Olson is a powerful, compelling speaker.

Obviously the Virginia legislature is not always correct. HBO will air The Loving Story on February 14, Valentine Day. The Lovings were an interracial couple  from Caroline County, Virginia. They grew up, fell in love, and married in Washington, DC. They failed to realize that just living together as man and wife was also illegal.

It’s hard to believe that this nonsense went on back in the 19th century…..wait! It wasn’t the 19th century! This nonsense has been in my lifetime! From Visitcaroline.com:

The Beginning
Richard Loving was born October 29, 1933.

Mildred Delores Jeter was born June 22, 1939.

They grew up and lived as neighbors in Caroline County, Virginia, near Central Point where they fell in love. Because of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, interracial marriage was illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia so Mildred and Richard married on June 2, 1958 in Washington, D.C.

They returned to Caroline County, and they were later arrested on July 14th in their home by Caroline Sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies. On January 6, 1959, the Lovings were prosecuted and convicted of violating the state’s anti-miscegenation law.

Judge Leon M. Bazile sentenced each to a one-year jail term at a state penitentiary. However, Judge Bazile promised to suspend their sentences if they agreed to leave the state and not return for 25 years.

The story continued and eventually the case came before the Supreme Court and was THE test case that overturned miscegenation laws in the United States. Loving v. Virginia was handed down in 1967. Inter-racial marriage has only been legal in all states, including our own, for 45 years.

Just to put a few things on the time line:

Brown v. Board of Education                      1954  (desegregation)

Griswold v. Connecticut                                1965 (privacy, contraception)

Loving v. Virginia                                             1967 (privacy, interracial marriage)

Roe v. Wade                                                          1973 (privacy, abortion rights)

Speak all we want about ‘judicial activism (citizens united?), would any of these cases ever been solved at the state level considering all things?  Probably not but they were critical, landmark decisions.  It is critical to keep in mind that Mrs. Loving would be only 73 years old if she were alive today.  If you are 45 or older, this case was decided in your lifetime. 

The Loving Story looks like a must-see!   The Racial Intergrity Act of 1924, a Virginia Law, forbid a white person to marry anyone who wasn’t white. 

From CNN.com:

Positive forces such as TV role models and support groups such as The Trevor Project have brought acceptance issues to the forefront for youth in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The federal government is paying more attention as well: The first-ever Federal LGBT Youth Summit took place in Washington this month, emphasizing the gravity of bullying and the many forms it may take.

Full Story

Should our government be investing in the mental health of LGBT youth?  Most definitely.  The suicide rate amongst kids who are LGBT is extremely high when compared to straight kids.  Additionally, even the slightest perception that a person is ‘gay’ brings out the hounds of Hell in the bullying department.  Youth that are LGBTnot only have to protect themselves at school or in sports, they also have to ward off problems within their nuclear family where siblings and even parents can make life a living hell.  Most parents simply don’t have the skills to deal best with a child who doesn’t fit into what society deems ‘normal.’

Some parents are in denial until the day they die.  I knew a set like this.  My mother’s best friend growing up had a son who was gay. I think I first understood the concept of gay from knowing ‘Bart.’   He was about 2 years younger then I was.  He has a sister my age.  Yet I just knew, without having the words for it.  He grew up and has a life partner, yet his parents always referred to the partner as his roommate.  The parents left the Episcopalian Church over the ordaination of gay priests.  The mother jumped all over my mother for reading Rita Mae Brown who she considered perverted.  Brown was one of my mother’s favorite authors.  Having parents this much in denial can’t be a healthy way to grow up. 

Volumes have been written about LGBT youth who have been bullied.  Many a youth has been a scapegoat for an entire classroom and sometimes a scapegoat for an entire school.  that is simply no way to have to go through school.   Many churches are simply not acceptant of LGBT people.  They back up their beliefs with Old Testament scripture.  New Testament scriptures are less definitive.  Church can be a very inhospitable place for an LGBT kid.

While many more opportunities are available to LGBT kids than in the past, even  more can be done.  Good for President Obama for recognizing this need.  All kids need a safe haven where they can feel acceptance.  If school, church and home aren’t safe havens, then what is?   If statistics are correct, 1 in 10 kids are LGBT.  That’s a lot of kids to have an unhappy childhood!

According to Huffington Post, Smith stated the following:

“We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn’t know who shot it, we didn’t know when it was shot, we didn’t know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted, in short we do not and did not trust the source.”

Smith was speaking of Breitbart’s websites, specifically, www.biggovernment.com. Shep Smith also took on the White House. He has a reputation for standing up for right and wrong, as he perceives it, even if it goes against the party line of Fox News.

“Anchor babies” isn’t a very endearing term, but in Arizona those are the words being used to tag children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. While not new, the term is increasingly part of the local vernacular because the primary authors of the nation’s toughest and most controversial immigration law are targeting these tots — the legal weights that anchor many undocumented aliens in the U.S. — for their next move.

Buoyed by recent public opinion polls suggesting they’re on the right track with illegal immigration, Arizona Republicans will likely introduce legislation this fall that would deny birth certificates to children born in Arizona — and thus American citizens according to the U.S. Constitution — to parents who are not legal U.S. citizens. The law largely is the brainchild of state Sen. Russell Pearce, a Republican whose suburban district, Mesa, is considered the conservative bastion of the Phoenix political scene. He is a leading architect of the Arizona law that sparked outrage throughout the country: Senate Bill 1070, which allows law enforcement officers to ask about someone’s immigration status during a traffic stop, detainment or arrest if reasonable suspicion exists — things like poor English skills, acting nervous or avoiding eye contact during a traffic stop

.

Shoot! Doesn’t everyone act nervous and avoid eye contract during a traffic stop? I know I sure do. If those behaviors are considered probable cause, then we are all in trouble.

“Anchor babies” is a highly offensive term. These kids have no control over their circumstances in life. And we certainly don’t know why their parents had them. To imply that any child comes in to this world solely to anchor one’s parents to the United States is simply wrong. Hopefully the term ‘anchor baby’ will soon become as politically RUDE as the term ‘pickaninny’ which was used fairly freely when I was a child.

Of course, this piece comes from Time Magazine, via Huffington Post: Arizona’s Next Immigration Target: Children of Illegals. 

Illegals? Unacceptable. Grammatically incorrect. Time Magazine needs to step it up a bit in the politically correct department. Or if they don’t want to be politically correct, how about using adjectives as adjectives and not as nouns.

One might contrast Arizona and New Mexico. Notice the silence out of Governor Bill Richardson’s state?
There are no easy answers but while we search we need to remember to be polite. We need to remember that those ‘anchor babies’ are just little children. In many ways, they are the most vulnerable members of this debate. They fear for themselves and they fear for their siblings and they fear for their parents. For some reason, too many Americans feel that these children simply don’t have feelings. And that is just dead wrong!

Complete Article

Ok. While we might not agree with her words, there is something bothering me about the hue and cry over her remarks. For starters, she offered an opinion. She said she felt that Palestine was occupied by Israel. I never heard her utter the word ‘Jews.’ There are an awful lot of people in the world who believe that. Why is Helen Thomas, daughter of Lebanese immigrants, not allowed her opinion? Additionally, she said that those occupying needed to go home. Good grief, that is said every day towards Latinos here in this county.

Helen Thomas is almost 90 years old. She apologized. Many news agencies have said her apologies were not good enough because she didn’t really mean it. This is where the thought police come into play. There is just something about that kind of mind control that bothers me a great deal. Who are we to tell others how to think? While we can be held accountable for what comes out of our mouths, how can anyone hold us accountable for what they think we should think.

On June 4, Helen Thomas issued the following apology:

“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” (June 4, 2010)

To her credit, Ellen Ratner of Fox News issued the following:

Helen Thomas has apologized. What more do people want?

If I had a dollar for every American who has said something in private about a racial, ethnic, or sexual minority in this county I would be a multimillionaire many times over.

Let’s face it we all have said things — or thought things — about “other” groups of people, things that we would not want to see in print or on video. Anyone who denies it is a liar.

Helen is three months short of ninety and her brain’s filters might not work as well as a forty year old’s. Give her a break.

Ellen Ratner is Washington bureau chief for Talk Radio News Service and a Fox News contributor.

Helen Thomas has resigned. Her resignation was announced around noon. I think the greater tragedy is that a 90 year old woman can’t be allowed to retract her statements, especially a lady of her stature.

She is a very remarkable woman. I can’t image being her age and doing the job she is still doing. Many of us who grew up with Helen Thomas will miss her. The good news is, now she is a free agent, she can also speak freely. I expect she will, knowing Helen Thomas and I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that acerbic tongue.

[disclaimer: This post does not imply agreement with Helen Thomas]

Supposedly this video is burning up the internet. Politically incorrect? Racist? Ethnocentric? Erroneous? UnAmerican? Just plain old offensive? I almost hestitate to put this up as an example of what not to do.

A follow up on the original story about  Constance McMillan’s desire to go to her own prom with her girl friend has lead to a less than conclusive end:

ABERDEEN, Miss. — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Itawamba County, Miss., school board violated the rights of a lesbian student by canceling the prom when the student challenged a ban on same-sex dates, but the judge stopped short of ordering the district to reinstate the April 2 prom.U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson said he denied the injunction request because a private prom parents are planning will serve the same purpose as the school prom and because “requiring defendants to step back into a sponsorship role at this late date would only confuse and confound the community on the issue.”

 Did Constance win/lose or did she lose/win?  The school violated her rights.  However the judge isn’t going to make things right.  The school will not be forced to have a prom.  The private prom folks will not be forced to admit Constance.  Constance must go to the gay and lesbian prom instead of to her school prom.  Does this sound like forced segregation to you?

The federal judge sounds like the chicken you-know- what judge to me.  I thought the entire point of these kinds of court rulings was to either say yes her rights were violated and fix things or no her rights were not violated, go home and get over it.   I guess there is a lot of laughter and snickering in the Itawamba County school district today.  I guess they showed “them thar dykes a thing or 3 now didn’t they?”   What a shame that this young woman’s civil rights weren’t upheld. 

Maybe Constance McMillan has the last laugh after all.  She appeared on the” Ellen” and was awareded $30,000 in scholarship money by the talk show host who said she was so proud of her.  DeGeneres said:

“I admire you so much. “When I was your age I never would have had the strength to do what you are doing.”

Meanwhile, her ACLU lawyer is preparing round 2 of her legal battle. 

USA Today story

I came upon this movie, Constantines Sword, quite by accident, while uploading movies to watch instantly on the T.V.  I was profoundly fascinated, not just by the storyteller and his narrative, but the journey of Christianity and its intersection with Judaism, throughout history.   For me, the movie was truly moving, in a very personal sense.  When it was over, I wondered, how is it possible that the Jewish religion has survived?  What dedication must it have taken to continue the traditions under such heavy persecution. 

In the end, I came away feeling even more strongly that religion is more often than not, misused and abused.  That the most important message, from almost all religions, “love they neighbor as thyself” too often becomes, well, completely forgotten.

 One fact that was truly an eye opener was the use of the cross. Now, as a Jewish person, not knowing much about Christianity, I just always assumed it was because Christ was crucified on the cross. Could it be true, that Constantine had this vision when looking up into the blue sky, 300 years after Jesus’s death, of a cross in the sky, a vison he would replicate by crossing his swords?   Once he conquered his enemies, believing Christ had been the reason he had vanquished his enemy, the symbol of the cross would now be used to represent all Christians. 

I look forward to the discussion!!!

Constantine’s Sword website

UPDATE: See Video at end of Post

March 11, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

OXFORD, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today against a Mississippi High School that has canceled prom rather than let a lesbian high school student attend the prom with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo to the event. In papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, the ACLU asks the court to reinstate the prom for all students at the school and charges Itawamba County School District officials are violating Constance McMillen’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression.

“All I wanted was the same chance to enjoy my prom night like any other student. But my school would rather hurt all the students than treat everyone fairly,” said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. “This isn’t just about me and my rights anymore – now I’m fighting for the right of all the students at my school to have our prom.”

Read entire Press Release

How about let’s just alter this scene just a little bit.  How about if the girl didn’t say she was a lesbian and 2 girls just showed up at the door to go to prom, like unromantic friends.  Would they be denied admission?  What is wrong with schools? 

There was a suggestion made that a private group should sponsor a private prom for ”people like this.’  Now just what is that supposed to mean?  I read in the paper that Bull Run Unitarian Universalist Church did sponsor a special prom for gay and lesbian students last spring.  Good for them.  That church is a real standard bearer for helping those who are under-represented.  I hope they will do that every year, despite the fact that local bloggers (many who claim to be good Christians)  had a field day and made extremely disparaging remarks about the church and the kids.   It’s easy to point fingers.  Its harder to step up to the plate and provide for those amongst us who might not have an advocate. 

Most of the time I think the ACLU is a pain in the ass.  I think we are supposed to think that.  However, this is one time I am glad they are out there, defending those who might not otherwise have a line of defense.  Schools need realize that gay and lesbian students are not all closeted like they were a generation ago, not should they be. 

If  the school wants to ensure that people’s sensibilities are not offended, it  needs to address the behavior of everyone coming to the dance.  It  needs to set standards of conduct and stick to its  guns.  It  should demand the same lines of decency from the heterosexual students as it is  obviously going to do with the homosexual students.  They can all do their dirty dancing after the prom.

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