Support for us is the default position

The Democratic Party platform committee has endorsed gay marriage, called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which bans firing for being gay. Yay! The platform still must be approved by the convention in Charlotte before being "official."

All this means support for us is the default position for all Democrats running for office. That is a tremendous gain. Individual candidates don't have to follow the platform, but they need to explain why they don't. And we are now at a point in this society that such an explanation could be awkward at least.



The leadership of the Boy Scouts of America recently reaffirmed their stance that gay youth and adults are not welcome. That has prompted many Eagle Scouts, presumably all straight, to protest that position by sending their Eagle badges to headquarters with a letter of protest. Many of them say that it was the ethics and morals taught to them by the Scouts that prompt them to renounce their association with scouting. As of yesterday, 105 Eagle scouts have shared their pictures and letters.



David Barton has made a career of writing revisionist history books to "prove" the Founding Fathers intended the USA to be a Christian nation without a separation between Church and State. His latest book is The Jefferson Lies. Regular historians raised such a stink that the publisher investigated the issue and declared they would no longer print or distribute the book. Reason: it is full of lies.



Rob Tisinai has noted that many straight people aren't convinced gay couples want to get married for love. They think we're in it for the benefits or to destroy marriage for everyone. But the real reason we want marriage is simple: From the time we were little you -- the families we grew up in and the society around us -- taught us the most important thing in life is to find someone you love and marry them.



Rob Tisinai also comments on Free Speech. He notes that a lot of what gays say in their writings and in their protests would be seen by Fundies as speech that should be banned (if banning speech were permitted). Tisinai's blog entry includes several such protest signs. My favorite is, "Jesus said: Feed the Poor. They said: Sorry, Jesus. We Spent $40 million on hate & fear."