Are you in favor of amending the Constitution to remove language requiring that separate schools for "white" and "colored" children be maintained?

Did you just suffer from a time warp? Would it surprise you to learn that Kentucky citizens voted on that again in 1996?

Political elites were stunned when a third of those voting, and majorities in five counties, rejected the change. Poll result in McLean County, KY (they voted in favor of it)

The upcoming 2010 Kentucky Legislative Session gets closer everyday, and this is going to be a LONG session, so be prepared for anti-gay legislation to be filed, and be prepared to fight it. We've had so many hard fought battles over the past several years.

In 2006, conservative Senators in Kentucky filed legislation to "rein in the Kentucky Court of Justice" by limiting judicial review of legislative acts; conservatives wanted to limit the authority of Kentucky Courts in ruling something "unconstitutional." Senate Bill 236 (sponsored by 9 Senators) and stated:

- The judicial department shall not engage in judicial activism through court orders or the issuance of opinions which are intended to advance policy positions, the determinations on which properly belong to the other departments of government.

- The judicial department shall not declare any act of the General Assembly unconstitutional or void on the basis of the amount of funds provided for a particular program;

- The judicial department shall not construe any provision of this Constitution to permit a local government to grant civil rights entitlements to a class of persons unless authorized by the General Assembly; but courts shall recognize that if the General Assembly authorizes a local government to grant such entitlements to a class of persons based on other than race, color, religion, disability, familial status or national origin, birth, gender, or age, it shall only do so by enacting legislation which specifically identifies the allowable class of persons and entitlements which may be created and conferred.

- The judicial department shall not allow a challenge to the constitutionality, validity, or application of any act of the General Assembly. (source)

When you consider the Kentucky 2004 Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, the proposed laws and Constitutional Amendments listed above, is it any wonder why we turn to the Judiciary to protect us (the Kentucky Court of Justice, headed by the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, with subordinate courts such as Drug Court, District Court, Family Court, Circuit Court, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals)?

Obviously, the majority cannot always be trusted to make responsible, moral decisions which is why Kentucky has three (3) Government Branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

Millions of soldiers have died (and continue to die everyday) to protect the "idea" that is this Republic; however, so long as conservatives walk all over the Constitution and deny all of her citizens equality, those solders have died defending a dream, not a reality. But they also died defending our right to demand and fight for equality; allow this entry to be a thank you for their sacrifice and bravery.

Special thanks to the students at Eastern Kentucky University and the Univeristy of Kentucky for contributing to this post.

Mongiardo present for Governor's Press Conference today about the budget and Swine Flu

Lt. Governor D. Mongiardo (former Kentucky Senator D. Mongiardo) was on hand today during the Governor's Press Conference about the Swine Flu in Kentucky for his 'medical knowledge.'

Mongiardo is currently running to be part of Kentucky's Congressional delegation, and will be running against Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in the Democratic Primary.

D. Mongiardo co-sponsored the 2004 Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth; D. Mongiardo was a member of the Kentucky Senate at the time.

Below are the sponsors of the 2004 Amendment that PASSED:

Mongiardo is circled, standing to the right of the Kentucky Commissioner of Public Health:

Click here to watch the news conference.

Constitutional Amendment - Senate Bill 161

This bill was sent to the Senate State & Local Government Committee yesterday:

Senate Bill 161: AN ACT proposing an amendment to Sections 36 and 42 of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to legislative sessions. Propose an amendment to Sections 36 and 42 of the Kentucky Constitution to repeal annual sessions; provide ballot language for submission to voters.

This is without a doubt the dumbest idea ever conceived! We already have a “part-time” legislature!

One major obstacle now is that Kentucky’s lawmakers are not in session long enough to accomplish anything. They currently meet for 60 days on even numbered years, and 30 days on odd numbered years. This of course doesn’t include holidays, Sunday, etc. Basically, our legislature is only in session for several months!

I wonder how many decades it would take Kentucky to have a statewide law to protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment if the General Assembly only meets every two (2) years? Who wants to wait 2 years before a new law is passed, changed, etc.? You must also remember that Kentucky’s legislature cannot call itself into special session….. only the Governor can.

Let's hope Senate Bill 161 dies quickly.

In California, their lawmakers meet year around (much like the federal model, Congress)…. so do lawmakers in California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

- Full-Time: California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

- Middle: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

- Less than Part-Time: Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Average Kentuckian Values Fairness

By: James-Clifton Spires

My work, which is with a private contractor that answers telephone calls for various U.S. government agencies, has allowed me to conduct initial telephone background checks on firearms purchases, assist people looking and applying for government grants, and help federal employees with their travel arrangements.

My co-workers and I have spoken with a wide range of people on these various issues, from country music stars and U.S. senators to pawnbrokers and people on the verge of homelessness.

The type of work we do requires an acceptance of the fact that the job requires us to be anonymous voices answering a telephone, subject to each caller's mood and interpretation of how we sound.

It's somewhat akin to being a voice actor --- you can adapt to a wide range of situations without having to change your appearance or shift your position in your chair. You just have to listen and respond accordingly.

I'm the oldest person, by a few months, in the office bay where I work. I've become aware of the fact that my voice occasionally makes me sound much younger than I am --- some people who call who are close to my own age will refer to me as "young man" --- sometimes in an affectionate manner or sometimes condescendingly, depending upon the nature of the call.

I've had enough speech training over the years to cover the Southeast Ohio Appalachian drawl (filtered through North Carolina and Kentucky) that I've grown up with and affect a neutral-sounding Midwestern accent similar to that used by network news anchors. I've also learned something about letting bits and pieces of regional accent creep in, depending upon the caller and the situation. For the most part, Ah do --- uh, I do --- just fine. I reckon.

As I said, the people who call me, or any other person who answers telephones for a living, only knows what little we give them of ourselves --- the rest is up to their imaginations and their mood when they call. I've had people cry because I sounded sympathetic, scream because they were in a mood to scream, flirt with me, mother me, threaten me and offer to hire me away just because of the way my voice sounded to them.

None of them know that I'm 57 years old, the father of adult children, shave my head, use Just for Men on my beard, am built like a long-past-his-prime heavyweight contender, or live with a male partner whom I call my husband. They do not know my politics, my religion, whether I can sing like Andrea Bocelli or Roseanne Barr, whether my eyes are blue or my skin is brown or anything else --- unless I tell them.

As a result, our over-the-phone-wires relationships are based on business and mostly first impressions. If I come off as competent, friendly, and helpful, I can usually soothe an angry or distressed or frustrated caller and leave them in a better frame of mind at the end of the call. Not all the time, but most of the time, if I'm doing my job properly.

I've had dissatisfied people ask to speak to my supervisor. I've also had callers ask if they can talk to me specifically if they need to call back again. The good and the bad. It's all based on what our experience was with each other.

Obviously, the good calls are the best ones --- you get a sense that it's going well when the caller starts to joke, tell stories about himself or herself, or gets interested enough into you to ask personal questions. We're trained to keep it light and neutral --- and not reveal too much about one's self or the inner workings of our company.

I've had callers, feeling comfortable with me, assume that I might be "their" kind of people. These folks will volunteer their political affiliations ("I voted for the woman," a brusque Boston accent told me in a call just after the Massachusetts presidential primary) and sometimes their prejudices ("Grants for minorities. Yeah, you can't be white these days if you want government money!").

Occasionally you get clues about someone who is, shall we say, a fellow traveler. "My SPOUSE and I went kayaking and camping in Alaska last year," a business-like female caller told me in a purposeful non sequitor from our discussion of her grant application. (Yeah, I thought. My SPOUSE and I went to Miami last year and ogled some cute gay boys. My gaydar's working on you, too, sister.)

Because our office is located in southeastern Kentucky, a lot of my co-workers are locals whose values (and accents, more often than not) reflect the culture in which they were raised. On the first day of our training class, we were asked to introduce and tell a bit about ourselves. I was one of the first selected to speak and, sticking to a vow I made a few years ago to never again be closeted in the workplace, came out and said that I was the father of adult children and I was on my third marriage to my first husband.

The training class instructor, obviously in new territory with this revelation, took on a tone of false heartiness and said, "Well, we don't have to get TOO personal, here," although I didn't see that what I said was too much different from my co-workers who got up and told about their families, some of which included babies with different daddies.

I figured if there was going to be any backlash from anyone in the class, I'd set up the situation so I could get it out of the way at the beginning. Instead, on our breaks in training, I found different class members coming up to me and whispering, "My brother's gay." "I have a best friend whose family kicked him out." "My husband doesn't know it, but I have a girlfriend." "Do you need a hug, James?" In other words, apparently these southeast Kentuckians' culture included something I, as a relative newcomer to their community, didn't expect: A respect for people's individuality and a willingness to accept and maybe try to identify with someone who different from themselves.

Our class bonded very closely, much like a unit of military recruits who went through the rigors of boot camp together. We struggle with the same work-related issues and know bits and pieces of each others' stories and living situations. People ask me about my husband much in the same way they'll ask someone else about a heterosexual spouse. I'm just James. They're just them. We do our jobs, get along with each other, do our work at the workplace and the rest of our lives in our appropriate elsewheres.

I've found that my co-workers are very much like most of the people who call us for anonymous assistance. What I do with my life before and after work isn't really their concern. It's how we interact together in a professional situation that is important.

My co-workers are typical of the people I've met in Kentucky, for the most part. They may have not traveled widely or been exposed to a lot of different cultural experiences, but they were raised with the basic principle, "Live and let live." They tend not to be involved with politics --- most of them ignore the frothing Fox News coverage, in the company breakroom, of the minutiae of the presidential race. They are religious, but leery of people who are "too religious."

And for the most part, they could care less, unlike certain politicians who cater to the extremist elements of the religious right, about "protecting" the institutions of marriage and the family from homosexual influences. Most people use their energies to focus on their own marriages and would resent anyone else trying to butt in and "help" them, unless they asked for the assistance first.

In other words, the average Kentuckian values fairness. He or she just wants to get along with everyone else and is willing, as most of us have been taught from childhood, to live and let live. Don't interfere with their lives and they won't interfere with yours. Any politician or religious leader who suggests otherwise is either listening to a limited constituency or has never worked in an environment where diversity is respected and valued.

There are all kinds of people in the world, with all kinds of interests and needs. None of us can tell anyone else what's right for him or her --- but what we can do is treat each other with the same courtesy, respect and equality that we want for ourselves.

Homophobic Senate President Williams sleeping?

I loved this post from Hillbilly Report. Senate President David Williams appears to be sleeping during the State of the Commonwealth Address. Homophobic Senate President Williams lashed out at House Bill 91 that would require schools to formulate a code of "acceptable behavior and discipline that prohibits harassment, intimidation, or bullying of a student."

The House of Representatives passes this bill yearly; but homophic people such as President Williams prevent the bill from ever becoming law..... One might say Williams has "homosexual issues" that he needs to resolve.

Lexington magazine bans any mention of gay people.

Nougat, a Lexington magazine bans any mention of gay people, because such talk is "obscene".

From BlueGrassRoots:

About a week and a half ago, I pitched an idea to one of my editors about writing a review about my little visit to the Crazy-Ass Creation Museum.

My editor wrote me back saying that Nougat will no longer make any reference to "controversial" subjects, so they could not do any story on the museum. In fact, she specifically said that Nougat will now refuse to run any article that talks about "religion, gays or abortion".

I replied, "so you're an alternative independent magazine, yet you refuse to even mention women's reproductive freedom, attacks on science and human reason, and the denial of civil rights for an entire class of citizens? ........ Interesting."

She responded by saying that they've tried that "edgy" stuff before, but they're now going to cover safe topics so they can get more advertising dollars. Additionally, she said that since they're starting to mail to one Lexington zip code, they could be sued by someone for "corrupting their children".

Leave your comments here and we will forward them to Nougat Magazine, or click here to email them yourself!

UPDATE: You can see the editor's comments below.

The editor stated "Because we have chosen to mail to 40502, we have to watch what we say, because one complaint to the postmaster general about profanity or X rated material, could get us put out of business, and I won't risk that."

The editor notes this about the contributor: "Nothing I do makes him happy. If I edit his writing, I am censoring him. So it was easier to cut him, and frankly, given the headache he has become, we may just leave it that way."

Our question to the editor: So long as the article does not include profanity, and you want to have an "edgy stuff" section, what is the problem? Especially if you print "Opinion" above the article.

Washington leaves Kentucky behind with new Domestic Partner laws.

New laws go into effect in the State of Washington on Monday:

• The right to visit a partner who's in the hospital.
• The ability to make important medical decisions for that person if necessary.
• Registered couples can now inherit property from a partner who dies without a will and administer their estate.
• Domestic Partners will now have the ability to sue for the wrongful death of their loved one.

Did you realize you don't have these rights if you're in a same-sex relationship in the Commonwealth of Kentucky?

Get involved today and help us change Kentucky!

Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!

House Speaker Richards must lead Governor Fletcher by the nose.

Thanks to the efforts of House Speaker Jody Richards, Governor Fletcher has agreed to meet with executives from Peabody Energy for a private meeting on July 25 at the Louisville International Convention Center.

House Speaker Richards (who must now apparently do Fletcher's work for him) requested a meeting with Peabody Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce to gauge Peabody’s commitment and time schedule to locating an alternative fuels plant in Kentucky if the legislature approves tax incentives.

Governor Fletcher should have taken this action himself prior to calling the House and Senate into special session. This would have established the need for a special session assuming Peabody Energy is in fact going to make a decision soon about locating a plant in Kentucky as Fletcher has claimed.

Instead, Fletcher added a total of 66 other items to the agenda of his executive order calling the House and Senate into a special session, including a ban on domestic partnerships at all Kentucky public institutions that the Senate has already approved.

Governor Fletcher, Senate President Williams, and House Speaker Richards will be attending the meeting in Louisville.

Common reasons stated by conservative persons that homosexuals shouldn't get married.

Brian Stephens, a new member of Kentucky Equality Federation's General Advisory Council wrote a fascinating article titled: "Common reasons stated by conservative persons that homosexuals shouldn't get married."

Click here to read it.

House of Representatives Adjourns; Kentucky Families Safe.....for now.

House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives immediately adjourned the special session called by Governor Fletcher.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers." "Speaker Richards stated it best that the session could cost up to 2.5 million dollars (if it lasted for the anticipated 8 weeks) and that Governor Fletcher should have showed support for energy initiatives during the 2006 and 2007 General Assembly and otherwise kept his veto pen in his desk." - Jordan Palmer

Hats off to the House of Representatives for the leadership and knowledge they showed today in Frankfort.

UPDATE - Official Statement - 11:48 PM
Kentucky Equality Federation praises the wisdom of House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives for immediately adjourning the special session called by Governor Fletcher. The House of Representatives voted to end a special legislative session called by Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher an hour after it started.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers," stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. "Governor Fletcher apparently has no core beliefs of his own, his decisions seem to be nothing more than a calculation of how he can stay in office."

Governor Fletcher added a ban on domestic-partner benefits at universities and public agencies to the agenda of the special session that could have cost taxpayers $60,000.00 per day to hold.

Kentucky Equality Federation supported Governor Fletcher's original statement that universities should determine their own policies. But the Governor changed his mind in the middle of an election year and added it to a 'laundry list' as a reason to call the General Assembly into session.

Several Kentucky universities and public agencies offer affordable health insurance to both heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Family Foundation of Kentucky threatens to file an injunction to stop UK domestic partnerships.

The Family Foundation of Kentucky is considering filing an injunction against the University of Kentucky to stop domestic partner benefits from going into effect on Monday when their new fiscal year begins.

Let them file their injunction, because doing so could open a Pandora's box they will never be able to close again.

Domestic Partnership? The real issue here with the Family Foundation of Kentucky is if homosexuals have the rights to any of the benefits associated with marriage. Why would they not?

Kentucky Constitution - Section 233A: Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

Marriage is something created by the state (both Kentucky and the United States) for the benefit of its citizens.

Most people cannot disassociate a chapel, white dress, and a best man from their definition of marriage. The only religious thing about marriage however is in the minds of the people. When a marriage is dissolved it is done by the state, not God. When a minister pronounces someone married he or she does so by saying "by the power invested in me by the Commonwealth of Kentucky."

Marriage Defined:
Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract.

The reasons people marry vary widely, but usually include one or more of the following: legal, social and economic stability; the formation of a family unit; procreation and the education and nurturing of children; legitimizing sexual relations; public declaration of love.

• What gives heterosexual couples the right to be the only ones to enjoy this? The state.
• Is Section 233A (passed by a 2004 Constitutional Amendment) of the Kentucky Constitution unconstitutional? Yes. It violates Section I, Section II, Section III, and Section IV of the Kentucky Constitution.
• Does Section 233A of the Kentucky Constitution violate United State law? Traditionally, the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government, even if that marriage was not recognized by one or more other states (as was the case with interracial marriage before 1967). With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, however, a marriage was explicitly defined as a union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law. (See 1 U.S.C. § 7.) Thus, no act or agency of the U.S. federal government currently recognizes same-sex marriage.
  
  Some opponents of same-sex marriage, wanting to ensure that the constitutionality of such laws cannot be challenged in the courts under the Full Faith and Credit clause, Equal Protection Clause or Due process clause of the United States Constitution, have proposed a Federal Marriage Amendment to the constitution that would prevent the federal government or any state from providing a marriage or the legal incidents thereof to a same-sex couple, whether through the legislature or the courts.

Let the Family Foundation of Kentucky file their injunction so the legal battle may finally begin.

A UCLA report released in January 2007 about the attitudes of college freshmen nationwide says acceptance of same-sex marriage grew between 2005 and 2006. The study found that 61% of incoming freshmen last year agreed that same-sex couples should have the right to marriage, up 3.3 percentage points from 2005.

Wal-Mart shuns gay groups!

Wal-Mart sets a bad example for the world. Disney, Target, Ford, and other companies never folded to homophobic groups, but Wal-Mart as the world's largest retailer could not stand its ground. What a horrible example!

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has decided to curb its support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organizations after conservative Christian groups threatened a boycott, and after some of its own employees expressed disapproval. The move comes a year after Wal-Mart had put on a gay-friendly smile. The company joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It sponsored the annual convention of Out & Equal, a group that promotes gay rights in the workplace, and sold gay-themed jewelry in stores.

"We are not currently planning corporate-level contributions to GLBT groups," said Mona Williams, the company's senior vice president of corporate communications. Individual stores can still donate to gay groups.

If you shop at Wal-Mart you can find the same (or better) prices at Meijer, K-Mart, Family Dollar, Kroger, or Sav-A-Lot. Stop shopping at Wal-Mart! Forget about the so called "convenience" of "everything" being in one store, it is time for the gay community to stand their ground against Wal-Mart.

Let us forget for a moment that this company destroys the "American Dream," exploits their employees, and contracts labor for less than $1.00 per hour in other countries.

Let us not forget that Sam Walton, Wal-Mart's founder sit on the Board of Directors of Winn-Dixie for nearly a decade (thereby learning the grocery business) and opened the first Supercenter (with groceries) less than a year after Winn-Dixie retired him. Let us not forget that Wal-Mart targets other stores to run them out of business: K-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Sloan's (Lexington), Rose's, Kroger, Toys "R" Us, Publix (Florida), Food Lion, A&P, Grand Union, Colonial/Big Star and Piggly Wiggly, and Target.

Wal-Mart doesn't want a pice of the pie, the want the whole thing: "In North America, Wal-Mart's primary competition includes department stores like Kmart, Target, Meijer, or Canada's Zellers, Winners, or Giant Tiger. Wal-Mart's move into the grocery business in the late 1990s has also positioned it against major supermarket chains in both the United States and Canada like Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Food Lion, A&P, and Albertsons. Several smaller retailers, primarily dollar stores, such as Family Dollar and Dollar General, have been able to find a small niche market and compete successfully against Wal-Mart for home consumer sales. In 2004, Wal-Mart responded by testing their own dollar store concept, a subsection of some stores known as "Pennies-n-Cents."

As it stands Wal-Mart remains the only national discount chain that does not offer partnership benefits (both Sears Holding Company and Target offer same-sex domestic partnership benefits). Wal-Mart also has the dubious distinction of being one of the few companies to ever pull back a GLBT initiative.

Northern Kentucky's new museum (must read to believe).

I raised my children to be religious, but you have to read this to believe it:

• http://www.cknj.com/articles/2007/06/10/opinion/letters/01letter.txt

Isn't it amazing this was actually printed in a Kentucky newspaper?

-Paige

Kentucky's intolerant Senate President, David Williams under fire.

The new heads of the Kentucky Democratic are "seriously considering" filing an ethics complaint against state Senate President David Williams.

According to party vice-chairman Jennifer Moore, she's looking into the possibility that Williams violated legislative ethics rules when he asked Frankfort lobbyists to pleadge donations money that would be used for 2008 campaigns of republican senators. It's illegal for Frankfort lobbyists to give directly to legislators or caucus funds controlled by legislative leaders. Williams has said that was not the case with his solicitation.

But Moore says there are serious questions about Williams' conduct. No lobbyist has filed a complaint against Williams. At least two have told me they felt pressured to give and questioned the legality of the "pledge cards" but believed it would be political suicide to file a complaint against the powerful senate president.

Sunday's Herald Leader Article - Dr. James Holsinger.

The Herald Leader had a front page article today about Dr. James Holsinger, the homophobic nominee for U.S. Surgeon General.

"His posture on things is based on the science of health and disease, not on any moral or health issue," said Dr. F. Douglas Scutchfield, a colleague at UK.

[...]

In Lexington, Holsinger and his wife, Barbara, were asked to be part of a team that founded Hope Springs Community Church, which has a Hispanic ministry and recovery ministries for those with addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex. The recovery ministry includes some who no longer wish to be gay, the Rev. David Calhoun has said.

However, Calhoun said in an e-mail last week that the church does not have a specific ministry targeted at "curing" gays -- as some gay-rights groups have charged.

In 2000, Holsinger was elected to the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, which rules on disputes involving church doctrine. As one of the nine members of the court, Holsinger ruled with others that a lesbian in a committed relationship could not continue to be a minister and that a pastor could withhold church membership from a gay man.

In 1988, Holsinger began serving on a national church committee to study homosexuality and make recommendations on whether church doctrine should be changed.

The committee took four years to consider the issue, and, in 1991, Holsinger wrote a paper entitled the Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality. In it, he makes a biological argument that gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy. He argues that, like male and female pipe fittings, certain body parts are designed for one another.

The paper has drawn wide criticism from gay-rights groups. They say it represents an out-dated view, even for 1991, of gay sex. The American Psychological Association, for example, removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973.

Shortly after he submitted the paper, Holsinger withdrew from the committee. At the time, the committee was beginning to form its opinion, said the Rev. Phil Wogaman, who served on the committee and is now retired.

Most of the members wanted to remove language from church doctrine that said the church did not condone homosexuality and "considered its practice incompatible with Christian teaching," Wogaman said.

The majority believed that homosexuality, if practiced in a caring, committed relationship, was acceptable, Wogaman said. "When the majority was beginning to form its views, Dr. Holsinger was in strong disagreement with that and chose to leave the committee, in some anger," Wogaman said.

Holsinger opposed any recognition of homosexuality as normal, Wogaman said. "He took the view that it's pathological, that homosexuality is both sin and a kind of mental sickness," Wogaman said. "He was quite vocal about it."

Moral issue? What moral issue? This is crazy! What if someone has a "moral" issue with him being Methodist?

Kentucky Attorney General rules domestic partner benefits unconstitutional.

Kentucky's top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) ruled domestic-partner benefits unconstitutional today, but left the door open for universities and colleges around the commonwealth to make them constitutional by broadening their definition of domestic-partner.

House Representative Stan Lee (R), currently running for the Office of Attorney General to replace Stumbo was one of two representatives to request the opinion (no surprise there).

“They still have the flexibility to allow and to offer their health insurance plan and its benefit structure to other people,” Stumbo said. “They cannot define the class of people in a manner that would be creating a legal status similar to that of marriage.”

The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville currently offer domestic-partner benefits.

As I read Stumbo's opinion something struck a cord with me, from another state:

• In 2004 Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), acting on the advice of Attorney General Mike Cox (R), terminated domestic partner benefits that had been won by state unions.
• In February 2007 the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the state's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage prevents public institutions from providing benefits to same-sex partners of employees.

Here we have a clear case of party lines. A democratic attorney general doesn't slam the door; a republican attorney general does.

UPDATE:

"When ruling domestic-partner benefits unconstitutional in their current form Attorney General Greg Stumbo appears to have made an unbiased opinion based on the commonwealth's current laws and various court decisions. Though this isn't the opinion we obviously wanted, General Stumbo was very clear about ways existing domestic-partner benefits could be made constitutional," stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. "It was no surprise that Lexington's intolerant House Representative Stan Lee (R) was one of two officials requesting the ruling."

Governor Fletcher and Attorney General Candidate Stan Lee.

by John Aravosis (DC)

"Now they're telling us that when the states banned gay marriage they also banned providing health insurance, inheritance, hospital visitation and more to gay couples. Funny, but I don't recall hearing any of that when the religious right was pushing these things."

CBS News - 60 Minutes: Gay or Straight?

60 Minutes, an investigative television newsmagazine has run on CBS News since 1968. It is considered by many to be the preeminent investigative television program in the United States.

Click here to view a 60 Minutes Special Report; Gay or Straight?

What makes you gay or straight? Is it personal choice or genes or the way you were raised? While science doesn't have definitive answers, there's been some fascinating and oftentimes controversial research that is beginning to provide some clues.

60 Minutes provides a "Gay or Straight Test," as well as some fascinating videos made exclusively available to Yahoo! News.

Soulforce - Touched by Angels.

3 are arrested at gay-rights group's event
CUMBERLANDS ONE OF 32 STOPS

By Bill Estep
SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU

Click here to view images of the Soulforce reception.

WILLIAMSBURG --Police arrested three people yesterday when a gay-rights group tried to talk to students at the University of the Cumberlands, which found itself embroiled in controversy last year after expelling a gay student.

About 25 people taking part in the Soulforce Equality Ride had stopped at the school. Soulforce is visiting 32 colleges and universities to draw attention to policies the group says discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and to promote hope and reconciliation, members said.

Members have been arrested at other stops, including earlier this week in Louisville.

"Throughout our stops in the South we have encountered a lot of hostility," said Matt Comer of Greensboro, N.C., an organizer of Soulforce.

Comer said that when the bus got to the school about 10 a.m., Michael Colegrove, the school's vice president for student services, told the riders they would be trespassing if they came on campus.

Dozens of police officers were on hand. Comer said police told the activists that they could not stand on a public sidewalk beside the campus, but rather would have to keep walking or face arrest.

Williamsburg Police Chief Denny Shelley said police charged Soulforce member Jacob Reitan with trespassing and failure to disperse. Two Cumberlands students were charged with failure to disperse.

Comer said it seemed the university and police tried to keep the Soulforce riders from talking to students.

"It sounds ridiculous to even say" someone could be charged for standing on a public sidewalk, Comer said. "The police know what they're doing is wrong."

Colegrove said the university also tried to cooperate with the group and offered members a spot on campus for their visit. However, the group wanted free run of the campus, which wasn't possible because of the potential disruption, and rejected the university's offer, he said.

Comer, however, said Soulforce did not reject the university's offer. A university official quickly withdrew the offer because of a miscommunication and later refused to agree to terms in writing, he said.

The group talked to students for about three hours.

Later yesterday, Soulforce members held a rally on the steps of the Whitley County courthouse. About 40 people listened and about 10 protesters stood on the courthouse lawn holding signs with Bible verses on them.

Many conservative Christians believe the Bible condemns homosexuality. Soulforce members, however, say that belief is hurtful and wrong; several said they consider themselves Christians.

Emily Harlow, a freshman at the University of the Cumberlands, said she came to the rally to hear what group members had to say.

"It's time Cumberland realized it's OK to be gay and be a Christian."

There had been concern on campus that students could face trouble for talking to Soulforce members or attending the rally.

Colegrove, however, said that wasn't the case. Students have First Amendment rights too, he said.

Still, Jordan Palmer, president of the Kentucky Equality Federation, which helped pay for the Soulforce visit to Williamsburg, gave students cards and said to call him if they encountered a problem as a result of coming to the rally.

Kyle DeVries, a Soulforce spokesman, identified the two Cumberlands students who were arrested as Warry Woodward and Annie Decrescente.

Last year, the university expelled Jason Johnson of Lexington, who had disclosed on a Web site that he is gay.

The university's policy said any student who engages in or promotes sexual behavior not consistent with Christian principles, including homosexuality or sex outside marriage, could be suspended or asked to leave school.

University President Jim Taylor said at the time the policy was in line with traditional denominational beliefs.

Johnson returned to Williamsburg yesterday to be with the protesters and thanked students at his former school. "Bless you," he told the students. "You have more courage than you know." Johnson is now a student at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.

Click here to view images of the Soulforce reception.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

KY's largest Methodist Church bars gays from membership.

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