Marriage Equality ... in Kentucky?

Marriage Equality Kentucky (TM) has announced a public petition to remove the voter-approved Constitutional Amendment 233A, voted for in 2004, which limits the definition of marriage in that state as between one man and one woman.

You might remember that there was a host of states in 2004 that passed marriage amendments ranging from just banning marriage -- Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and Oregon -- to banning marriage and civil unions -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah -- to all contracts -- Michigan. It was perceived then, as now, as a move to bring out the radical right to the voting booth and push George W. Bush into his second term as President. It worked.

Kentucky is one of the few states actually moving to repeal, at this point, it seems. I have heard nothing from any of the above states listed. In my own opinion, it is too early for marriage, though I am not against the attempt made. I think a lot of these states lack in the very basic protections for LGBTQ folks. Ohio itself is still facing a shockingly uphill battle just receiving employment and housing protections for sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Public accomodations and hate crimes on a statewide level, word is, is further down the line. And the adoption fight is very real in some of those states; Ohio itself may soon be threatened with right wingers banning gay folk from adopting.

In a world where we seem to have the support of most voters in theory, it's amazing how slow we've been able to turn that support into action, isn't it?

But back to the point...

Marriage Equality Kentucky (TM), under the funding of a friend of this blog, the Kentucky Equality Federation, is starting a petition to repeal Constitutional Amendment 233A. If you are a Kentucky resident and believe in marriage equality, I recommend you sign it. The petition will be organized by zip code an presented to the Kentucky legislature.

Bunning Still in the Race

Despite previous reports that Jim Bunning has endorsed Tray Grayson for the Senate, and the possible indication that he's actually stepping out of the race, it seems the current Senator from Kentucky is still in the race.

At a dinner for Republican stalwarts in Kentucky, Bunning had these words about his political future:

Bunning touted his conservative credentials and congressional voting record and asked his fellow Republicans for support in the coming year. He reiterated his re-election plans.

"I am nobody's puppet. I am my own man," Bunning said during his remarks. "I hope and pray I can count on your support in the coming months. The battle is going to be long, but I am prepared to fight for my values. I hope you are with me."

I've said it before, I'll say it again: this man is an insane, and he's a genius, which makes him the most dangerous man for the Republican party today.

And when the nascent Bunning campaign explodes, it becomes a perfect opportunity for Mongiardo or Conway to step up to be the drama-free candidate for change. That is, unless Grayson pulls off a miracle. Regardless, Bunning is going to make such outrageous demands for the possible Republican nominee as to render him useless.

It's sick and beautiful.... almost exciting in a way. This is turning into an election soap opera for the ages.

UofL Protest Against McConnell

Yesterday, a group organizing via Facebook protested Sen. Mitch McConnell's convocation speech at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law's Graduation. Approximately 20 protesters shows up, with many more wearing buttons that stated "Sen. McConnell Does Not Speak for Me" throughout the whole ceremony. They are particularly angry about McConnell's support of the 1996 Federal Defense of Marriage Act, though I know that's not the only reason to dislike the Senator from an LGBT view point (or from a human point at all). In case you're wondering, the central argument against the vote is the breach of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution.

From the press release (forwarded to me from the organizer, Curtis Morrison):

Many graduating students, their families and friends attending the graduation sported buttons that read "Sen. McConnell Does Not Speak for Me." Outside the graduation, about 20 activists protested McConnell's support of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Senator supported and voted himself to pass D.o.M.A. in 1996. Although the City of Louisville didn't anticipate any problems from the protest, even noting "No off-duty police provided" on the permit, there were several Louisville Police Department Officers on the scene for the duration of the 3 hour protest.

As the Graduation began letting out, one of the Off-Duty Police Officers moved a vehicle from a 30-Minute parking spot directly in front of the building to make way for a full-size cargo van from the University of Louisville's Physical Plant, which blocked the protesters from view of passing traffic on Broadway. The driver of the cargo van told Curtis Morrison, one of the protest organizers, that he had been instructed to park the van in that location.

The Hillbilly Report covered the event, and noted the obvious lack of local news coverage (or any of the local blogosphere, though our friends at QueerLouisville pimped the event beforehand, as did Queerty). The Report gives us this video of the event, including testimonials from people who participated:

There are also great pictures on photobucket and Facebook (I have received confirmation that the Facebook album is OK to release to the public; I am assuming the photobucket album is the same). It did look like a fabulous day to protest, didn't it? 

I think they are doing the right thing, even if nothing comes out of this protest. It's about time we started pressuring people who voted for ther 1996 DOMA and reminding ourselves who those people were (link for Senate). (Complete list of House vote here.) A lot of them are still in office, btw, which is as disturbing of a fast as the fact that it was passed so overwhelmingly.

In other Kentucky news, there was a hubub about a week ago at Fraklin County High School (Frankfort area) where all homosexual students were banned from using the restrooms in the schools after two girls were caught kissing in one. Kentucky Equality Federation is asking for investigations into this absurdity.

Bunning May Retire

Thanks to TheHill.com, via Electoral-vote.com:

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) has formed an exploratory committee to run for Senate with the consent of his would-be primary opponent, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), sources tell The Hill.

Bunning, who has angrily pushed back against talk that he would retire in 2010 at the end of his second term, met with Grayson on Wednesday in Washington. The senator has not announced his 2010 intentions but he made clear to Grayson that he would not begrudge an exploratory committee, a move sources said will allow Bunning to appear as a kingmaker...

Grayson, an up-and-coming GOP star, will give Republicans a much better chance of retaining the seat than Bunning would have. A statewide elected official who survived what was otherwise a good year for Democrats in 2007, Grayson has been laying the groundwork for a Senate bid, though he made clear he would not run against Bunning.

"I have no plans to run against Sen. Bunning. This exploratory committee will allow me to travel the commonwealth, meet with potential supporters and lay the foundation for a campaign," Grayson said in a statement.

I have this thought Bunning is playing this out to run against McConnell in.. 2012? Or perhaps Governor... Remember, Bunning is a political smarty-pants, and he's mildly insane. Which makes him dangerous -- and exciting.

Grayson, meanwhile, looks like a Senator -- very old school, very... well, I thought he'd be better looking.

Kentucky Anti-Gay Senate Bill is DEAD

YEA!!!! From 365gay.com:

Legislation that would bar unmarried couples in Kentucky from adopting or fostering children was declared officially dead Wednesday after the state Senate’s GOP leadership declined to schedule a vote.

The measure passed a key committee last week and was sent for a vote on the floor of the Senate. But with the current session set to end on Friday, the bill was not placed on the agenda.

Even if the bill won Senate approval, it would have to be sent to the House and passed there before the end of the week.

The sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Gary Tapp (R) said he hopes to bring back the measure in the next session. But even then its future is uncertain.

The measure said that anyone “cohabitating with a sexual partner outside of marriage” cannot be considered as a foster or adoptive parent.

Although the bill would affect all unmarried couples living together it was seen as specifically targeting same-sex couples.

I wonder what did it?

More on Bunning

I just love covering this man, and Electoral-vote.com keeps feeding me so I'm perfectly happy to report.

Electoral-vote.com's take on the latest news:

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), had a poll taken in February and has refused to release the results. Normally, politicians release their internal polls when they are favorable and hide them when they are not. When reporters asked about the poll, Bunning said "If you paid the 20 grand for the poll, you can get some information out of it." Actually, we do get some information from his statement: polls of this kind apparently cost $20,000. (Emphasis mine. -- QC) This incident puts another nail in Bunning's coffin. The Republicans will now probably do anything to get rid of him as they perceive him as very vulnerable.

HA! I wonder what the poll said. Can we get a pollster to run one and see what it says? PLEASE.

Of course, the site left out the best part of the quote, when Bunning told reporters that it was none of their "goddamn business." Signs the man may be in trouble? When he starts cussing at reporters. My uncle always said he won an argument when the other side started swearing.

Kentucky Anti-Gay Leaflet Investigated

Thanks to Back2Stonewall.com's post on this (he doesn't site any sources, but he's really reliable generally, so I'm assuming it's on the up-and-up):

The Kentucky Attorney General’s office is investigating anonymous pamphlets that smeared Covington City Commission candidate Shawn Masters and were distributed shortly before the Nov. 4 election.

City Commissioner Steve Megerle and former Commissioner Jerry Bamberger were subjects of the investigation when Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders in December referred the matter to the state, Sanders confirmed Friday and are currently being investigated by the KY Attorney’s General Office.

Bamberger confirmed he was told he was being investigated and said he could not comment further, referring questions to Phil Taliaferro, an attorney representing him. Megerle is represented by his father, who also is named Steve Megerle. The elder Megerle declined to comment...

The pamphlets, which some describe as having an anti-gay overtone in part because they question his “moral value,” included images of documents that reveal Masters, who was running in his first election, is gay. (Masters actually is openly gay) and the phamplet also revealed Masters’ name, date of birth and Social Security number, making him prone to identity theft.

Thanks, Wolfie!!! (He updates us in the comments, here's the Cincinnati.com story.)

PS -- > We have an openly gay commissioner in Kentucky? Why had I never heard of this?

Catholics Hate Gay Connecticut

The Catholics have lost their freaking minds, out of Connecticut:

The Connecticut Catholic Conference is asking lawmakers to expand the category of those who don't have to comply with the state's new same-sex marriage law if their religion holds that such unions are wrong.

People such as florists, wedding photographers and justices of the peace.

"Same-sex couples have their liberties protected fully. Religious people are wondering, 'How is this going to affect me?'" said David Reynolds, lobbyist for the Catholic Church.

Reynolds raised his concerns Friday as the legislature's judiciary committee considered a bill to ensure that existing statutes comport with the landmark state Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

"A situation has been created ... where state policy seriously conflicts with the religious beliefs of a large number of the citizens of the state," Reynolds said. He cited examples in other states where businesspeople have faced legal action because they declined, on religious grounds, to provide goods or services to same-sex couples.

Don't the Catholics have some souls to save? Some counseling to do? Some sermons to preach? Something else to do besides encourage discrimination against LGBT people in the state?

I mean really. It's been a weird week for gay people.

Don't forget the shady shit done by the Kentucky Senate in advancing the anti-gay adoption bill. Apparently, when you're losing, just play dirty politics and everything will be OK.

Oy! Republican Shenanigans!

First off, we have Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) who is threatening to resign from the Senate if the Republican Party doesn't lay off and stop asking him to not run in 2010. The situation in Kentucky is turning into one of the juiciest things heating up, no? Well, that and the whole Minnesota Senator thing which, at this point, I think we're all just over.

From the Courier-Journal (out of Louisville):

Already in conflict with his party’s leaders, Sen. Jim Bunning has reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation.

The Kentucky Republican suggested that possible scenario at a campaign fundraiser for him on Capitol Hill earlier this week, according to three sources who asked not to be identified because of the politically sensitive nature of Bunning’s remarks.

The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement — a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

“I would get the last laugh. Don’t forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor,” one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

“The only logical extension of that comment is, ‘(Make me mad) … enough and I’ll resign, and then you’ve got 60 Democrats,’ ” said another source who was present at the event.

This is funny because I was just reading about the 17th Amendment in re Roland Burris and was amused by the whole process of gubernatorial appointments to the US Senate for open seats. Anyways, Bunning is insane, but brilliant... which makes him dangerous.

For the moment, he's the Republican Blagojevich.

Yea, and, apparently, Sarah Palin remains at the head of the Republican Party Presidential wanna-be's for 2012. Palin has 29% support, with Huckabee just 3 points behind, and Romney 5 points behind MH. I just have this to say about polling this far out: even a year and a half out, we were all pretty sure Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic nominee, and Giuliani the Republican, right? Right. Worthless, but it tells us about the usefulness of polls at this point.

And I really should watch Jindal's speech, shouldn't I? The exorcist either was brilliant or a waste of everyone's time.

Which is not that dissimilar to most people's feelings on Sarah Palin.

Funny -- I think this is the first time I've ever written about Bobby Jindal. Weird. (Thanks to Electoral-Vote.com for the updates.)

Kentucky Protest

Word on the street is that it went well. Congratulations, Kentucky Fairness -- today, you are filled with awesomeness. I'm sure QueerLouisville will give us the rundown soon enough :-). Please? Who went? I wanna hear!

For more information about the proposed anti-gay adoption law in the state house, here's a brief bit from WKYT.

Oh, and Hawaii's civil union bill is stalled in committee -- grrrrr....

Discrimination against the haters

Don't be a hater, apparently you will get discriminated against, as well.

From Kentucky.com:

"We're disappointed because Christian students and other students who do not approve of homosexual behavior (are not) second-class citizens simply because of their viewpoint," Oster said.

This is in reaction to the Supreme Court refusing to hear a whiney lawsuit where a Christian boy in rural Kentucky (actually, not that far from here -- Boyd County) said that allowing a GSA and non-discrimination policies for gays and lesbians was discriminatory against him.

Uh-huh.

In other news, apparently fundies in Australia think that gays and lesbians want children as trophies and North Carolina prepares for another bout with a DOMA (review: NC is the only state without a DOMA in the South). Oh, and even in a bluer state, it's okay to call homosexuality an abomination on the state legislative floor.

I mean, really, folks... so much hate for the religious. Why can't we just be a Christian nation to accomodate them?

What, Bunning? Oh, and Progressives from Ohio

So, thanks to Electoral-vote.com today, we see that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is fully expecting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to be dead in nine months or less due to her pancreatic cancer.

Real compassionate.

The same website also points out that the Republicans are trying to get Bunning to retire, desperately, for fear of a successful challenge from Kentucky State Senate President, David Williams. Hrm. I've all ready forgotten whom we've talked about on the Dem side in this race -- was it Mongiardo?

On the flip side, we have ratings out from the ProgressivePunch detailing the relative progressiveness of all the Senators and Representatives in the country. Local boys in the Senate (it's a little skewed -- Burris and Gillibrand are numbers 1 and 2, and they just started):

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) -- 8th most progressive with 97.45%

Sen. Evan Bayd (D-IN) -- 49th most progressive with 78.59%

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) -- 63rd with 16.91%

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) -- 65th with 14.06%

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) -- 90th with 3.19%

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) -- 92nd with 4.12%

And some local boys/girls in the House:

Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) -- 60th most progressive

Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) -- 65th

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- 71st

Rep. Timothy Ryan (D-OH) -- 90th

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) -- 119th

Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) -- 141st

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) -- 149th

Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) -- 167th

Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) -- 181st

Rep. Charles Wilson (D-OH) -- 195th

Rep. Zach Space (D-OH) -- 213th

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) -- 220th

Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) - 222nd

Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) -- 250th

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) -- 269th

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) -- 278th

Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) -- 291st

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) -- 302nd

Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) -- 307th

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) -- 317th

Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH) -- 334th

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) -- 336th

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) -- 344th

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) -- 347th

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) -- 348th

There's a long list of (assumedly) new hires that are not yet listed, including our own Steve Driehaus and Columbus newbie Mary Jo Kilroy. (If you can't find yours on the above list, they are probably unranked as of yet.) I think it's really interesting that the division is even among party lines. In fact, in the House, a very sharp division between R/D.

We'll see how that all plays out.

Call to Action in Kentucky!

From, of all place, the HRC:

On February 5, a terrible bill was filed in the State Senate that would prohibit adoption or foster parenting by any individual "cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage that is legally valid in Kentucky." This mean-spirited bill (SB 68) is aimed directly at the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and must be stopped.

This bill works against the best interest of children who deserve loving homes. The state of Kentucky should not deny qualified applicants when there are over 7,000 children in need of permanent homes.

We talked about this last night -- the whole gay adoption thing and the sinfully ugly man known as State Senator Gary Tapp. The Fairness Alliance is organizing a rally and lobby day on the 25th:

****Fairness Rally and Lobby Day in Frankfort***

Wednesday, February 25

8:30 a.m: Meeting and Lobby Training in Capitol Annex 111

9 a.m.- noon: Meet with your legislators

12:30 - 1:30 p.m: Fairness Rally

Capitol Building
700 Capitol Ave.
Frankfort, KY 40601

We cannot let unequal protections for our families perpetuate any further, especially when this inequality hits so close to home.

For more information, please contact fairness@fairness.org.

(Thanks to IMPACT Cincinnati for the information.)

Kentucky Trying to Ban Gay Adoption

I am so over the anti-gay adoption thing. Outside of Florida, has this worked anywhere? (Right, well, Arkansas... but I'm still blaming Huckabee on that.) Even the Florida thing is going away, I think, shortly.

From Pink News:

A state Senator in Kentucky has introduced a bill that will ban unmarried couples from adoption.

Human rights group The Fairness Campaign called Senator Gary Tapp’s bill "deceptively-worded."

"It is identical to a measure recently passed in Arkansas that prohibits adoption or foster care by an applicant 'cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage that is legally valid in Kentucky'," the group said.

"The language of the bill renders not just same-gender couples unfit to parent, but countless heterosexual couples that could serve as "next of kin" placement for children in need.

"The state would be forced to provide millions in additional foster care, an irresponsible burden to add to the Commonwealth's economic crisis."

And, yes, kids, that is a picture of State Senator Gary Tapp above. Sad, isn't it?

Jeez. Let's just kill this one soon. Go to the Fairness Campaign to find out how.

Mongiardo (or Conway)-Bunning in 2010?

The KYPost is reporting that Daniel Mongiardo, Lt. Gov. of Kentucky, is seeking to replace Jim Bunning in his Senate seat. Unfortunately for Bunning, he is not being widely supported by his own party.

Mongiardo lost his bid for Senate in 2004 against Bunning by a paltry 1%.

So we have: popular Lt. Gov. with a history of performing well against a popular incumbent GOP Senator, after the incumbent's own party asked him to retire. Sounds like a fun recipe.

Electoral-vote.com is also reporting that Attorney General, Jack Conway, may also seek the Dem nomination for 2010. As we saw in 2008, primaries are not always a bad thing as they get a chance to vet the candidate on softer terms between people of the same party who have a vested interest.

If it's all the same, 2010 looks like the year a Dem is elected to the Senate in Kentucky. Too bad Mongiardo is bad on same sex marriage, but he IS good on safe schools.

Oh, but this is fun, apparently Bunning likes to accuse both of these men that they are gay. Fabulous. Here is goes again. Jesus. To which Mongiardo, btw, responded by getting engaged to a 21 year old. Ha! Charlie Crist what? And apparently the Jack Conway rumors arise out of the fact that he has accepted money from homosexuals. Outing -- not just for the Advocate anymore.

Meanwhile, in more appropriate news from this blog, Jack Conway is gorgeous. Jack, if you are gay, call me. I have lots of women that can cover for us:

Bunning Urged Not to Run for Third Term

Another tri-state Senator may see his stay in the US Senate cut short, barring his own audacity to run against his parties wishes.

From Huffington Post:

Some Republicans are privately urging Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) to step down at the end of his term amid growing concerns that he can't win reelection in 2010.

According to two GOP sources, leading Republican fundraisers in Kentucky are hesitant to raise money for Bunning and have told him he should not seek a third term.

That's two big conservatives down. I think the Dem in Ohio running against Portman will have a better chance than any Dem in Kentucky, as the Dem bench in KY is considerably smaller.

But, we'll see, and I'm sure I'll keep you updated.

New Blogger "On the Block"

Welcome to QueerLouisville to the world of blogging!!! :-)

So, these folks added me on Twitter (QL's twitter and my twitter), and they called me ... sigh ... an inspiration, and god knows that the easiest way for me to do something is butter my bread just right and there it is. QueerLouisville, then, gets their own blog post... and they will be blogrolled as soon as I get home this morning (hint hint ;-)).

This is what I know about being gay in Louisville: Connections is a hopping place. That's right, that's all I know. See, my family is technically from Louisville. Though I was born in Lexington, and raised in Charleston (SC), my grandparents and the majority of my extended family live eitehr in a suburb (St. Matthews, I believe), or in a farming community outside the metro (near Campbellsburg). The most I know about Louisville is how to get from my grandparents house to my uncle's house... and even that is questionable most days. In fact, when I was driving down five times a week while my grandfather was in the hospital before he died, I still had to take a map with me every day just so I didn't get lost. Really.

My knowledge of queer stuff in Louisville is limited, though I keep saying I'm going to make it down one day. . . but when I make a trip to a big gay city, the first place I think is Columbus.

...and if I really want to make a trip, I'll drive all the way to Adonis the Nightclub.

Anyways, so there it is... QueerLouisville, our sister site. And, yes, I did just waste about five minutes of my life fiercely typing into Google things like "QueerIndianapolis" "QueerDenver" "QueerKnoxville" etc. etc. etc. :-) I think there should be a Queer[City] webring.

For now, it would just be the two of us though, it seems.

ELECTION 2008: Kentucky in...

And Hillary won it. Not surprised. Strange watching CNN -- as they were giving us numbers long before the polls closed. In fact, we had 13% in when the polls closed at 7pm. The split? 49-48? Apparently Louisville went for Obama.

Oregon will go Obama, and he will probably be able to clench the nomination by the end of next week.

Oh... one interesting question floating out there: How did Hillary becoming a working class hero???

And another interesting question: Why hasn't Obama been able to clench the nomination outright, if he is so presumptive?

And why were they able to call Clinton so quick, but they're still "processing results" for John McCain? Wouldn't it be funny if Huckabee or Paul pulls off a really random win at this point. Huckabee, btw, who is now gunning for the VP spot (well, not gunning, but the whispers are beginning, and people are saying it makes the most sense).