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Kessler Park UMC backs Boy Scouts’ proposal to allow gay youth

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 4:47pm

KesslerPark

 

Kessler Park United Methodist Church has made its stance on inclusion in the Boy Scouts clear to its members today.

The church posted on its Facebook that it hoped the National Council votes this week to “adopt the resolution eliminating heterosexuality as a requirement for a youth’s participation in scouting.”

Troop 5 is charted by the church and is one of the oldest troops in Dallas. Methodist churches are the second-largest sponsors of troops nationwide.

“Our church, we would assert, has long experience attempting to reconcile diversity, security, and godliness,” the post reads. “We believe that Christ’s teachings, as well as the Scout Oath and Law which flow from Christ’s words, call us to welcome all persons of good will in the training of children to become wholesome adults.”

The BSA National Council will vote on the resolution to only admit gay youth at its meeting later this week.

Read Kessler Park UMC’s full statement below.

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— Anna Waugh

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Meet our shamelessly self-promoting summer intern, Dakota Shain Byrd

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 2:04pm

Dakota_ByrdHey y’all!

I’m thrilled to be here and be a part of the Dallas Voice team. I’ve written a few articles for the Voice before and am looking forward to working for them this summer.

So some info about me. Despite how young I look, I’m actually 22. Yes, I know I’ll be thanking divinity for my great genes later on. Haha!

I’m a creative writing major at the University of North Texas and am seeking a minor in social sciences with a concentration in anthropology. I’m from a military family so I was always studying people and culture in order to learn how to best try and fit in.

Additionally, just last week I was accepted to the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LBGT Voices. It’s a huge opportunity and is from July 28-Aug. 4, the week after my internship is finished. I’ll need some help getting there, though.

If you can make a donation, it’s 100 percent tax-deductible and every dollar helps! Even if all you can donate is a dollar, it helps. I only have to raise $300. I’m an aspiring author and my manuscript, The Black Night Rave, is under consideration at Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin Group) and has been requested by a few agents. If I get to the Lambda Literary Retreat, this will definitely be a huge plus and garner some notice for my work. So, please help me? In turn, my work would help bring us closer to total inclusion and acceptance into society.

I look forward to hearing from and connecting y’all!

Follow me on Twitter, add me on Facebook, and check out my blog as well! I am launching my blog tomorrow and will update it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure you bookmark the page to keep up with all the zany, fun, hilarious and outright amazing things that happen on my road to getting published, and for tips on how to break into various forms of publishing and tricks of the trade.

— Dakota Byrd

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TX-based Millions of Moms for Love counters One Million Moms’ hate

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 1:22pm

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor more than 20 years, gays have gathered in Orlando the first week of June for Gay Days at Walt Disney World, where folks and their friends and families can experience the Magic Kingdom and all its camp appeal. Over the decades, it has grown to a weeklong event, covering all the Disney parks (as well as Universal) and attracting hundreds of thousands of out-and-proud people, looking to enjoy the amusements.

And for almost as long, it has been a lightning rod for hate groups.

Disney does not officially sponsor Gay Days (though, as a regular attendee for many years, I can tell you they don’t oppose it), but that hasn’t stopped homophobic groups like the American Family Association and spinoff One Million Moms from accusing the House of Mouse and gays of “expos[ing] and desensitiz[ing] children to this lifestyle by same-sex couples holding hands, hugging and kissing.” Let’s ignore for a minute that “holding hands, hugging and kissing” is also what parents do with the kids, and couples of all ages do in public on a daily basis without causing a stir. Still, OMM is urging its supporters to email Disney and demand they not “go along” with Gay Days.

Of course, I don’t know how Disney could stop it: You show up with money and a ticket, they let you in — they are a business. But that doesn’t stop OMM.

It has, however, spurred a straight Texas mother, Darcy Christ, to act. (Don’t you just love her last name? Christ is on our side!) Earlier this month, Christ started a Facebook fan page to get folks who believe in love to oppose OMM and their rants against gays. She’s also teamed with Outloud Enterprises, which has established a page where you can sign a letter to Disney voicing your support for inclusion.

And, of course, you can show your support simply by attending Gay Days and spending money. For some reason, that seems to work.

— Arnold Wayne Jones

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Man appeals dismissal of suit alleging Texas AG fired him for being gay

Posted on 20 May 2013 at 9:33am
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Jason Smith

The case of a gay Tyler man who sued the Texas Attorney General’s office for employment discrimination comes before the Court of Appeals in Austin this week.

Vic A. Gardner worked for the AG’s child support division for about three years. He received excellent performance reviews until an office Halloween costume party, the suit alleges. When he attended dressed as a geisha girl, his supervisor determined he was gay.

Once his sexual orientation was assumed by the supervisor, he was repeatedly disciplined until he resigned in February, according to his attorney, Jason Smith of Fort Worth.

In a sworn affidavit, the supervisor admitted he had a religious objection to Gardner being gay.

“You are who you are, but try not to be so out,” Smith said his client was told.

Knowing Gardner’s father was a Baptist minister, the supervisor asked Gardner at one point how he could do that to his father.

In October 2010, a lower court judge ruled the AG had immunity from prosecution and dismissed the case. Gardner appealed in November 2010 but withdrew his appeal in January 2011.

Gardner’s new appeal is asking the court to order a jury trial. The AG contends all Gardner can do is ask for reinstatement. Smith said his client is entitled to lost wages and more.

Continue reading “Man appeals dismissal of suit alleging Texas AG fired him for being gay” »

— David Taffet

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Activists plan 2nd annual Dallas Harvey Milk celebration May 26

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 2:42pm
Participants hold candles as they listen to speakers Tuesday, May 22, during Dallas’ first-ever Harvey Milk Day celebration at the Legacy of Love Monument. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

Participants hold candles as they listen to speakers May 22, 2012, during Dallas’ first-ever Harvey Milk Day celebration at the Legacy of Love Monument. (John Wright/Dallas Voice)

Dallas activists are having a Harvey Milk celebration again this year.

The event will include speakers, music and a staged reading of “Dear Harvey” by Patricia Loughrey, which will be the first time the play has been staged in Dallas in any form.

GetEQUAL TX regional coordinator Daniel Cates, who is directing it, said he hopes to mount a full production later in the year.

“This is a beautiful piece and one that I am excited to bring to Dallas,” he said in a statement. “Harvey’s message of hope is one that all people, LGBT and not, should hear. This will be an inspiring evening.”

“Dear Harvey” is an ensemble piece created though interviews with people who actually knew Milk, his personal and political writings, newspaper stories and letters written to him from across the nation.

The cast includes the the Rev. Carol West of Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, Lynn Walters, executive director of Hope for Peace and Justice, Jeffrey Harper, Mark Calloway, Todd Whitley and Alan Dudley of the Cathedral of Hope Theatre Ministry, and local activist Natalie Johnson.

The 2nd annual event planned by GetEQUAL TX and Hope for Peace and Justice will be 7 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at Cathedral of Hope’s Interfaith Peace Chapel.

“It is important for us to celebrate and remember our history as LGBT people. No one is going to tell our story for us, we have to do it ourselves. We owe it to younger generations to let them know where they come from and how far they can go,” Cates said.

Tickets to the Dallas Harvey Milk Celebration are available here for a suggested $15 All proceeds benefit programs of Hope for Peace and Justice and GetEQUAL TX.

— Anna Waugh

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Equal Scouting Summit to take place next week when BSA discusses gay ban

Posted on 17 May 2013 at 10:30am

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Scouts for Equality and the Inclusive Scouting Network are holding a national Equal Scouting Summit next week while the Boy Scouts’ National Council debates whether or not to allow gay youth.

The event will bring together national leaders and discuss how to make the BSA more inclusive moving forward. Jennifer Tyrrell, Zach Wahls, Greg Bourke, Will Oliver and Eagle Scout Dave McGrath, who is biking 1,800 miles with his son for equality, are among the speakers.

The Voice of the Gay Scout project will also be a part of the summit. Gay Scouts are encouraged to send letters about what they would say to members of the BSA’s National Council. Scouts and allies will bring the letters to the National Council and read them aloud. Letters can be sent to voice@inclusivescouting.net.

The summit is May 22-24 at the Great Wolf Lodge, 100 Great Wolf Drive in Grapevine.

For more information or to RSVP, go here.

— Anna Waugh

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Rawlings calls anti-gay flier at council meeting ‘just plain unacceptable’

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 2:03pm
Rawlings.Mike

Mayor Mike Rawlings

Below our post about an anti-gay flier distributed at a Dallas City Council meeting on Wednesday, one commenter suggested that Mayor Mike Rawlings is fostering an environment conducive to hate by not being more outspoken in support of LGBT equality:

“I urge all readers to contact the Mayor’s office and voice your displeasure with Mayor Rawlings’ apathetic and cowardly approach in addressing LGBT equality,” Mack Clark wrote. “Stories like this illustrate how imperative it is that Mayor Rawlings act as a leader and speak out against those who spew hatred and defame the Mayor’s LGBT constituency. Mayor Rawlings is obviously in bed with these hatemongers, thus his hesitance to proclaim otherwise. This is outrageous.”

A review of the video from the council meeting shows that two council members — Dwaine Caraway and Angela Hunt — had a chance to speak against the flier before Rawlings adjourned the meeting without addressing the matter. Caraway suggested that the mayor undertake a review of the rules governing public comments at council meetings, and Hunt seconded the suggestion, calling the flier “disgusting.” Curious what the mayor’s thoughts were, I reached out to Rawlings’ office today.

“The behavior Richard Sheridan displayed yesterday at the end of the city council meeting was disrespectful, discourteous, and inappropriate and will not be tolerated,” Rawlings chief of staff, Paula Blackmon, wrote in an email. “The city attorney’s office is reviewing speaker guidelines so that this type of action will not happen again. It is just plain unacceptable.”

I also asked if Rawlings has decided how he’ll vote on a council resolution backing marriage equality and LGBT employment protections, but Blackmon didn’t respond to that question.

— John Wright

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San Antonio religious leaders threaten lawsuits to end city’s DP benefits

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 1:07pm
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Philip Sevilla

Two religious leaders are threatening lawsuits if the city doesn’t stop offering domestic partner benefits in light of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s advisory opinion saying they violate the state Constitution.

Pastor Gerald Ripley of Voices for Marriage and Philip Sevilla of Texas Leadership Coalition addressed the San Antonio City Council Wednesday, threatening lawsuits in order to stop the benefits from being offered if the city doesn’t end them by June 30, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

“Lawsuits will be filed if necessary,” Ripley said.

“We cannot allow this in San Antonio. We are not San Francisco,” Sevilla said.

City attorney Mike Bernard told the newspaper the city won’t change its policy until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in two key marriage equality cases.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro has supported the benefits and said last month Abbott’s opinion to take away the benefits would hold Texas back.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth officials aren’t changing anything to the city’s DP benefits program because of Abbott’s opinion, according to an employee newsletter sent out yesterday.

— Anna Waugh

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DGLA endorses Kingston in runoff

Posted on 16 May 2013 at 12:37pm

Kingston.PhilipThe Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance has endorsed Philip Kingston in the District 14 Dallas City Council runoff. Kingston faces Bobby Abtahi in the June 15 election. Abtahi has the backing of Stonewall Democrats. DGLA originally endorsed Jim Rogers, who finished third among seven candidates and out of the runoff on May 11.

DGLA PAC chair Damien Duckett said his organization believes Kingston has the same sort of independent spirit as incumbent Angela Hunt, who is stepping down due to term limits.

“It allows her to stand up on the council even when it’s not popular,” he said. “He made the PAC feel he’ll be that same sort of councilman.”

In deciding on the endorsement, PAC member Nell Gaither recused herself from the discussion because she had previously endorsed Kingston.

Duckett called the decision between Abtahi and Kingston difficult because PAC members like both of the candidates but felt Kingston was the stronger of the two.

Duckett said the group was impressed with Kingston’s performance at the DGLA forum held in March at Sue Ellen’s.

“One of the messages I tried to deliver at the forum was you can’t be the District 14 rep without reaching out to the LGBT community,” Kingston said.

Four of the seven candidates in the race skipped the forum.

“I like that group and I’m really excited about the endorsement,” Kingston said.

— David Taffet

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Hateful anti-gay flier prompts Dallas City Council to review speaker rules

Posted on 15 May 2013 at 7:41pm

Sheridan.Rich

 

On Tuesday we wrote about an anti-gay flier attacking Dallas City Council candidate Leland Burk that was found in a newspaper box in Preston Hollow on Election Day. We also mentioned that a copy of the flier had suspiciously been included in an email sent out by fellow District 13 candidate Rich Sheridan a few days later. Well, as if we needed any more evidence that Sheridan was responsible for the flier, he was distributing an even more hateful version of it at City Hall today, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Rudy Bush. The latest flier, shown above, is a distortion of Dallas Voice’s April 26 cover showing the three openly gay City Council candidates this year, with X’s through their faces and 6′s on their foreheads.

“God’s voice was heard in Dallas Saturday. No openly gay LGBT City Councilmember!!” the flier states, referring to the fact that all three gay candidates lost their races.

Sheridan, who received just 28 votes out of 10,350 that were cast in the District 13 race, also left a threatening, profanity-laced voicemail for a People Newspapers reporter, attacking him for failing to mention in his coverage that Burk is gay. But it was his actions at City Hall today that got the attention of officials. According to The DMN’s Bush, Sheridan was distributing copies of the flier to the audience during the City Council meeting when he gave one to gay former Councilman Craig Holcomb, who later stood up to address the council.

“If I were quiet that would be wrong,” Holcomb said. “It allows that kind of thought to flourish. It allows the person to think that is acceptable thought, and it is not acceptable.”

In response to Sheridan’s flier and Holcomb’s comments, Councilman Dwaine Caraway asked Mayor Mike Rawlings to change the rules so that speakers can address the council only once a month, to limit the amount of hatred that can be spewed by people like Sheridan. Councilwoman Angela Hunt seconded Caraway’s suggestion.

Of course, council members could also send a strong message to Sheridan and other haters by unanimously approving a resolution backing marriage equality and LGBT employment protections that they’re scheduled to vote on in June.

Watch video of the meeting by going here and clicking on Open Microphone Speakers (Part 2 of 2). Holcomb is the final speaker.

— John Wright

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