlining the many corruptive issues surrounding San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. These reports, published over the past three years, provide great documentation of the Sanders involvement with the homosexual movement. (Lesbian Daughter… Please! Sanders was involved in supporting the homosexual movement years and years prior to his alledged [sic] revelations three or four years ago that his daughter was a lesbian!)

In the fourth pre-report post, Mr. Hartline quoted Mayor Sanders from a 2005 issue of the Gay & Lesbian Times:

“The other part of it is, I don’t think government belongs in it all….I think marriage is an issue that’s up to the churches.”

Yup. Mr. Hartline was frothing at the keyboard, and he hadn’t even posted his actual response post as yet.

So, at a little after noon today (12:31 PDT, September 21, 2007), Hartline finally released his promised report, entitled San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders Sticks The Knife In & Executes A Vicious Betrayal Of San Diego Voters! . Some quotes (often in that famous James Hartline third-person way he writes):

No one in San Diego’s Republican Party can say that they weren’t warned about the radicalized homosexual agenda of Mayor Jerry Sanders. In early 2005, the James Hartline Report revealed that, then candidate Jerry Sanders, had been for years, implementing his scheme to promote homosexuality in San Diego. As San Diego police chief in the early 1990’s, Sanders was responsible for bringing in most of the early homosexual policing policies into the department.6

While Jerry Sanders may be attempting to manipulate voters with his disturbing emotional meltdown, it is clear that he has a far darker agenda then just his same-sex marriage schizophrenia. Mayor Sanders may have used his own daughter as an excuse for flip-flopping–John Kerry Style–but it is clear to those who have watched the mayor’s social engineering-in-action over the past twelve years that Sanders has been aggressively attempting to implement an anti-[C]hristian, European-style society.

Judgment of the Sanders’ marriage betrayal has been swift and decisive. The James Hartline Report has received a multitude of emails and telephone calls requesting that Hartline lead a renewed campaign against the Sander’s corruption. Christian leaders throughout San Diego are telling the James Hartline Report that they will work against the Sanders’ vision of anti-[C]hristian bigotry.

With Jerry Sanders finally revealing his dark agenda in its full manifestation…

“If the heart is corrupted it can be a very dangerous thing to lead with,” one Republican leader told the James Hartline Report. “Hitler led with his heart too, and we know what kind of evil he ended up doing.”

Basing his previous campaign statements of opposing same-sex marriage because of “religious” reasons, voters will certainly be asking themselves what religion is Sanders now following in lying to voters and betraying the 5,000 year-old bedrock institution of marriage?

Holy, crap. Dark agendas and same-sex marriage schizophrenia aside, a Hitler comparrison for Mayor Sanders? Egads, Hartline is seriously frothing.

Changing gears a little bit, I had a medical appointment at the VA today. (Yes, I’m a disabled veteran, having served as an enlisted man in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 2000.) During my waiting room period today, I wondered what I’d find at Hartline’s Blog when I got back home.

Reading Hartline’s latest blog entry, a contrast between his life and mine struck me: While I spent 20-years serving my country in the U.S. Navy, Hartline spent nearly that long serving behind bars in California penitentiaries.

Hartline talks about Mayor Sanders’ “flip-flopping–John Kerry Style.” If only James Hartline would have served in the military as Senator John Kerry did — instead, Hartline spent his “service age” as an incarcerated burden on society.

To Hartline himself, all I have to say is:

Good f*cking luck with your campaign to become San Diego’s Third District City Councilperson. I can’t imagine too many San Diego citizens would vote in a convicted burglar like yourself to be in charge of any portion of the City of San Diego’s budget.

Plus sir, for a convicted felon, you’re awful damn sanctimonious in your condemnation of Mayor Sanders. You yourself flipped-flopped from a penitentiary dweller to self-righteous Christian blowhard — you’ve got your nerve calling Mayor Sanders “corrupt.”

When one compares Mayor Sanders record with yours, who actually has the more “corrupt” record? I don’t recall Mayor Sanders at any point being incarcerated for any kind of theivery.

~~~~~
Further reading:
* San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times Editorial: Thank you, Mayor Jerry Sanders
* Gay And Lesbian Task Force: Task Force calls San Diego mayor a ‘profile in courage and conviction’
* HRC: Human Rights Campaign Commends San Diego Mayor for Resolution in Favor of Marriage Equality
* San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times Poll: In light of Mayor Jerry Sanders’ support for same-sex marriage, will you support his re-election?
* NBC San Diego Poll: Do you support Mayor Jerry Sanders’ decision on same-sex marriage?

~~~~~
Related:
* Freepers on Republican San Diego mayor’s support of marriage equality
* Republican San Diego mayor comes out in favor of marriage equality
* Hartline’s Happy About The San Diego City Council Marriage Equality Vote
* James Hartline Filled Out A Form All By Himself
* Hartline: Mitt Romney’s beliefs disgrace the birth of Christ
* Hartline: San Diego is suffering from God’s wrath
* Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline

The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Community Center released an email to its list today, entitled Victory! The subtitle was San Diego City Council Votes to Sign on to Marriage Equality Case.

The Center is so proud of our community, of our allies and of a City Council courageous and committed enough to cast the votes and make a stand for fairness and equality and against hate and discrimination. We are particularly proud of our own Councilmember Toni Atkins, who bravely and tenaciously led this momentous effort.

Yesterday, our community again made history, as the San Diego City Council supported marriage equality by voting to sign on to the amicus briefs in the marriage equality case currently before the California Supreme Court.

The Councilmembers who voted “yes,” on the same measure on Sept. 4 (Scott Peters, Toni Atkins, Jim Madaffer and Ben Hueso), were joined by Councilmember Donna Frye, resulting in a 5-3 victory. This means that San Diego could join other California cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Long Beach in supporting this case by signing a friend-of-the-court (amicus) brief.

The San Diego Union-Tribune posted an article today on the vote, entitled Gay Marriage Backed; Council OKs measure, Sanders promises veto:

The struggle over same-sex marriage has landed in San Diego, where the City Council agreed yesterday to signal its support for the concept, only to have Mayor Jerry Sanders pledge to veto the action.

Sanders’ decision could result in an override of his veto, which requires a simple majority vote of the eight-member council. Councilwoman Toni Atkins said she expects “the votes will hold” to set aside the veto.

…Councilwoman Donna Frye, citing fears that the public had not had enough of a chance for input, voted against Atkins’ proposal on Sept. 4, but changed her vote yesterday, resulting in a 5-3 decision to offer support for gay marriage.

Council President Scott Peters, and Councilmen Ben Hueso and Jim Madaffer joined Atkins and Frye on the winning side. Councilmen Kevin Faulconer, Brian Maienschein and Tony Young repeated their earlier no votes.

The council’s decision – which would result in the city stating support for same-sex marriage in a case to be decided by the state Supreme Court – could be overturned as early as today.

Sanders’ spokesman, Fred Sainz, said the mayor prefers civil unions, which offer some, but not all of the legal protections found in marriages.

James Hartline hasn’t responded to the vote on his blog as yet, but he posted Shake The City Prayer Rally & San Diego City Council Battle For Marriage - Sept. 18, 2007 prior to the council vote.

The amicus briefs in for the combined California Supreme Court marriage equality cases needs to be in by the close of business, September 26, 2007. I know I wonder if the San Diego City Attorney will even have time to prepare and submit a supportive “friend of the court” brief — since the process for city approval still has an expected veto by Mayor Saunders, and then an expected veto override vote.

~~~~~
The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Community Center call to action:

The future of this item is now in the hands of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. We know the Mayor has heard from our community, and we believe him to be a courageous leader who will do the right thing and make this decision with fairness and integrity. Please e-mail Mayor Sanders and thank him for his past support of civil rights issues and encourage him to stand with us again on this important issue of equality. The Mayor’s e-mail address is jerrysanders@sandiego.gov.

As he sat down two seats away from me — shortly after he addressed the San Diego City Council as an opponent to Item 331 – I heard James Hartline gasp in apparent angered disbelief when a lesbian mother, speaking to the city council in favor of marriage equality, described to the council and gathered citizens the “child I procreated.”

So went the San Diego City Council’s public input on Item 331: Amicus Curiae In Re: Marriage Cases.  There was disbelief and gasps for everyone in attendence, no matter which side of the issue one came down on.

Turning back the “way back machine” …

Three years ago, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses for gay couples. The city was forced to stop the practice, which led to the litigation.

Those in favor of same-sex marriages prevailed in 2005, but an appeals court overturned the decision a year ago. The state Supreme Court will review that ruling.

The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments for San Francisco Same-Sex Marriage Cases (Lockyer v. City and County of San Francisco and Lewis v. Alfaro) in May of this year, those two cases stemming from the many 2004 San Francisco marriages.

The court is now accepting amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs for the combined cases — but only until September 26th. The question before San Diego’s City Council this past Tuesday was this: would San Diego join Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland in submitting an amicus curiae brief in support of marriage equality?

James Hartline spoke for the majority of the opposition [Video: beginning at point 1:33:42 in the podcast]. In response to Councilwoman Tony Atkins’ motion for the City of San Diego to submit a pro-marriage equality amicus curiae brief (Item 331), Hartline, in his frequent over-the-top manner, stated:

Today is a perfect example of why I’ve announced my candidacy for the City Council…Once again, we standing here find ourselves forced to defend our faith, our families, and our values because of the radicalized dark vision of Councilwoman Toni Atkins.

Speaking for those in favor of Item 331 was the San Francisco City Attorney [Video: beginning at point 1:23:50 in the podcast].

After councilmembers and the public finished their input on the issue, the item failed to receive a majority council affirmation. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:

A measure to offer support for same-sex marriage in a case pending before the state Supreme Court failed yesterday, but the San Diego City Council will return to the divisive topic in two weeks.

The City Council tied 4-4 on the motion calling for a brief to be filed with the court. The deadlock initially killed the measure.

Council President Scott Peters and council members Toni Atkins, Ben Hueso and Jim Madaffer voted in favor, while Kevin Faulconer, Donna Frye, Brian Maienschein and Tony Young voted in opposition.

James Hartline blogged Breaking News: Christians Stop Gay Marriage At San Diego City Council. He stated (speaking in third person, as he often does about himself):

Hartline gave a powerful and informative presentation on behalf of the thousands of Christians in San Diego who are opposed to redefining marriage to include couples engaged in homosexuality and lesbianism.

After a contentious and sometimes, hostile hearing, the request to approve the gay marriage legal brief failed on a 4-4 vote. A 5-3 vote was required for the item to be approved. When the smoke had cleared, some Christians in attendance declared that a real miracle had happened in the city council chambers.

Yet, Item 331 apparently didn’t fail on the merits, but instead, failed over the perception that there was insufficient time for public comment on the issue.  Again, from the San Diego Union-Tribune article:

None of the council members who voted no expressed their thoughts on same-sex marriage. Frye instead said she thought the public had not been allowed enough of an opportunity for input. Her motion to postpone the decision, in hopes of drawing more public participation, failed.

Atkins and Madaffer argued in favor of the city sending notice of its support for same-sex couples to the court. Atkins opposed delaying consideration of the issue, but she relented by early evening, calling on Peters to give the council a second chance to review it. He complied, and said he will schedule it for Sept. 18.

Frankly, the LGBT community in San Diego was stunned by Councilwoman Donna Frye’s and Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s votes on Item 331, given their previous voting records on LGBT issues.

Prior to the vote, Councilwoman Frye stated at the City Council meeting:

The average person does not know that this item is on [September 4th's] agenda…I think that people need more than four or five day’s notice on probably one of the most controversial issues that this council is ever going to be taking a vote on…I personally don’t think that the public is aware that this [vote] is happening. My office received approximately five phone calls, which seems rather unusual given the nature of this issue.

By the way, James Hartline praised her vote.

Dr. Delores A. Jacobs, chief executive officer of The San Diego LGBT Community Center, stated in an email to The Center’s mailing list:

We believe that Councilmember Frye and Councilmember Falconer do understand that marriage equality for LGBT people is essential to our basic humanity and dignity and we urge them to reconsider their votes. On September 18, they will have a second chance to be on the right side of civil rights history.

I can’t imagine the public comments prior to the second vote will be much different than those proffered at for the first vote. While there likely won’t be much of a difference found in the content of the public comment on this issue for the September 18th’s meeting, there will no doubt be a large increase in the quantity of the public comment.

However, Given Councilwoman Frye’s and Councilman Faulconer’s previous pro-LGBT voting record, the LGBT community expects a different result on the second vote.  In the end, it appears James Hartline and company’s victory this past Tuesday may not hold past September 18th.

—————
Deirdre O’Lavery contributed significantly to this article.

—————
Further Reading:
* Americans For Truth About Homosexuality: Hartline Leads San Diego Christian Effort to Turn Back Pro-’Gay Marriage’ Brief
* Voice Of San Diego: Same-Sex Resolution Fails
* California Catholic Daily: San Diego won’t join lawsuit in favor of same-sex marriage

—————
Related Hartline insanity:
* James Hartline Filled Out A Form All By Himself
* Hartline: Mitt Romney’s beliefs disgrace the birth of Christ
* Hartline: San Diego is suffering from God’s wrath
* Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline

Hide the children! Protect the sheep! Those grungy, druggie transvestites bearing gifts are on the loose. And I’m shocked and appalled … that it took the California Catholic Daily almost five months to report (second hand) this “news” …

Published: August 31, 2007

Abnormal in Normal Heights

“We saw this woman with blonde hair and pink leopard print pants who was stumbling and acting weird, always looking back. As the person got closer, we realized it was a man.”

If Easter Sunday isn’t a time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, even the most secular adults allow their kids some innocent fun hunting for eggs. Some parents, however, don’t find the fun so innocent when the Easter Egg Hunt is sponsored by The (Gay and Lesbian) Center of San Diego, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (a militant transvestite group that mocks Catholic nuns), and homosexual venues like Bourbon Street and Bacchus House.

Arnae Davison is one such parent. When she read about the Easter Egg Hunt to be held April 9 around 2 p.m. at Trolley Barn Park in the Normal Heights neighborhood of San Diego, her radar went up. She decided to see for herself; so, with her husband and two-year old daughter, she arrived at the event with her eyes wide open. In spite of the mental preparation, Davison still could not believe what she saw.

The first thing she noticed was how strange the people in charge looked. Davison said, “As soon as we pulled up they started looking at us suspiciously – probably because we had a fish sticker on our car. We had to go to a registration booth. We saw this woman with blonde hair and pink leopard print pants who was stumbling and acting weird, always looking back. As the person got closer, we realized it was a man. I never saw a transvestite like that up close. I always was used to seeing them ‘glammed up.’ He was not clean. He was grungy. I thought, what is he doing here? He appeared intoxicated, and this was not the kind of person I wanted around my child. He kept scratching his face and grabbing his groin and adjusting his fake breasts.”

Davison noticed that a lot of the people running the event were unkempt. “The condition of the men was awful. Their fingers were dirty, under the fingernail polish. They had acne all over their face. Many of them had blackened, rotten teeth. They had on make-up and hot pants, yet they were saying to these children, ‘I’m so glad you’re here!’

“The most disturbing thing were the looks on the kids’ faces, especially the older kids, when they realized that this was a man kissing a man and these were men dressed like women. There were giggles and laughing at the carrying-on of couples holding hands and putting their arms around each other. The kids knew that these transvestites were staring at them, yet they were oblivious to the fact that this was totally abnormal.”

The second most troubling thing for Davison was the apparent drug use at the event. “There were transvestites going in and out of the portable bathrooms with little pink envelopes. One person in particular went into the bathroom with a pink envelope came out looking high. That’s when we decided to leave.”

Dawson said, “They were giving away brand new bicycles and huge Easter baskets. They made it very, very enticing for children. I saw other parents and thought, ‘Do they really know what they’re coming for?’”

James Hartline is running for a seat for the City Council Third District — the very same city council district I live in.

He proudly reports in his relatively new James Hartline For San Diego City Council blog that “The Hartline Revolution Has Begun In San Diego!”

Here are some of the details:

Today James Hartline filed his first Form 460 financial statement. The Form 460 filing deadline is August 15, 2007. Each qualified candidate for the city council must file a form 460 financial statement for each quarter.

What is incredible about James filing his Form 460 is that he did it all on his own without paying any accountant or political consultant a single dime! This represents a revolution for the common man in local politics. For too long, wealthy, money-hungry political hacks and political consultants have manipulated voters and fresh candidates to believe that they cannot make it without their professional help. This is simply a lie! We can make it and we will make it without the political consultant greedy hacks that are destroying the electoral system in San Diego.

By the way, James Hartline frequently pulls the “Bob Dole” thing in his blogs — y’know, where he refers to himself in third person.

Back to the details:

Without having a fundraiser yet, James has raised $720 and reported $450 in contributions during the July reporting period.

Seven-hundred-twenty dollars! His campaign is rich! Rich — in more than one sense of the word apparently.

And lastly, he reports…

The Hartline Revolution has begun! We are going to fight and fight and fight the corruption in San Diego to give back our city to the people! The people will prevail. James is determined to fight for the people to reclaim an open door policy for all San Diegans at city hall!

Yep, the one thing I’m sure of is that the people will prevail in San Diego’s Third Council District. There’s not a chance in heaven or hell he’ll be elected to the City Council seat he’s running for.

When I began my transition in 2003, I remember having days where I didn’t pass as my target female sex. I remember once being in a Veteran’s Administration Medical Center parking lot, and a child pointing at me, saying to his mom “That’s a man!”

Ouch. As I drove out of the parking lot on my way home, I remember crying about the reality that I didn’t pass as Autumn. I knew that the process of changing from male-to-female (or female-to male, for that matter) is called a transition for a reason — changes that allowed one to live as invisibly in one’s target sex don’t occur overnight. Emotionally, it was tough to live as my target sex but often be perceived as my natal sex.

How important is it to be photogenic to the general public when one identifies as LGBT? Should we, as a community, ever exclude emasculate appearing lesbian women, effeminate appearing gay men, drag queens, genderqueers, and non-passing transmen and transwomen from the LGBT community because they might not look straight? The obvious answer seems no, but the PC answer and reality sometimes clash.

The question of straight appearance is a question that’s recently come up in San Diego. San Diego LGBT Pride Director Ron deHarte was quoted indirectly regarding drag queens after James Hartline, Set Free Ministries, and the Thomas More Law Center made a big deal about Pride buying a thousand ticket block for last Sunday’s Padre game. The article had a some comment on the subject of appearance that reads as follows:

San Diego Pride is promoting the night as “Out in Petco Park” and the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego will perform the national anthem before the game, which will be shown on ESPN.

San Diego Pride’s response to the hubbub: It’s people enjoying a game together, not a drag show.

“We’re going to be wearing ball caps and jerseys. That’s the extent of the lifestyle they will be seeing,” Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte said.

My friend Brenda Watson called up deHarte on July 10th to ask if he actually made the drag show comment, or if it was something the reporter writing the story misinterpreted. Brenda told me that deHarte said he did make the comment, but he didn’t think it was that big of a deal — more was being made of it than should be.

And, maybe deHarte is right. I don’t know any drag queens who’d even consider going to a Padre ballgame in full drag, and probably most LGBT Padre fans would be just going to the game wearing Padre gear and rooting for the team as deHarte said. Appropriate wear for a specific events doesn’t go out the window just because one is LGBT.

But, of course, the possible hidden implication of deHarte’s drag show comment is that if one is LGBT, how photogenic or straight looking one appears in public spaces really matters. It’s not the message that it matters how one dresses given the “dress code” of a specific event/venue, but the broader message that it might matter how one appears overall — if one is male, perhaps one should look masculine; if one is female, perhaps one should look feminine.

As a transwoman who has paid some dues as a non-passing transwoman, I don’t like the idea of a message that says how much I pass as female at a public event should be a consideration for how much I’m accepted personally into the public LGBT community.

I’m just not sure though if deHarte’s message was about wearing event appropriate clothing to a ballgame, or about being straight appearing when in view of the general public. Given the history of discrimination against the LGBT community, especially for those who don’t conform to gender norms, I wish deHarte would have just left out the comment on “drag shows” in the first place.

—————
Note: James Hartline is scheduled to be on the Bill O’Reily show tonight discussing San Diego Pride.

I can’t say it any better than the San Diego Union Tribune:

As boycotts go, yesterday’s protest at Petco Park flopped – like the hats.

Objecting to the confluence of two promotions at last night’s Padres game – “Pride Night,” a group event for local gays and lesbians, and a team giveaway of floppy hats to children 14 and younger – several Christian and conservative groups called for a public protest and boycott of the game.

Roughly 75 protesters showed up outside Petco Park’s front gate dressed in red T-shirts emblazoned with the message “Save Our Kids.” They handed out fliers. A few attempted to talk with Padre fans as they arrived for the 5:05 p.m. game that was nationally televised on ESPN.

“We’re here to inform parents, to warn them about what’s happening inside (the ballpark),” said James Hartline, a self-described Christian activist who directed the protest. “Bringing together homosexuals with baseball and kids is beyond bounds. We’re trying to get people to turn around, not go to the game, and we’re succeeding.”

If so, it wasn’t readily apparent. Official attendance for the game was 41,026, just short of a capacity crowd for the 42,685-seat ballpark.

I guess the Millions of Americans [That] Are Standing With James Hartline To Boycott the San Diego Padres didn’t stand up when it came ticket sales.

Robert DeKoven, a professor at California Western School of Law, wrote in San Diego’s Gay & Lesbian Times:

…the Padres and the city should treat Set Free as they would any group that engages in discriminatory conduct toward a segment of the public.

Let’s put this in a legal perspective: Consider what would happen if Set Free had decided not to provide services on “Jackie Robinson Day,” which the Padres hosted last month. Set Free could argue, as did Bob Jones University (BJU) before the Supreme Court 20 years ago, that the mixing of races violates its sincerely held religious belief against such, and that businesses and government should accommodate this.

The Supreme Court rejected BJU’s argument, and a court would do the same here with Set Free’s refusal to provide services on Pride night. Set Free has made a contract to sell hot dogs in exchange for money. (I’m not sure how the Padres can get around labor contracts and health laws relating to food handlers, but I’ll ask City Attorney Mike Aguirre to get on that right away.)
Set Free’s refusal to honor its contract is not a simple breach of contract; it’s called violating the civil rights of gay folks, and it’s a crime against the city.

When any group – religious or not – enters into a contract to provide services to the public via Petco Park, it then becomes bound by federal, state and local civil rights laws. It doesn’t get to discriminate.

Here, it’s Set Free refusing to provide services under its contract because of the sexual orientation of the Pride group. (Loveland claims it’s only because it’s floppy cap night and children will be present. But this seems like a pretext because children are always present at baseball games.)

In California, bias based upon sexual orientation is illegal. The Padres can’t deny gay folks entry to Petco Park. They can’t allow employees/volunteers to deny services to gay folks. The Padres cannot enter into contracts with groups like Set Free who could decide that they don’t want to work on “Jackie Robinson Day” or “Immigrant Day” or “Jewish Day.”

I’m not advocating here that the Padres sue Set Free and collect damages, or even attempt to get an order requiring the group to perform. Rather, I’m suggesting that City Attorney Mike Aguirre and the Padres obtain what is called a “declaratory judgment” from a state court.
The judgment would indicate that Set Free has breached its contract because of the sexual orientation of a group attending Petco Park.

The judgment would allow the city and the Padres to refuse Set Free future contracts with the city of San Diego because of the ministry’s discriminatory conduct in providing public services.

Amen to ‘dat.

It would be easy to feel sympathy for San Diego City Council canditdate James Hartline, based on this Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) video piece, if one wasn’t aware of the vitriol that often passes from Mr. Hartline’s keyboard to his blog.