Author Archives: Jim Reeves

About Jim Reeves

A liberal gay atheist living in the heart of central California's Bible belt, surrounded by oranges, walnuts, dairies and Republicans. A 9-1-1 dispatcher by career, a blogger and computer nerd by choice. If your emergency requires a cop, a fireman, a paramedic, or a blog, I'm the guy you need to call!

Gay Romney aide quits campaign

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Two weeks after accepting the post of foreign policy spokesman with the Mitt Romney campaign, Richard A. Grenell has resigned.

After a firestorm of criticism from the right (for being gay) and the left (for being a pro-marriage supporter working for Romney, an anti-marriage candidate), Grenell resigned, saying “my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.”

A snarky Tweeter, Grenell had purged his Twitter account of over 800 Tweets, viewed by many as attacks on Democrats and women, and taken down a personal web site. (info at Slate.com.)  That wasn’t enough for the left, and nothing he could do would satisfy the right (except perhaps if he became “ex-gay”).

Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said they wanted Grenell to stay, but accepted the resignation.  “We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill.”

It will be interesting to see if the rabid right-wing in this country will support Romney after  his hiring Grenell in the first place.  Will they hold their nose and vote Republican, or will they simply sit this election out?

Story at Boston.com.

Tennessee “Don’t Say Gay” Bill dead, but schools still can’t say “Gay”

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Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald of the Tennessee state legislature has pulled the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, SB 49, from consideration.  The bill will die with the expiration of the term of the 107th General Assembly.  However, schools in Tennessee will still be told state law says they cannot “Say Gay” in their classrooms.

A letter will be sent out by the state Board of Education and the Department of Education (and perhaps by the Department of Redundancy Department?) telling Tennessee K-8 schools that “classroom instruction, course materials or other informational resources that are inconsistent with natural human reproduction shall be classified as inappropriate for the intended student audience and, therefore, shall be prohibited.”

The bill’s author says he may re-file the legislation, if there is any indication of “alternate lifestyles” being prompted in Tennessee schools in spite of the warnings from the state offices.

So, no “Don’t Say Gay” law in Tennessee, but you still can’t say gay in school.  This being Tennessee and all, I wonder what they teach about moonshine?

See Knoxnews.com’s Humphrey on the Hill for the story.

Family Acceptance Project speaker to visit rural California

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Tulare County is located in the vast Central Valley of California, is the nation’s #1 dairy producer, and ranks consistently #2 or #3 in overall agricultural production in the United States.  Visalia, the county seat, was also the home of EricJames Borges, a 19 year old gay man whose suicide garnered attention worldwide in January, 2012.

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“Our Time” a good read

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A collection of short essays written by active duty and former military personnel, “Our Time” chronicles the hardships and joys of gays and lesbians as they navigated the stormy waters before and during “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and in the months between the signing ceremony and the actual end of the policy.

Sometimes joyful, sometimes profoundly saddening, and sometimes infuriating stories of real people caught up in the desire to serve their country, rise to the high standards demanded by that service, and finding themselves having to choose between those standards and those desires.  Some chose to come out and accept the responsibility and repercussions of that decision, others chose to remain closeted in order to continue serving the country they love, and some straddle a fence, trying to be honest with themselves and the people they serve with as well as honoring the rules.

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Bullying – Short video by Selma, California, High School Students

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Students from the Selma, California High School Teens for Change, Students Making a Difference, and the GSA clubs present “Bullying”.   The video highlights the physical and emotional pain students feel due to bullying.

Selma is a rural California community of 23,000, located in the Central Valley.  Selma is southeast of the City of Fresno, in southern Fresno County.

Young Christian gives powerful sermon on homosexuality and the Bible

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Matthew Vines took a break from his studies at Harvard University in 2010 to study the issue of what the Bible really says about homosexuality.  His conclusions should be of interest to all gay Christians, as he explains how the Bible does NOT condemn homosexuality, or same sex relationships.  You might expect him to come from a liberal Christian theological background, but his upbringing is in the Evangelical Church.

In this hour long talk given on March 8, 2012, at the College Hill United Methodist Church, in Witchita, Kansas, Vines provides strong arguments that the traditional bias against homosexuality is a false interpretation of Scripture.  Calm, articulate, organized, and lacking the fire-and-brimstone oratory usually seen when the issue of homosexuality is raised from the pulpit, Vines explains why the traditional anti-gay animus based on the Bible is wrong, and how Christians must understand that same-sex relations can enjoy the same acceptance and  favor in the eyes of their God as heterosexual relationships.

Here’s the transcript of his talk.

Gay.net has more on the talk given by Vines.

London Mayor pulls ‘ex-gay’ bus ads

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After London buses carried Stonewall’s “Some people are gay. Get over it!” ads, Christian groups banded together to purchase advertising stating “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay, and proud! Get over it!”  London mayor Boris Johnson contacted The Guardian two hours after the notification was made public that the ‘ex-gay’ ads would be going up on London buses, to announce that he had ordered them pulled.

The mayor told The Guardian, “London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses.”

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Fresno troupe presents Hamlet, with a twist.

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The New Ensemble is set to open a female-driven version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet next week at the Broken Leg Stage.
The production not only features TNE founding member Brooke Aiello in the typically male lead, but showcases the talents of four other women in the eleven-person cast. This, too, is rare for a play usually performed with as few as two actresses.
TNE Artistic Director Heather Parish said her casting selections were as simple as “I had several incredibly talented women audition, and they were cast.” However, once it became obvious that the show was going to end up taking on a feminine mystique, there were issues that needed to be immediately addressed.

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