The Cultural Third Rails Of Race & Sexuality

Minority and Gay Constituencies Need to Reach Out to Communities that Attack Them and Win Hearts and Minds

by Pam Spaulding for Salon.com:

"At the Intersection: Race, Sexuality, and Gender," a comprehensive report released this week by the The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, is an excellent look at some of the third rails of cultural discussion that usually results in most conversations falling into silence for fear of conflict, offending someone, or having to realize one's own biases in front of others.'


One cannot develop cultural competency if the conversation is encouraged, but not taken in by those who need to listen and absorb the information to break down barriers. We saw the schism in the last election.

The November 2008 passage of Proposition 8 in California clearly showed what could happen when a group listens solely so it can repress others. Research has revealed that organizing efforts by religious and conservative forces were extensive, proactive and heavily funded. Such an observation is important because it also reveals that progressive -- or in this case, LGBT-specific -- organizing efforts were less effective at listening, canvassing, targeting and activating Californians in the same ways that conservative forces were. This ineffectiveness was a result of many significant forces, some of which included lack of access to populations historically left out of debates, basic information about these populations, and the resources -- including cultural competency needed -- to effectively reach the targeted populations.

The key findings of the report:

* Nearly all LGBT people of color say protections from violence and workplace discrimination are important; issues strong majorities of all Americans support in opinion polls. Violence and discrimination are also the most salient issues that connect three critical groups -- non-LGBT people, communities of color and white LGBT communities.

* Religious attitudes are a major source of sexual prejudice. For LGBT people of color, many of whom are regular churchgoers, the conflict is acute. More than half of LGBT people of color interviewed feel treated like sinners by their ethnic and racial communities, and faith communities are among the places LGBT people of color feel least accepted;

* LGBT people of color view the world first from the point of view of race and gender. Most feel there is as much racism and sexism among LGBT people as there is among non-LGBT people, and racially motivated violence and discrimination are more prevalent than violence or prejudice based on sexual orientation;

* LGBT people of color are serious media consumers, but they do not find enough information or see accurate media representations of themselves; "This report is a catalyst for the continuing conversations we all know are necessary to turn the reality of our diversity into inclusion of every member of the LGBT community," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "There are no simple 'answers' to the challenge of inclusion but creating a space where diverse voices can be a part of a dialogue presents opportunities for us to grow as a movement."


The findings are no surprise to me and are not probably a surprise to others, but where there is little agreement is the matter of who is responsible for effecting change (does this fall solely on the shoulders of out LGBTs of color, something tossed out there quite frequently when I raise the issue) and what are the methods of bridge building that need to be implemented. Take the quandry of the conservative black church, for instance.

Already fearful of losing connections, friendship and emotional shelter provided by their faith community if they come out, black gays and lesbians in the church now know that the homophobes in the pews and choirs, along with the bigoted pastors spewing hate from the pulpit, feel empowered to destroy those ties because of their own fear and ignorance. It makes you want to weep. One of Washington's largest black Baptist churches was upended several months ago by a female member of its choir who e-mailed messages to anti-gay Bishop Alfred Owens Jr. of the DC-based Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church outing more than 100 church members as gay, mostly male choir members, saying "I will be leaving the choir at the top of the year because 80 percent of the tenors are homosexuals and act more like a female in choir rehearsal than I do." That's so raw that you don't even know where to begin.

Also, the fact that religious opposition to civil marriage equality is irrelevant seems to escape some in the religious communities of color, even when they hold public office. I experienced this alternate reality first-hand when I participated in an Equality NC Day of Action at my state legislature and spoke with members of the Black Legislative Caucus about LGBT equality issues. One was a supporter of a state marriage amendment to ban gays and lesbians from marrying (and ban civil unions as well as domestic partnerships). I was with a small group of black LGBTs that came up to this legislator and asked her why she could promote institutionalized discrimination. Her reasons?

1) Because it's a "personal issue" for her. Her constituent pointed out that she is in the office because the voters in her district sent her to the General Assembly to represent them, not her personal feelings about legislation. That led the lawmaker to move on to the next reason...

2) "I'm a minister." She made it clear that she didn't want to have to disclose this bit of business, but since #1 didn't work out very well, this was the next hurdle to put up. The constituent, to her credit, challenged her on the issue of church-state separation, but the elected official wouldn't budge. Trying to have a reality-based conversation with someone who feels so strongly that there is no line between the two is like hitting a wall.

One of the black LGBTs with the group, in order to try to connect by humanizing the issue, told the story of friends of hers, a lesbian couple raising a child. One of the mothers is dying of a chronic illness, and in North Carolina there's nothing to legally protect them as a unit -- any will drawn up can be challenged by a homophobic family member, custody could be in jeopardy, and obviously there are myriad issues that are in play because of the lack of any kind of legal recognition.

The legislator was visibly moved by this story, but you could tell it left her in a quandry. That led to explanation #3.

3) "I'm not against anyone, one to one". She said this several times, as if to suggest that she's only protecting marriage by favoring the amendment, but is sympathetic to the concerns raised by the story of the lesbian couple. It's the classic "I'm really not a bigot" defense. No one wants to have that label placed upon them. Unfortunately that led Rep. Parmon to ramble into territory that was perilously close to civil unions without saying those words specifically. The problem, even if she only supports some limited legal recognition, is that the marriage amendment she supports says:

Marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.

That means no civil unions, no domestic partnerships, nada. It's written so broadly that even private company benefits offered to "same-sex spousal equivalents" could be jeopardized. If she supports some kind of way for that lesbian couple to protect their family unit if one passes away, she's negating any possible solution by supporting the amendment.

Afterwards we all commented how hurtful it was to be rendered "less-than" to our faces by this respected lawmaker, who, if she stepped into a time machine that took her only a few generations back in time, couldn't marry a person of the same race, let alone someone of another race -- and the bible was used to justify that. She looked at the people in her office in the eye and said that she "respects you as a person", but would, without any guilt, vote to ensure you aren't equal in the eyes of the law. It was painful, just painful. So we, as LGBTs of color, have a long way to go to if we're to build those internal bridges. But on the other side of the fence, the sense I gather from the reticence to date of the white LGBT community to do outreach in this arena seems to revolve around a couple of things based on the discussions on my blog:

* A surface assumption that all minorities or all POC LGBTs are somehow a cultural monolith any more than the white LGBT community is -- as in all are churched or all poor or working class, for instance and we're responsible for "fixing" the problem because they "can't". And the "can't" stems from...

* A reluctance to immerse themselves in outreach that challenges their own inherent biases and cultural ignorance of various communities of color for fear of rejection or embarrassment. It's an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position to be placed on the defensive, wary and feeling outnumbered -- something people of color have to deal with as a reality all the time. But minorities don't have the luxury of deciding whether we need to be competent regarding the dominant culture.

And the thing is, my blackness clearly doesn't provide any cover when addressing homophobia either. Just witness the scathing, sad, and quite frankly, ignorant comments in a piece I cross posted at HuffPost. Here's one of my favorites:

The States should & can handle social issues and are doing so what's the problem! Some people can just not be happy anymore without confrontation to to sad. I do not believe in gay marriage and do not hate anyone nor do I fear anything--- I Let Go and Let God have the Judgment day not my problem or am I in control of who loves who!.

My response:

You can't be serious with that statement. If we left matters of civil rights to the states, Jim Crow would still be in effect, Obama's parents would not have been able to marry, and poll taxes would still exist. How soon we forget. That's the level of ignorance I'm talking about; others made the quite accurate point that the LGBT community rarely gets behind social justice issues of concern to minorities. Honestly, this card can be played legitimately - because it's true.

I mean how elementary is it that if you want support from a community that you actually have to communicate with them to get your point across and win hearts and minds over. And that was one of the failures of Prop 8. And people have admitted as much, as efforts to get it overturned begin to gain support for another ballot initiative.


Organizers hope to reach Latinos, faith communities and African Americans, constituencies into which they previously failed to make in-roads. Their approach aims to blend slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk's put-a-human-face-on-the-issue activism with Barack Obama's neighbor-to-neighbor organizing.

What a lack of cross-community dialogue means for out minority LGBTs is that one has to be willing to put yourself out there to be attacked, over and over for addressing homophobia in communities of color knowing that few, if any, non-POC LGBTs are going to come forward to have your back. I see it time and again, with the excuses ranging from "I'll be called a racist" or "it doesn't feel safe to do this" or "it isn't my place to do it." And many of these excuses are from people who have the anonymity of the Internet to protect them. Now that's bad.

Well, it doesn't feel great to have your "black card" revoked any more than it feels to be called racist -- and I don't have the cover of anonymity. Of course that's my choice, but the work is so important; I hate to see the rancor and misunderstandings go on and on with the parties talking past one another. The sad thing is that so few black LGBTs are willing to live out, be out and challenge misguided assumptions that it makes it doubly difficult for those of color who do want to challenge the homophobia.

The thing is that are plenty of allies and leaders from the black community who do support full civil rights for LGBTs who can be cited when dealing with this issue - John Lewis, Julian Bond, Leonard Pitts, Al Sharpton, Gov. Deval Patrick, Gov. David Paterson, to name a few. Members of black community who consistently oppose LGBT rights conveniently choose to ignore these leaders -- they have to be called out on it.

And that's why "At the Intersection: Race, Sexuality, and Gender," is a must read.

HRC will host a live national conversation via webchat on Thursday, August 13th, at 3PM Eastern to spur commentary about the intersections of race, sexuality, and gender. Panelists include LZ Granderson (one of few out gay sports commentators on ESPN and the author of the CNN opinion piece "Gay is not the new black"), Rinku Sen, Bishop Rainey Cheeks, and Joshua Ulibarri. The moderator is the leader of this pioneering research Che-Ruddell Tabisola.

New Book -- OUT IN THE COUNTRY: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America

From Wal-Mart drag parties to renegade Homemaker’s Clubs, Out in the Country offers an unprecedented contemporary account of the lives of today’s rural queer youth.


Mary L. Gray maps out the experiences of young people living in small towns across rural Kentucky and along its desolate Appalachian borders, providing a fascinating and often surprising look at the contours of gay life beyond the big city.

Gray illustrates that, against a backdrop of an increasingly impoverished and privatized rural America, LGBT youth and their allies visibly—and often vibrantly—work the boundaries of the public spaces available to them, whether in their high schools, public libraries, town hall meetings, churches, or through websites. This important book shows that, in addition to the spaces of Main Street, rural LGBT youth explore and carve out online spaces to fashion their emerging queer identities. Their triumphs and travails defy clear distinctions often drawn between online and offline experiences of identity, fundamentally redefining our understanding of the term ‘queer visibility’ and its political stakes.

Gray combines ethnographic insight with incisive cultural critique, engaging with some of the biggest issues facing both queer studies and media scholarship. Out in the Country is a timely and groundbreaking study of sexuality and gender, new media, youth culture, and the meaning of identity and social movements in a digital age.

Check out the OUT IN THE COUNTY blog here: QueerCountry.org

Mary L. Gray is Assistant Professor of Communication and Culture at Indiana University at Bloomington and author of In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth.

When Gay People Get Married

In the book, “When Gay People Get Married – What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage” Lee Badgett travels to the Netherlands where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2001. Through interviews with married gay couples, we find out how marriage has affected their lives. We learn about the often surprising changes to their relationships, the reactions of their families, and work colleagues.


Moreover, Badgett is interested in the ways that the institution itself has been altered for the larger society. How has the concept of marriage changed? When Gay People Get Married gives readers a primer on the current state of the same-sex marriage debate, and a new way of framing the issue that provides valuable new insights into the political, social, and personal stakes involved.

The experiences of other countries and pioneering American states like Massachusetts and California serve as a crystal ball as we grapple with this polarizing issue in the American context. The evidence shows both that marriage changes gay people more than gay people change marriage. In the end, Badgett compellingly shows that allowing gay couples to marry does not destroy the institution of marriage and that many gay couples do benefit, in expected as well as surprising ways, from the legal, social, and political rights that the institution offers.


“Hot Summer Read: If you absolutely must read nonfiction during the summer, try the very topical When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Gay Marriage by M.V. Lee Badgett.”
—Kel Munger, Sacramento News & Review

“… gays and lesbians who once again pick up their protest signs and banners might do well to bring along Badgett's book as well.”—Publishers Weekly

“This is the best analysis of same-sex marriage to date. A brilliant book.”
—Verta Taylor, co-author of Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret

"The book is a mine of information, crystal clear, and rock solid, an authoritative analysis of why the freedom to marry movement is prevailing over fear and discrimination."
—Evan Wolfson, Freedom to Marry

Harmed By 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

Patrick McAlvey entered therapy to change his sexual orientation at the age of 19. His former counselor, Mike Jones, is currently the director of Corduroy Stone, an affiliate of Exodus International.



He originally met Jones after he spoke at a Church youth ministry, while McAlvey was still in Middle School. The two connected years later, after McAlvey returned to Lansing.

McAlvey says that his sessions with Jones included prolonged hugs, the suggestion that he use handyman tools to increase his masculinity and questions about the size of his genitalia. There was also an episode of holding therapy where he reclined into the lap of his supposedly ex-gay counselor for an hour. The goal, according to McAlvey, was to get comfortable with his own manliness by "feeling the strength" and "smelling the smell" of another man.

Today, McAlvey is "out" and has accepted his sexual orientation

"I think it does a lot of damage to peoples mental health, said McAlvey. If I had had a fair representation (of gay life) I could have avoided a lot of suffering."

For more information, see Truth Wins Out.

Inclusive ENDA Introduced! Urge Your Senators to Support This Crucial Legislation

Senator Jeff Merkley (OR-D) joined by Senators Susan Collins (ME-R), Olympia Snowe (ME-R), and Edward M. Kennedy (MA-D) introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in an important show of bipartisan support.


This bill, which would extend existing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination to protect people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, is much needed and long overdue.

On June 24, 2009 an inclusive bill was reintroduced in the House by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and include co-sponsors IIeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jared Polis (D-CO), Michael Castle (R-DE), George Miller (D-CA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), John Conyers (D-MI), Todd Platts (R-PA), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), and Leonard Lance (R-NJ). The bill is currently pending before the House of Representatives.

We have a good chance of passing this bill, but we need your help! President Obama has said that he is ready to sign this bill. All we need now is for the Senate to act.

It is essential that you contact your Senators and urge them to support ENDA and ask them to become a co-sponsor. Becoming a co-sponsor shows other members of Congress that your Senator will stand in solidarity with our community, which helps build momentum for the bill’s passage.


Please Take Action ... Call or Email your Senators now!

Talking Points:
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ENDA creates express protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people similar to those available under existing federal discrimination laws for other protected classes of workers.

Schedule a Visit!
The August recess is coming up, and it is a perfect time to schedule a meeting with your Representatives and Senators about the importance of ENDA. ENDA could be voted on in the House as early as late September!

Sample meeting request letters and other talking points and resources are available here:

PFLAG’s Bringing the Message Home

Psychologists Repudiate Gay-to-Straight Therapy

from the Associated Press:

The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments.


Instead, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict.

In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA's governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called "reparative therapy" which seeks to change sexual orientation.

No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the report, and some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies.

The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its comprehensive report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the association's annual meeting is being held this weekend.

The report breaks new ground in its detailed and nuanced assessment of how therapists should deal with gay clients struggling to remain loyal to a religious faith that disapproves of homosexuality.

Judith Glassgold, a Highland Park, N.J., psychologist who chaired the task force, said she hoped the document could help calm the polarized debate between religious conservatives who believe in the possibility of changing sexual orientation and the many mental health professionals who reject that option.

"Both sides have to educate themselves better," Glassgold said in an interview. "The religious psychotherapists have to open up their eyes to the potential positive aspects of being gay or lesbian. Secular therapists have to recognize that some people will choose their faith over their sexuality."

In dealing with gay clients from conservative faiths, says the report, therapists should be "very cautious" about suggesting treatments aimed at altering their same-sex attractions.

"Practitioners can assist clients through therapies that do not attempt to change sexual orientation, but rather involve acceptance, support and identity exploration and development without imposing a specific identity outcome," the report says.

"We have to challenge people to be creative," said Glassgold.

She suggested that devout clients could focus on overarching aspects of religion such as hope and forgiveness in order to transcend negative beliefs about homosexuality, and either remain part of their original faith within its limits — for example, by embracing celibacy — or find a faith that welcomes gays.

"There's no evidence to say that change therapies work, but these vulnerable people are tempted to try them, and when they don't work, they feel doubly terrified," Glassgold said. "You should be honest with people and say, 'This is not likely to change your sexual orientation, but we can help explore what options you have.'"

One of the largest organizations promoting the possibility of changing sexual orientation is Exodus International, a network of ministries whose core message is "Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."

Its president, Alan Chambers, describes himself as someone who "overcame unwanted same-sex attraction." He and other evangelicals met with APA representatives after the task force formed in 2007, and he expressed satisfaction with parts of the report that emerged.

"It's a positive step — simply respecting someone's faith is a huge leap in the right direction," Chambers said. "But I'd go further. Don't deny the possibility that someone's feelings might change."

An evangelical psychologist, Mark Yarhouse of Regent University, praised the APA report for urging a creative approach to gay clients' religious beliefs but — like Chambers — disagreed with its skepticism about changing sexual orientation.

Yarhouse and a colleague, Professor Stanton Jones of Wheaton College, will be releasing findings at the APA meeting Friday from their six-year study of people who went through Exodus programs. More than half of 61 subjects either converted to heterosexuality or "disidentified" with homosexuality while embracing chastity, their study said.

To Jones and Yarhouse, their findings prove change is possible for some people, and on average the attempt to change will not be harmful.

The APA task force took as a starting point the belief that homosexuality is a normal variant of human sexuality, not a disorder, and that it nonetheless remains stigmatized in ways that can have negative consequences.

The report said the subgroup of gays interested in changing their sexual orientation has evolved over the decades and now is comprised mostly of well-educated white men whose religion is an important part of their lives and who participate in conservative faiths that frown on homosexuality.

"Religious faith and psychology do not have to be seen as being opposed to each other," the report says, endorsing approaches "that integrate concepts from the psychology of religion and the modern psychology of sexual orientation."


Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who chairs the APA committee dealing with gay and lesbian issues, praised the report for its balance.

"Anyone who makes decisions based on good science will be satisfied," he said. "As a clinician, you have to deal with the whole person, and for some people, faith is a very important aspect of who they are."

The report also addressed the issue of whether adolescents should be subjected to therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation. Any such approach should "maximize self-determination" and be undertaken only with the youth's consent, the report said.

Wayne Besen, a gay-rights activist who has sought to discredit the so-called "ex-gay" movement, welcomed the APA findings.

"Ex-gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to pointless tragedies, and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge," Besen said.

Murder: Is The Bible Really Meant To Be A Weapon?

Will It Be Used As A Weapon For Such Violence In Venango County Someday?

Will Local Leaders Act Before It's Too Late?

"Population loss...is affecting everything," planner tells OC council.

from The Derrick:

A dismal economy, bleak housing outlook, a declining population and other ills are at the heart of a multi-municipal study now under way that aims to eventually identify nagging problems and offer specific remedies.

An update on what is called the Oil City-Cornplanter-Rouseville Comprehensive Plan was presented by planning consultant Tom Graney of GCCA Associates of Grove City to Oil City Council on Monday.


Oil City's challenges as well as attributes were outlined in Graney's brief presentation of a plan that will take several more months to complete.

"The bottom line � population loss in the area is affecting everything, ... particularly housing," Graney told council.

In the last eight years, Oil City has lost 8 percent of its population (2008: 10,598). Rouseville has dropped by 8.5 percent while Cornplanter lists a decline of 5.6 percent.

Graney said a bright spot in his study to date includes a projection that shows "a modest increase over the next 10 years in the (Oil City) school system," a statistic he said is very unusual for western Pennsylvania school districts.

Housing remains a critical issue within the three municipalities, Graney said. Oil City has fewer owner-occupied homes than its counterparts and it has a high percentage (9.7 percent) of vacancies.

A "windshield survey" done by Graney and others showed 485 Oil City homes that need substantial rehabilitation, are considered dilapidated or are listed as condemned.

"But, we estimate the actual number is between 550 and 560, or about 15 percent of all (Oil City) housing units," Graney said.

The study will eventually lay out a series of remedies that will include a call for stricter code enforcement, an aggressive demolition program, switching much of R-2 zoning to R-1 "to protect existing single family areas and discourage conversions," accelerate first-time buyer programs, launch local pride initiatives, establish a "land bank" to buy/rehab/sell/raze dilapidated homes and more.

Other factors

In the public service sector, the city's police and fire departments need equipment and vehicle replacements, Graney said. Parks and playgrounds should be evaluated to determine "what the city wants to have." Playgrounds in poor condition, such as Pierce Avenue and Halyday Street, should either be fixed "or mothballed," he said.

The city's public water and sewer systems are in need of substantial updates in equipment and service lines, Graney told council. Much of that work is under way.

Education facilities are a major plus for the city, said Graney who called attention to the Oil City Area School District as a system that is "looking to engage students."

"And I am tremendously impressed by Venango Campus...(which is) truly innovative," said the consultant.

Other city resources that influence how the comprehensive plan will be developed are the Oil City Library, chosen by survey respondents as "the most popular facility in the city," the Venango County Museum, the National Transit arts project, the YMCA and YWCA, the municipal parking garage and the swimming pool.


Once the plan is completed, city council should consider it as "functional," cautioned Graney, alluding to a propensity to allow studies to be shelved and ignored.

"The next step is ... to draw up a list of options. We'll look at problems and how to fix them," Graney said. "...(The focus) is where do we want to be and how do we get there?"

Perhaps Oil City leaders should study Richard Florida's "The Rise Of The Creative Class."

Sign The Petition For Marriage Equality In Pennsylvania

from Keystone Progress:

Senator Daylin Leach recently introduced legislation that would make Pennsylvania the 7th state to legalize marriage equality.

At the same time, 13 Pennsylvania State Senators, including 2 Democrats, have signed on to John Eichelberger's bill to ban marriage equality.

Both bills, the bill for equality and the bill for discrimination, are seeking more co-sponsors. We've created a petition asking our State Senators to do two things:

1) Ask Senators to co-sponsor The Marriage Equality Bill (SB 935), and

2) Ask Senators to "just say no" to discrimination and bigotry by refusing to co-sponsor the bill to ban marriage equality.

Please join the movement toward full civil rights for all Pennsylvanians and sign the petition HERE.

The Laramie Project -- 10 Years Later

Big Opening for Epilogue to ‘The Laramie Project’

By Patrick Healy for the NY Times:

The creators of “The Laramie Project,” the acclaimed play about the 1998 murder of a 21-year-old gay man, Matthew Shepard, are finishing work on an 80-minute epilogue to the original work that will be given its debut simultaneously at dozens of theaters across the United States on Oct. 12, the 11th anniversary of Mr. Shepard’s death.


Moisés Kaufman, the playwright and director who, with his Tectonic Theater Project company, wrote and produced the first “Laramie Project,” said the epilogue would explore the impact of the Shepard killing on the residents of Laramie, Wyo., where it occurred. The dialogue will be drawn from interviews with dozens of people there, some of whom were involved in the crime, including Aaron McKinney, who was convicted of murdering Mr. Shepard and who gave an interview to the Tectonic artists.

“We wanted to see what occurs in a small town in the long run when it’s been subject to such a devastating event,” Mr. Kaufman said in an interview. “What has been the long-lasting effect of this watershed moment? Is the fallout of these events positive, negative or perhaps a better question, is it measurable in those terms?”

In holding multiple premieres of the play on the same night, Mr. Kaufman said he was taking a page from the Federal Theater Project, the New Deal program that often opened plays in a multitude of cities on the same night.

Tectonic’s goal is to recruit 100 regional theaters, universities and other arts organizations to hold staged readings of the work, which is called “The Laramie Project — 10 Years Later.” More than 40 theaters have committed to the readings, including Arena Stage in Washington, Seattle Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. The Tectonic company will hold its performance in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.


“We’re also taking advantage of contemporary technology so that at the New York performance we’ll be connected to the other productions across the nation via the Internet,” Mr. Kaufman said. “We’re giving each production a video recorder so that they can document the event, and we’ll be answering questions live from across the country,” after the performances on Oct. 12, a Monday.

Mr. Kaufman and his epilogue co-writers — Stephen Belber, Leigh Fondakowski, Andy Paris and Greg Pierotti — returned to Laramie last fall to reinterview several townspeople who originally gave accounts to Tectonic in 1998 about Mr. Shepard, Mr. McKinney and the events preceding and following the murder. Those accounts were threaded together verbatim to create “The Laramie Project,” which has had several thousand productions since it opened Off Broadway in 2000.

In writing the new work Mr. Kaufman and his colleagues said they would reflect the range of views currently held by Laramie residents and others about whether Mr. Shepard’s murder was a hate crime by two homophobic men (Mr. McKinney and his accomplice, Russell Henderson) or the result of a botched attempt by the two men to rob Mr. Shepard.

Some Laramie residents, in defending their community during the interviews last fall, argued that they had come to see the motives and circumstances leading to the murder as more complicated than a hate crime. But others there insisted that Mr. McKinney and Mr. Henderson had been driven by their personal disgust toward Mr. Shepard, who was well known as an openly gay man in their town.

Mr. Kaufman declined to reveal details of the interview with Mr. McKinney, who, like Mr. Henderson, is now serving two consecutive life sentences. The two men lured Mr. Shepard from a Laramie bar on the night of Oct. 6, 1998; Mr. Shepard was ultimately tied to a fence, pistol-whipped and left to die.

“As always, what we found defied expectations,” Mr. Kaufman said. “It’s a fallacy to try to define Laramie the way one would describe an individual. There are 27,000 people in Laramie. There are at least 27,000 Laramies.”

“But one of the things that was very clear from the start is the question of how does one measure change,” he continued. “Is it in the number of public monuments that have been erected? Is it in the number of laws that have been passed? Is it in the number of people whose views have been changed?”

Natalie Bohnet, executive director of UApresents, which will stage the reading at a 2,500-seat theater at the University of Arizona, in Tucson, said the campus is expected to sponsor other events in conjunction with the performance in hopes of turning that Columbus Day weekend in October into “a major learning experience.”

“We’ll have some professors of constitutional law holding a forum, and students on campus are expected to hold their own events, so we can look more deeply at hate crimes in America and issues of justice,” she said.


It is unclear if the new work will be performed on that October night in Laramie, but it will be produced as close as Denver, about two hours away by car, at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. Stephen Seifert, executive director of the Newman Center, at the University of Denver, said he chose to hold a reading in part because of the theater’s proximity to Laramie. (Mr. Shepard died at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo., several days after the attack.)

“I was a history major in college, and my focus was the history of the American frontier,” Mr. Seifert said. “No matter what differences of opinions exist about Matthew Shepard, his murder is now a part of the West’s history, of American history.”

Surprising Data on Same-Sex Marriage

There was lots of chatter in the religion-politics blogosphere this week about blogger Mark Silk's examination of data showing that the more Catholic a state's population, the more likely its residents are to support same-sex marriage.


By combining a new study that ranks states according to public support for same-sex marriage and civil unions with the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, Silk finds that six of the eight states where 50 percent or more of the public supports same-sex marriage are the states with the highest proportion of Catholics.

"In other words, support for same-sex marriage is directly related to the proportion of Catholics in a given state. Way to go, bishops!" said Silk, who directs the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College.

Gay Men At A Sports Bar: What Would You Do?

by Jim Buzinski for OutSports.com:

“What Would You Do?“, ABC’s show about real-life ethical dilemmas, features an affectionate gay couple in a New Jersey sports bar and the reactions of patrons. The show, which airs Wednesday, at 10 p.m. EDT, is fairly affirming in the reactions of both straight men and women to homophobes who insult the couple.


In the course of our two-day ethical dilemma, we saw a diverse suburban community stand up for a gay couple who was being verbally harassed.

The show used two gay actors (Dusty St. Amand and Dominic Benevento), themselves in a real-life committed relationship, along with other actors who made homophobic comments in an attempt to rile up the bar’s customers. A three-minute video shows what happened at lunchtime when one homophobic actor offended by the gay couple’s public display of affection is told to get out by a burly customer seated at the counter. “You don’t have to go, you didn’t do anything wrong,” the customer tells the couple. “I think you’re beautiful.”

In scenes shot at night, one non-actor customer shows his disgust when the couple kisses, but totally does a 180 when the cameras appears; he is then the paragon of tolerance. It’s a pretty stark example of what people say in private and public.

I thought it was a cool concept to set the events in a sports bar and wonder what the reaction would be in different parts of the country. The 200+ comments on the story at ABC News contain the usual amount of religious nonsense this type of story attracts, but also emotional posts like the one from a 17-year-old who says: “I’m an open gay 17 year old and I know what it’s like to be harassed for being me. I know what it’s like to have to be conscientious every day of what I say,what I wear, and how I act. I fear every day I live. I wake up in the morning not knowing whether I’m going live to see tomorrow. It’s a horrible way for a teen to have to live, and most of you will never understand it.”

I would love to hear how you feel an affectionate gay couple would be received in a sports bar where you live.

Must-See Film: Oregon Then - Pennsylvania Now?

This Sundance-award winning film from 1995, titled "Ballot Measure 9," is an important and must-see account of the dangers of right wing, dehumanizing, anti-GLBT rhetoric in any age.

It may be about Oregon back in 1992, but it feels an awful lot like Pennsylvania today.

It's definitely worthy of being put on your NetFlix queue!



Here's a review of the film by Janet Maslin for the New York Times in 1995:

In her no-frills documentary about the bitter fight over Oregon's 1992 anti-gay ballot initiative, Heather MacDonald examines the many faces of prejudice. There is the schoolboy who declares, "Never liked them, never will," although he says he doesn't know any homosexuals. There is the woman who frets that "they could persuade one of my grandchildren to become a homosexual." There is the authoritative-sounding man interviewed on television who says it is a fact that 28 percent of homosexuals have performed sodomy with more than 1,000 partners. There is the grandmotherly lady who shakes her head and says, "It's just not human for people to act that way."

And there are the political organizers dedicated to capitalizing on such sentiments as fiercely as they can. "Ballot Measure 9" witnesses the escalating battle between gay rights advocates, who were clearly caught off guard by the vehemence of their enemies, and the extremely well-organized forces of the religious right. Lon Mabon, the chairman of the Oregon Citizens Alliance and a leader of the movement to prevent and revoke laws banning anti-gay discrimination, speaks with typical single-mindedness in describing the fight as "a simple battle between good and evil."

Since Ms. MacDonald makes no pretense of even-handedness, she readily shows Mr. Mabon in a disparaging light. But the scenes in which he voices his opinions in small, half-empty rooms are dangerously misleading because the Citizens Alliance efforts proved so effective. "Ballot Measure 9" is best watched as a cautionary study of why this group was able to find such strength in numbers, and what to expect from similar local ballot referendums that have since cropped up other states. It also sees beyond the statistics and finds vivid, sometimes disturbing human dimensions on both sides of this struggle.

"Ballot Measure 9," which opens today at the Film Forum, exposes not only rhetoric but also the more vicious aspects of its subject matter. The fight began at the level of semantics, with the alliance defining gay rights as "special rights" and exploiting the sense of privilege that implied. On the "No on 9" side, there were bumper stickers reading "Civil Rights Are Special."

Opponents of Ballot Measure 9 were quick to identify a larger threat to individual freedoms within the alliance's campaigning, and their cause galvanized representatives of many different minority groups. Ms. MacDonald notes that the Ku Klux Klan was instrumental in passing an anti-Catholic school statute in the 1920's in Oregon (it was quickly overturned), and that conflicts like the present one are not unknown there. One by-product of the Ballot Measure 9 fight, according to Portland's chief of police and other speakers, has been a sharp increase in anti-gay violence in the state.

Using straightforward video camerawork that still captures the expansive beauty of the state, Ms. MacDonald documents some of these violent acts. Her film describes arson, petty acts of sabotage and even attacks on trees and animals as part of the pre-election activity in 1992. She also films ugly graffiti in a Roman Catholic church and plays back the voices of obscene phone callers. And she presents Mr. Mabon's opinion on this subject: "I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the hate crimes -- in fact, I know a lot of the hate crimes -- are perpetrated by the homosexual community as a media tool."

One of the lasting messages of "Ballot Measure 9," which won the audience award for best documentary at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is that the effectiveness of media tools should never be underestimated. The Citizens Alliance's lurid descriptions of homosexuals, from talk of coprophilia to flaming Mardi Gras-type parade scenes, had a strong impact. Ballot Measure 9 lost by a 57 percent-43 percent margin, but many of the "No on 9" voters were over 60; the initiative had stronger support from voters in their 30's and 40's. Similar measures have passed the electoral test not only in Colorado and Cincinnati but in many Oregon communities since the 1992 election.

"Ballot Measure 9" shines a searchlight on these events and takes a sharp, galvanizing look at what they mean.

Setting The Stage For Tragedy

This Sounds Too Eerily Close To Home Here In Pennsylvania.


from Truth Wins Out:

On Sunday, The New York Times featured a chilling article on how fundamentalist Christians stalked, harassed and ultimately murdered Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, who they taunted with the nickname, "Tiller the Baby Killer."


A lone gunman, who used the e-mail name "ServantofMessiah", shot Tiller while he ushered at Reformation Lutheran Church, where he and his wife were active members. Prior to Tiller's assassination, the "loving" faithful had put bullets in his arms and bombed his clinic.

Unfortunately, with Tiller's controversial clinic finally out of business, the lesson for the loony may be that legal force is more effective than lobbying. In the Times article, Mark Geitzen, chairman of the Kansas Coalition for Life, expressed this sentiment when he said during a phone conversation, "God has his own way...but you can't say our prayers weren't answered."

Tiller's death vividly illustrates the danger posed by the violent language and imagery used by fanatics, who believe they are personally entrusted to enforce God's will. What concerns me is that the aggressive tactics used against abortion providers are slowly seeping into the anti-gay movement.

As the wider culture becomes more accepting, homophobes are growing increasingly frustrated, which has led to bolder and more confrontational actions. Are anti-gay leaders egging on unstable followers to attack gay people or provoking gays to defend themselves so they can manufacture martyrdom and justify retaliation?

At the Dore Alley Fair in San Francisco last weekend, a number of muscular Christians wearing Jesus shirts reportedly tried to march through the event thumping Bibles and waving signs.


In Charlotte, Dr. Michael Brown, (pictured left) the founder of the Coalition of Conscience, organized several hundred followers in red shirts (top picture) to descend like uninvited locusts on Charlotte Pride last week under the banner, "God Has a Better Way."

Aside from the pompous name of their demonstration, the protesters confronted gay people and browbeat them with cherry picked Bible verses. Brown's ostensible reason for marshaling the troops was to introduce Pride attendees to his angry version of God.

But, of course, the notion that gay people in conservative North Carolina needed Brown to educate them about religious fundamentalism was farcical. Indeed, many of the people at Pride had only found personal acceptance after long journeys to reconcile their spirituality and sexuality.

No, Brown was really there to besiege Charlotte's gay residents with his hostile hordes. His group's in-your-face presence was designed to disrupt peaceful assembly and make Pride attendees feel guilty and uncomfortable so that they might skip future gay events.


Fortunately, the pious proselytizers were on their best behavior after the militant writings and actions of Brown came under intense scrutiny by local Q-Notes editor Matt Comer. In his research, Comer found that Brown started his FIRE School of Ministry to "raise up a holy army of uncompromising spirit-filled radicals who will shake an entire generation with the gospel of Jesus by life or death."

In a vacuum, such religious language may be viewed as a relatively benign rhetorical flourish. However, when followers are portrayed as holy warriors in a life and death struggle against a minority group that is falsely accused of working to undermine freedom of religion, the seeds of potential disaster are intentionally being sown.

In advertising his rally, Brown proclaimed that the "hour is urgent" and that Christians must "turn back the tide of homosexual activism." In a written statement following his intolerance invasion of Pride, Brown wrote, "Enough is enough to the destructive goals of gay activism...we say it stops in Charlotte."

Most alarming are these charlatans' deliberate perpetuation of paranoia by trumpeting alleged religious persecution that exists only in their warped minds. For example, in his statement Brown accused gay people of "trying to put Christians in the closet." And, he capped it off by saying that gay people are "tampering with the foundations of human society."

Brown tries to cover his tracks by sprinkling his apocalyptic rhetoric with calls for non-violence. Good orators, however, understand the principle of "layering" messages. If in one sentence you speak of violence and in the next of non-violence, the listener will almost always embrace the words that support his or her belief system.

Dr. Brown isn't naïve and surely understands that the GLBT masses will not retreat into the closet unless events conspire to make coming out a blood sport. Short of extreme bullying and brutality he'll never accomplish his lost cause of "stopping" progress on gay rights in Charlotte.

Brown, of course, doesn't actually have to make an overt pitch for mayhem. Simply by inciting his flock he is setting the stage for future tragedy. It is time for Brown and his comrades to abort their increasingly hostile and combative tactics before it leads to more wanton death in the name of abundant life.

The Great Nationwide Kiss In - Coming To Venango County?

We are two bloggers - David Badash and David Mailloux - who believe that any person anywhere should be able to kiss whomever they want, whenever they want.


We both believe that there's not enough love and affection in the world, because most people are afraid to show it. We should never be afraid of brief, unimposing displays of affection. There is nothing wrong with a hug, a kiss on the mouth, a kiss on the cheek.

Together, with the help of Willow Witte and the national Join The Impact group, we are coordinating a nationwide event on August 15, 2009 at 2 p.m., EDT (or 11 a.m., PDT) It's called "The Great Nationwide Kiss-In" and you're invited - all of you! - to either plan a Kiss-In event in your city or town, or simply participate in an existing one.

Okay, you ask, but what does this mean? What is a Kiss-In?

Well, it's quite simple. On the suggested date and time, in a public place - whether it's a park or plaza or popular thoroughfare in your city or town - you'll bring your husband or wife or partner or boyfriend or girlfriend or good friend, and at 2 p.m., you'll kiss. It's one of the simplest things in the world to do!


Why, you ask? Why are you doing this?

After incidents in San Antonio, TX, El Paso, TX and Salt Lake City, UT - where different gay and lesbian couples were harassed or detained by law enforcement or other people for the simple act of kissing in a public place - we need to make a strong statement to everyone everywhere: kissing is not a bad thing, nor has it ever been. It's not vulgar or inappropriate. It's a sign of affection that is as old as time itself. And it's a beautiful thing that we share with our loved ones every single day.

The more cities with corresponding events, and the more people who participate in those events, the stronger the statement.

You can read more about why we've chosen to coordinate this, by reading our blog entries below:

David Badash: The New Civil Rights Movement

David Mailloux: Anyone Feel Like Kissing?


If you're interested in organizing a Great Nationwide Kiss-In event, and your city or town is not listed below, please send us a message at GreatNationwideKissIn@gmail.com. We'll make sure you get all the information you need to get started as soon as possible. If your city or town is already listed, we'll set you up with organizers so you can give them a hand.

If you're interested in participating in a Kiss-In event (remember, ALL are welcome to attend and participate, regardless of sexual orientation, or gender identity), then look at the list below to see if an event is being planned near you.

Not Making Progress In Pennsylvania

This Alarming Comment, Posted Anonymously In Response To Today's Earlier Article About Progress Being Made In Pennsylvania On Fairness, Freedom and Equality for the State's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Residents, Is A Stark Reminder Of Just How Much Work There Is Still To Do!

It Comes From "Anonymous" Somewhere in Northwest Pennsylvania:

"Take your demented life style and put it in the bath house where it belongs. I'm sick and tired of you perverts trying to make normal people think you're normal. This is why people have had it with you fags."

Does This Represent The Venango County That We Know And Love?

If Not, What Do We Do To Overcome It?

Making Progress In Pennsylvania

from The Patriot-News:

Life for gays in the midstate has gotten better, said residents who attended PrideFest of Central PA in Harrisburg on Saturday.


"Five years ago, I never thought I'd see anyone proposing same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania," said Sabrina Kreps of Harrisburg, who was at the festival with her partner, Patty Wilson of Lancaster.

William O'Donnell of Mechanicsburg said it seemed to him that fewer protesters were at Saturday's event than in years past.

"Our community has definitely come a long way," said O'Donnell, who sings in the Harrisburg Men's Chorus.

About a half-dozen protesters, holding large signs, staged a counter-parade, walking slowly northward on the sidewalk along North Front Street as the PrideFest parade worked its way south down the middle of the street.

One protester, with a microphone and public-address system, engaged in verbal jousting with each band, float and marching and performing group that passed.

Kreps could remember a time not long ago when it seemed that the only places gays could go in the midstate and feel socially accepted was the handful of "gay bars."

But these days, "I find my friends are hanging out in mainstream bars" more often and feeling more comfortable doing so, Kreps said.

She said there's still a long way to go. Her decision to be open about her homosexuality has cost Kreps her relationship with her natural family, she said.

"I had to find a new family. This is my chosen family. This is home," Kreps said, referring to the people and couples strolling up and down South Riverfront Park as part of the festival.

Observers noted how many young people were at the festival and how they seemed at ease with their sexuality. Wilson said it wasn't that easy for her growing up, and those memories will always remain.


"I'm old-school lesbian, and I put rainbow stickers on my car," whereas a lot of young gay people don't feel the need to do that, Wilson said.

Yet, Kreps said that there is still hostility and prejudice, and that there is a need for groups such as Common Roads, which helps gay and transgender youth come to grips with their sexuality. There are still too many young gay people committing suicide because of oppression, Kreps said.

She said the festival is a good way for gay youth and gays in general to learn about the resources and support services in this area.

"I have people call me asking, 'Do you know a counselor who is gay friendly?'" Kreps said. She said that's because professionals don't always feel comfortable advertising such services outside of events such as the festival.

The festival was held inside a fenced area along South Riverfront Park, where attendees paid $7 to enter.

Mark Smith, the parade chairman, estimated that the festival crowd would be at least as large as the 5,000 people who attended in 2008.

The annual PrideFest has been held since 1992. Smith said there were 50 parade entries this year compared to 42 last year. The parade was added to PrideFest in 2006.

"We had four marching bands this year, which was a first," Smith said. He also noted activities being held during this year's festival marking the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn protest in New York City in 1969. That event is considered a milestone for the gay rights movement in the United States.

Are You Listening?

In case people out there are craving alternatives to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and the local nutcases, WAWN "Christian" radio, there are excellent resources online to get real news and news that includes our lives.

Ohio Majority Radio comes out of Columbus. It is a collage of many nationally broadcast progressive news programs.

http://www.ohiomajorityradio.com/

Some of the shows that it broadcasts are

www.democracynow.org

http://www.mikemalloy.com/

http://www.stephaniemiller.com/

These shows all carry a different tone, but the content is similar. The journalism and commentary include discussions of liberal progressive politics, as well and gay, lesbian and trans issues.

I really love this web site. Queer Music Heritage.

http://www.queermusicheritage.us/

This show presents the very best in gay, lesbian and trans music in a weekly show.

There are numerous gay themed radio stations online like Pride Radio.

www.prideradiola.com

Bear Radio

http://www.bearradio.net/

My Lesbian Radio

http://www.mylesbianradio.com/online/

And Gender Talk

http://www.gendertalk.com/about/listen.shtml

There are many others. They range from fluffy disco music to serious news sites. Just look them up on your search engine and then turn off that TV and get into what's really happening in the world.

Enjoy!

Moving ever closer to total homosexual domination of the planet, (hey I can dream can't I?)

Jim Ru

More From The "Evangelical Christian Family Values" Amusement Park

Self-Proclaimed "Family Values" Senator in Tennessee Involved in Hetero-Sex Scandal, Extortion Expected to Step Down from Senate Committee

from FOX13 Memphis:

Senator Paul Stanley helped TBI Investigators set up a man who is accused of blackmailing him for $10,000.

According to the arrest affidavit, Joel Palmer Watts tried to extort $10,000 out of Senator Stanley in exchange for a data card containing nude pictures of a woman both men were allegedly having a relationship with.



TBI says that the woman is 23 year old McKensie Morrison. Morrison is a student at Austin Peay State University and an intern for the 2009 legislative session.

According to the affidavit, Watts discovered pictures that showed the young woman in compromising positions in Senator Stanley's Nashville apartment.

The TBI says Watts then began contacting Stanley wanting to exchange the memory card for money and secrecy.

The senator is a married father of two, well known for his emphasis on family values.

Instead, Stanley contacted the TBI and authorities set up an exchange at a Nashville restaurant in April of this year.

"That was a controlled delivery. Of course there were a lot of TBI agents there when the exchange took place. When the exchange happened, that's when TBI agents arrested Mr. Watts for extortion and theft."

The TBI adds that the young woman was cooperative with the investigation and investigators have no reason to believe she was in on the extortion.

It is unclear at this point why this has been kept quiet until now.

A Nashville newspaper reports Stanley is planning to step down as chairman of the senate commerce committee.


Statement from Senator Paul Stanley:

Unfortunately, I am the victim and a witness to crime in an ongoing investigation. At this time, I have been advised by authorities and the District Attorney’s office not to comment. There is already misinformation being inferred regarding this matter which I look forward to clearing up at the appropriate time.

Good Old Traditional Family Values

By Jon Gambrell for the Associated Press:

TEXARKANA, Ark. – A woman who says she was a child bride of evangelist Tony Alamo told jurors Wednesday that the minister had so many partners that he had to schedule when he would have sex with them.


The woman, now 30 and living in Florida, said she was a third-generation Alamo follower into adulthood — until the Arkansas-based pastor took an 8-year-old as his latest bride. At one point, the woman said, she objected when Alamo graphically described how he fondled the girl as she held a stuffed animal.

"He told me to shut up and that I shouldn't question what `the Lord told me to do,'" the woman said.

Federal prosecutors accuse Alamo, 74, of transporting five girls across state lines for sex with him between 1994 and 2005. The woman who testified Wednesday said she traveled to Tennessee, West Virginia and toward California when she was underage to be available to Alamo. The California trip abruptly ended before they arrived, she said.

Alamo's lawyers suggested that she agreed to testify against her former pastor because the Justice Department paid for two weeks of counseling at a mental health center that caters to former cult members

"There wasn't anything done that helped create in your mind an image of Mr. Alamo as a demon?" chief defense lawyer Don Ervin asked.

"I didn't need help with anything like that," the woman replied.

Defense lawyers say the government has targeted the ministry, and Alamo says the trial is part of a Vatican-led conspiracy against him. But lawyers offered no challenge to witness claims Wednesday that Alamo married and had sex with the underage girls, something the evangelist claimed was a commandment from the Lord.

The 30-year-old witness said how often Alamo would schedule sex with his female followers varied on where he was and how many were with him when he was traveling. Prosecutors allege that some girls were brought to him for sex while he was awaiting a 1994 trial on a tax evasion charge.

When Alamo was arrested in Arizona last September to face the sex-crime charges, federal agents said he had several women traveling with him, none of whom were minors.

The woman said children at the compound were taught an Alamo-approved curriculum and that they were separated by gender by the time she reached the fifth grade.

"He said he didn't want, as he put it, any hanky-panky between boys and girls," the woman said.

In her earlier testimony, the woman said she felt forced to become one of Alamo's brides at age 15 after he rejected a request from a boy the same age to marry her. Alamo said the Lord had told him to take her as his wife, and that she feared she and her family would be shunned if she did not submit, she testified.

"We didn't have anywhere to go," said the woman, whose parents and grandparents were also Alamo followers.

The "marriage" took place at Alamo's compound but was not formally registered with the state. Three days after the impromptu ceremony, Alamo had sex with her for the first time, she said. The Associated Press generally does not identify alleged victims of sex crimes.

The woman's mother also testified Wednesday, largely confirming her daughter's account.

Prosecutors spent much of Wednesday going through a series of photographs of Alamo with women from his compounds. At one point, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner asked the witness, "Who is the girl on the right wearing the Barbie shirt?"

The witness said it was the 8-year-old that Alamo had taken "as his wife."

During a bench conference among lawyers, Alamo grabbed a book of photos from the defense table and looked at the pictures from a distance of about 2 inches. The woman on the stand smiled occasionally while looking around the courtroom. During a glance at Alamo she wiped away a tear.

The woman acknowledged that she once wrote a letter saying life was fine inside Alamo's compound, but said he made her do so when he discovered others had posted statements critical of his ministry on the Internet. Alamo's followers regularly send letters to the media when allegations are raised against him.

The witness also testified that she left the compound briefly in 2005 after Alamo forced her to acknowledge falsely that she had had sex with her father and another woman. She returned after failing to adjust to life on the outside.

"I was born and raised there. It was all I knew. I was scared," she said through tears. "I wondered if I was making the right decision. I was told that if I left I would burn in hell."

The woman said she left for good in 2006 and contacted prosecutors after state and federal agents raided Alamo's compound near Fouke in southwestern Arkansas last Sept. 20. The government revised its indictment against Alamo to include some of her allegations.


Another former Alamo follower, Sue Balsley, testified that she attended a 1994 dinner with Alamo where he called for all of his "wives" to offer him a kiss. Two of those who walked up to kiss Alamo's cheek were underage girls she had taught in a ministry school, she said.

If convicted, Alamo faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. He is being held without bond.

Oil Heritage Festival - July 23 - 26

2009 marks the 31th anniversary of the Annual Oil Heritage Festival, proudly sponsored by the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce.


The festival honors the area’s rich heritage that resulted from the discovery of petroleum and the “oil boom” that occurred along Oil Creek in the mid-1800s. In that oil fueled the Industrial Revolution and the modernization of America’s transportation industry, our region is frequently referred to as “the valley that changed the world.”

The Annual Oil Heritage Festival depicts our distinctive heritage by incorporating many heritage related events into one of Western Pennsylvania’s major festivals … a fun-filled festival draws thousands of visitors and guests to the region each year.

Volunteers from civic and social organizations help to sponsor wonderful events designed to provide fun and entertainment for people of all ages.

Learn more about the Oil Heritage Festival HERE.

Opinion: The Good and The Bad about Venango County

Venango County resident Jim Ru sends this interesting piece about life in the hills of northwestern Pennsylvania.

Agree? Disagree? Have Lists of your own? Let us know ...

Good things about Venango County:

It's got the arts program which is sparking lots of interest in the community and bringing in talented and progressive people to Oil City.

It's got the Oil Region Indie Music and Arts Festival which brings in independent ideas on music and art.

It's got the Venango Clarion campus cultural program which has brought in amazing discussions about social issues, great movies, top notch performances and musical groups.

It's got one of the most charming and beautiful environments in the country.

It's got a good library where you can inter-library loan books from all over the world.

It's got a growing slow foods community and a farmer's market where you can find fresh food and people willing to barter for food.

It's got cheap housing.

It's got Chautauqua Institute which is just a little over an hour's drive away.

It's got a small but growing progressive community that is excited about creating positive, sustainable technology, and a diverse community where civil rights are respected.

It's got a pagan community nearby, a yoga studio, and the potential for more spiritual communities that are not dogmatic.

Young people here are waking up to the possibilities of their community and getting organized to create environmentally sustainable, culturally diverse societies.

Right wing extremists are considered boring and uneducated to the younger generation for the most part.



Bad things about Venango County:

It's got a lot of right wing political extremists and dogmatic churches that constantly push their narrow-minded agenda.

It's slow to approve of new industry ideas and wants to revert back to the days of oil. It seems to forget that most of the oil is gone.

It's of a mindset that oil heritage is a positive aspect, when in fact it is a negative image to people these days.

It's slow to understand the impact the internet and other electronic technologies have had on education and society.

It's got the worst school system in the state, and the school system is controlled by right wing extremists. This gets reflected in the high suicide and pregnancy and drug addiction rate among young people.

It's knee jerk, Rush Limbaugh responses to anything new make community discussions about change extremely difficult. For instance, if you discuss keeping the rivers clean or wanting sustainable technologies, you're considered a nutcase.

It's entrenched in a fundamentalist religious mindset that fears anything new and threatens anyone who brings in new ideas.

It's very supportive of the Second Amendment, even though in reality this means that tens of thousands of gun toting, beer drinking hunters go into the woods and shoot anything that moves, including each other.

It's not supportive of the First Amendment if that means allowing people who disagree with right wing extremist politics a chance to be heard.

It's a place where racism, homophobia and misogyny are common and found amusing.

It lacks clean sustainable industries and the will to pursue them, during a time when a lot of people are out of work.

It's big on pushing fast foods, but at the same time pushing anti-drug rallies. It lacks the education to understand the connection between fast foods and obesity/diabetes.

It entrenches itself in the politics of the 1980's with issues like drugs, sexuality, culture, industry and pretty much everything else. Meanwhile the young people in this area have moved way beyond that having educated themselves on the internet. The generation gap of knowledge here is immense.

It's a constant battle to be heard over the right wing extremists who bully their way into every discussion for change and demand that it is either their way or no way.

Erie Pride Weekend - July 25 & 26

Erie Gay Pride is coming this weekend!


On Saturday, folks will be assembling at the Zone Dance Club, 133 W 18th St, Erie PA at noon, and the March will be stepping off at 1 PM, which will proceed across 18th Street to State Street, and then down State Street to Perry Square.


The Rally will be starting between 1:30 and 2 PM and there will be performers and speakers, including headliner Tom Goss.

On Sunday at 11 AM, there will be a Diversity service at Community United Church, 1011 W 38th St, Erie PA and then a GLBT Day at Waldameer Park and Waterworld at 1 PM. Waldameer is near the entrance to Presque Isle State Park. Meet at Rainbow Gardens.

For more info, go to Erie Gay Pride.