Out-Of-State Gay Couples Now Can Wed In Massachusetts

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation Thursday allowing out-of-state same-sex couples to marry in the Bay State.

The bill, repealing a 1913 law that said marriage licenses could not be issued to couples whose weddings would not be recognized in their home states, cleared its final hurdle earlier this week in the legislature.

Patrick signed the legislation at a noon ceremony at the State House.
The old law was originally passed when interracial marriage was legal in Massachusetts, but not in most other parts of the country.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state bans on interracial marriage, the Massachusetts law fell into disuse.

However, when the Massachusetts high court struck down the state ban on same-sex marriage in 2003, then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) dusted off the old law, threatening to charge local clerks if they issued marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples.

In a 2006 challenge to the out-of-state ban, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the law, but noted that since Rhode Island did not have a specific law defining “couple” in its marriage law, gays and lesbians from that state could marry in Massachusetts. Rhode Island is believed to be the only state without a definition of what constitutes a couple.
The court also said that the Massachusetts legislature could repeal the 1913 law. For the past two years, LGBT rights groups and gay-friendly lawmakers worked to gather support for repeal.

Laws usually go into effect 90 days after they are signed, but the repeal bill contained a clause stating that it would go into effect as soon as the governor put his pen to it.
California, the only other state to allow same-sex marriage, has no out-of-state limitation, so gay and lesbian couples from across the country have been going there to wed.

With same-sex marriage opening up in Massachusetts it is expected a large number of couples from Eastern states will opt for Massachusetts.

An analysis by the state Office of Housing and Economic Development found repealing the law would draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million, creating 330 jobs and generating $5 million in taxes and fees over three years.

The study assumes New York would provide the largest number of gay couples - more than 21,000 couples - with New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine bringing the total to more than 30,000 in the first three years after the ban was lifted.

Big Prop. 8 Supporter Targeted

Advocacy group Californians Against Hate, formed to fight back against those who are donating money to the passage of Proposition 8, a November ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, is now taking aim at San Diego entrepreneur Terry Caster. Caster, owner of A-1 Self Storage Company, and his family have contributed nearly $300,000 to the Protect Marriage campaign, which is working to ensure passage of Prop. 8.

The Caster family contribution is the largest from San Diego County, which supplied 35% of the funds to qualify the proposition for the ballot.

“This guy must really not like same-sex marriage,” said Fred Karger, campaign manager for Californians Against Hate. “Mr. Caster and many of his eight sons and daughters and their spouses have given a combined total of $293,000.00 to the Protect Marriage campaign between January and July of 2008.”

Californians Against Hate also orchestrated the protest against San Diego's Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel because its owner, Doug Manchester, donated $125,000 to the passage of Prop. 8.

Mass. House Repeals 1913 Law Banning Nonresident Gay Marriages

The Massachusetts house voted Tuesday to repeal a law that had prohibited out-of-state gay couples from legally marrying in the Bay State. By a count of 118-35, legislators voted down the 1913 law that nullified any marriage performed in Massachusetts that was not legal in a couple's home state. The state senate approved repeal earlier this month, and the bill will now hit the desk of Gov. Deval Patrick, who has pledged to sign it, within the next week.

Marc Solomon, executive director of MassEquality, said California's supreme court ruling to legalize the marriages of both in-state and out-of-state gay couples set the ball rolling to repeal the 1913 law, which he called "the last vestige of discrimination in our state marriage laws against same-sex couples."

Solomon said there were no protesters at the chamber, though several legislators spoke out against repeal, arguing that allowing nonresident same-sex couples to marry would create chaos in other states.

"It's ironic because that's the exact same language the proponents of the 1913 law used," Solomon noted, referring to the law that was originally enacted in 1913 to prevent out-of-state interracial couples from marrying in Massachusetts. "I think history has shown what a poor argument that is, and I think there's a real sense of pride that we were first [to legalize same-sex marriage]."

But overall, he said, the votes have been virtually nonevents in terms of opposition. "The message is that people in Massachusetts, as represented by their state legislators, are fine with gay marriage."

Solomon also had his own personal victory. While standing outside the senate caucus just before the vote a couple weeks ago, he unwittingly blocked the view of marriage opponent Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.

"He said, 'Marc, you're so darn tall, I can't see in front of you.' And I said, 'Kris, that's the way God made me,' " Solomon recalled, with a hint of glee.

Proposition 8

This week, the California Attorney General’s office announced changes to the title and summary of the proposition. Here’s what voters will read in November:

Proposition 8

ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY.INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Changes California Constitution to eliminate right of same-sex couples to marry. Provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.Fiscal Impact: Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact to state and local governments.

Although the changes to the proposed amendment are subject to legal challenge, this summary accurately describes what the proposition will do. Prop. 8 would eliminate a constitutional right guaranteed to same-gender couples and would decrease revenues coming in to the state from marriages between same-gender couples.


Antigay Group Objects to Prop 8's New Language

Supporters of a California ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage filed a lawsuit against California attorney general Jerry Brown on Monday. According to the Associated Press, Brown's office changed Proposition 8's ballot title and summary to say the measure seeks to "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original wording had simply defined marriage in California as a union between a man and a woman.

Project Marriage coalition spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns called the new language inherently argumentative and believes it will prejudice voters against the initiative.

Her group intends to file a lawsuit Monday to get the language changed back.



Field Poll: Majority of California Voters Oppose Prop. 8

The majority of California voters oppose Proposition 8, a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the state, the Associated Press reported Friday.

According to the AP, the newly released California Field Poll survey found that 51% of voters will likely vote against Prop. 8, while 42% of voters support the proposed amendment. Democrats and Republican voters were starkly split on the issue, with 63% of Democrats indicating they would vote down the measure and 68% of Republicans saying they would vote for it. Independents rejected the ban 66% to 27%. The poll, conducted by Field Research Corp., randomly surveyed 672 likely voters during the week of July 8–14.

The survey shows a change from 2000, when 61% of voters were in favor of Proposition 22, an amendment that supported the state’s 1978 ban on same-sex marriage.

The 1978 ban was overturned in May of this year, making same-sex marriages legal in the state of California. Proposition 8 was constructed in response to the new ruling.



Massachusetts Gay Group Raises $34K to Fight Prop. 8

Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders' summer fund-raiser in Provincetown, Mass., raised $34,000 for the fight against California's Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the state.

GLAD donor Scott Davenport chipped in $15,000 and urged others to step up to the plate. "When we protected the freedom to marry in Massachusetts, we did so with the help of folks from many other states -- now it’s our turn to help in California," he said according to a press release. The money will be sent to Equality for All, which is working against the proposition.

The July 26 event, featuring celebrity auctioneer Kate Clinton, raised more than $100,000 for GLAD.

PG&E Give $250K to Defeat California's Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Utility company PG&E announced Tuesday that it would donate $250,000 to the No on Proposition 8 campaign, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Company officials also indicated they would attempt to garner support from other companies to defeat the anti-gay measure by assembling a business advisory council on the matter. Proposition 8 would amend the state's constitution to prohibit marriage between same-sex couples.

"We are thrilled to partner with PG&E," Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, said in a statement. AT&T and Wells Fargo have donated money directly to Equality California, which is working to defeat Prop 8.

Proponents of the measure have also made major donations. LGBT advocates called for a boycott of Hyatt hotels in San Diego after owner Doug Manchester poured thousands of dollars into the effort to pass the marriage ban.

Allan Hoffenblum, a GOP strategist, told the LA Times that PG&E would likely be unfettered by any organized boycott since they monopolize most of the California market.

"I can't in outrage call PG&E and say, 'Cut off my gas," he said.

Earthquake in Southern California

Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the "Big One" that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their emergency preparations.

The quake, which rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday, caused only limited damage and minor injuries, and served as a reminder of the seismic danger below sprawling freeways and subdivisions.

The temblor's epicenter was located just outside Chino Hills, 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, and it was felt as far east as Las Vegas. Dozens of aftershocks followed, the largest a magnitude-3.8.

"It's a drill for the Big One that's going to happen someday."

KATE HUTTON, a seismologist in Los Angeles, after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California

The Judge Judy cameras caught more than just courtroom drama today after a massive earthquake hit Southern California.

The Judge Judy set, at the Paramount lot in Hollywood, was full of audience members and case-participants when the earthquake struck. The cameras kept rolling the entire time.

Kudos to the plaintiff who clearly cares more about the US Justice System than her own life, as she stayed in place during the quake.

Adrian @ the pool (18 months old)

61% of Historians Rate the Bush Presidency Worst

“As far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don’t know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach.”— George W. Bush, Fox News Sunday, Feb10, 2008

A Pew Research Center poll found that the share of the American public that approves of President George W. Bush has dropped to a new low of 28 percent.

An unscientific poll of professional historians completed the same week produced results far worse for a president clinging to the hope that history will someday take a kinder view of his presidency than does contemporary public opinion.

[okay, so no real surprise here]

Ford Introduces 63.6 MPG ECOnetic Diesel Fiesta... Only in Europe

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic DieselAt the British International Motor Show, Ford has introduced the ECOnetic version of its Ford Fiesta. The engine is a 1.6-liter Duratorq TDCi (diesel) that has been tweaked for efficiency. Fuel economy for the ECOnetic Fiesta is 3.7 L/100km (63.6 mpg US) combined, or 3.2 L/100km (73.5 mpg US) on the highway! It's not exactly a race car, with 0 to 60 mph in 12 seconds, but those who will buy it won't care, the mileage will more than make up for it.

Fuel Saving TricksThe ECOnetic Fiesta uses a bunch of tricks to reduce fuel consumption, things like improved aerodynamics (its coefficient of drag is 0.33), weight reduction, low rolling resistance tires, and enhanced lubrication. Simple enhancements that could be used on most cars.

[Why only in Europe? Europe sets the average car MPG at 60! It is 20-something in the United States. Can you image what would happen if U.S. automakers would just sell cars they already make for Europe in the U.S.?]

"Dead Zone" In The Gulf Of Mexico Now Bigger Than Ever, Researchers Say

A "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned.

"It's definitely the worst we've seen in the last five years," said Steve DiMarco, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography who for 16 years has studied the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, so named because the oxygen-depleted water can kill marine life.

The phenomenon is caused when salt water loses large amounts of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia that is typically associated with an area off the Louisiana coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The fresh water and salt water don't mix well, keeping oxygen from filtering through to the sea bottom, which causes problems for fish, shrimp, crabs and clams.

This year's dead zone has been aggravated by flood runoff from heavy spring rains and additional runoff moving into the Gulf from record floods along the Mississippi.

DiMarco, joined by researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Georgia, just returned from an examination of 74 sites between Terrebonne and Cameron, La. He said the most severe hypoxia levels were recorded in the mid-range depths, between 20 and 30 feet, as well as near the bottom of the sea floor at about 60 feet.

Some of the worst hypoxic levels occurred in the western Gulf toward the state line.

"We saw quite a few areas that had little or no oxygen at all at that site," DiMarco said Tuesday. "This dead zone area is the strongest we've seen since 2004, and it's very likely the worst may be still to come.

"Since most of the water from the Midwest is still making its way down to the Gulf, we believe that wide area of hypoxia will persist through August and likely until September, when it normally ends."

Last year, DiMarco discovered a similar dead zone off the Texas coast where the rain-swollen Brazos River emptied into the Gulf.

The zone off Louisiana reached a record 7,900 square miles in 2002. A recent estimate from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Louisiana State University shows the zone, which has been monitored for about 25 years, could exceed 8,800 square miles this year, an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

DiMarco said a tropical storm or hurricane likely would have no impact on this year's zone, believed to be caused by nutrient pollution from fertilizers that empty into rivers and eventually reach the Gulf.

LA Plastic Bag Ban: Disposable Bags Outlawed By 2010

Los Angeles shoppers soon won't hear the question, "Paper or plastic?" at the checkout line.

The City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic shopping bags from stores, beginning July 1, 2010. Shoppers can either bring their own bags or pay 25 cents for a paper or biodegradable bag.

The council's unanimous vote also puts pressure on the state, which is considering an Assembly bill that would impose bag recycling requirements on stores. City officials said their ban would not be implemented if the state passes the bill and requires at least a 25-cent charge per bag.

"We've gotten to a point where we need to act as a city, where we can have real results," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who proposed the bag ban. "We're trying to do it in a way where we can educate and inform the public of what we're doing."

Reyes said the ban will minimize cleanup costs for the city and reduce trash that collects in storm drains and the Los Angeles River. The city estimates more than 2 billion plastic bags are used each year in Los Angeles. About 5 percent of plastic bags and 21 percent of paper bags are recycled in California.

Banning plastic bags will not solve the litter problem, said an attorney who opposes the regulation of plastic bags.

"We've had enough of politicians accepting the misinformation that's spread around the Internet about plastic bags," said Stephen Joseph of the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, which represents bag manufacturers.

Joseph said the city motion gives "a free pass" to paper bags, which he argued are biodegradable but consume more materials and natural resources to make.
Three percent of the bag fee will be returned to the retailer, 3 percent will go to the state, and the rest will go back to the city to fund an education campaign.

Last year, San Francisco passed the nation's first bag ban, which took effect in November.

SUDANESE ARCHBISHOP DEMANDS GAY BISHOP GENE ROBINSON RESIGN

Archbishop of Sudan Daniel Deng called for the resignation of gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson at a news conference yesterday, saying it's the only way to avoid a schism in the Church.

Said Deng: "Gene Robinson has to be away from the Anglican world and be a normal Christian. If he is, as he always says, a Christian, he should resign for the sake of the church."

Deng said that God did not make a mistake in creating Adam and Eve and would have created two Adams if he had wanted that.

Deng has not spoken with Robinson directly. Said the Sudanese bishop: "I have nothing to say to him."

Following Deng's statement, the Right Rev Jack Iker, Bishop of Forth Worth, called on those who believe in Gene Robinson to leave the conference:

Said Iker:
"Those Bishops who stand in solidarity with Gene Robinson should withdraw themselves from further participation in the Lambeth Conference. Having failed in several attempts to include Gene in the Conference, his supporters should themselves feel a sense of rejection from the Conference itself. Integrity and honesty would dictate that they should stand with Gene — excluded from full participation in the Lambeth Conference. Is this all talk, or is it backed up by action?"

25% of the world's Anglican bishops have boycotted the Lambeth Conference because of the Episcopal church's ordination of Robinson. Robinson is in Canterbury, England holding events on the fringes of the Lambeth conference. Earlier this month, he was heckled while giving a sermon by a protester branding him a "heretic."

LAPD Chief Donates To Campaign Against Calif. Anti-Gay Amendment

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton is the latest high profile personality to write a check to help defeat a proposed amendment to the California Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.

The donation to Equality California was made by Bratton and his wife, former Court TV anchor Rikki Kleiman and came at the suggestion of celebrity publicist Howard Bragman.

Bragman married longtime partner Chuck O’Donnell last week. When Bratton asked Bragman what the pair would like as a wedding gift the high powered pr man said they wanted a donation to help preserve same-sex marriage in California and Bratton agreed.

“The Constitution guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Bratton told the Los Angeles Times. “I see no reason why gays can’t pursue happiness through marriage.”

Bratton is not the only friend of the couple for forgo traditional wedding gifts to donate to Equality California. Lesbian tennis great Martina Navratilova also wrote a check. So did actor Isaiah Washington.

Washington has been a big supporter of LGBT rights after running into flack over homophobic remarks backstage last year at the Golden Globes. Bragman is Washington’s agent and has been helping him make amends.

Bragman told the Times that he did not have to twist any arms to get support to defeat the proposed amendment which will appear on the ballot in November.

“Our marriage changed that for people who know us. Our love, respect and commitment has the power to change hearts and minds and make an ethereal concept real,” he told the paper.

The California Supreme Court in May struck down a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. The ruling went into effect in June. Since then several thousand same-sex couples have married in the state.

This month the Court declined to hear a challenge to the ballot measure.

Public opinion polls show California voters narrowly approving of same-sex marriage.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pledged to fight against the proposed amendment.

GMCLA: Ragtime

Plans Dropped For Large Scale AIDS Vaccine Test

Plans for a large-scale trial of a potential AIDS vaccine are being dropped in favor of a smaller, more focused study, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday.

The trial of the vaccine, developed by the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, had been planned to include 2,400 men in the United States in a study called PAVE 100.

However, the agency said that it decided that the vaccine did not warrant a trial of this size and scope. Instead NIAID said it will plan a smaller, more focused clinical trial designed to see whether the product has a significant effect on the amount of virus in a person’s blood.

If an effect is found, then additional studies, or an expansion of the study could be carried out.

NIAID said it acted after reviewing the results of the STEP trial, a study of another vaccine that was halted last fall after reports of an increased number of infections among volunteers taking part in the test.

The agency said it still considers its vaccine scientifically intriguing and sufficiently different from other vaccines to proceed with the smaller trial.

Archbishop Supports Church Condemnation of Gay Sex

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said he remains "committed" to the Anglican Church's official stance against gay sex in an attempt to preserve biblical norms, reports The Times of London. Williams added, "I do not believe that sex outside marriage is as God purposes it." He spoke out regarding the controversy swirling around the acceptance of homosexuality within the church on Tuesday at the once-a-decade Anglican Lambeth Conference in England.

“Are we heading for schism? Well, let’s see. If it is the end of the Anglican Communion, I do not think anyone has told most of the people here,” Williams told The Times. Division within the church arose after openly gay bishop Gene Robinson was consecrated in the United States in 2003.

Afterward, church elders decreed that no more gay bishops could be consecrated. Liberals within the church are hoping to reverse that ruling by the time the next General Convention meets in the summer of 2009.

As a result, 230 bishops boycotted the Lambeth Conference and organized their own rival meeting, Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, in Jerusalem last month. Also speaking at the conference, the Archbishop of Sudan, Daniel Deng, called for openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to step down from his post, the British Broadcasting Company reports. Deng blamed Robinson for the boycott, saying that his behavior "violated Anglican norms," according to the BBC.

New prostate cancer drug?

New prostate cancer drug called most significant advance in the field in 70 years:

"Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say. The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer. The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years."

Leslie Jordan Returns as 'Brother Boy' in Sordid Lives

Two years ago, a 4 ‘11 actor named Leslie Jordan took home an Emmy for his razor-sharp turn as Karen Walker’s sparring partner Beverly Leslie on NBC’s Will and Grace – besting the likes of Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Patrick Stewart.

Many wondered who the heck this little guy was, and where he had come from. He had been a gypsy actor, taking any role that came with a paycheck, including turns in Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Ugly Betty. Then a starring role in a new series, 12 Miles of Bad Road, co-starring Lily Tomlin and produced by the team behind Designing Women, promised full-on television stardom.

He was sure the show was going to be huge – until HBO pulled the plug.

Instead of looking back, Jordan just kept moving forward. He hit the road to promote his best-selling memoir, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet. He toured the country with the hilarious one-man show based on the book.

And now he is glamming it up once again as Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram in Sordid Lives: The Series, co-starring Olivia Newton-John and Rue McClanahan, premiering July 23 on Logo

Red Cross Blood Drive Poster

The Girls

The Barred Rocks are just the biggest hams. Always have to know what's going on and what you've got.

One of the Buff Orpingtons. Very motherly.

A Barred Rock, flanked by two Rhode Island Reds.

Just over a month before we switch their food to the layer mix. Eggs should start at the end of August.

25% OF WORLD'S ANGLICAN BISHOPS BOYCOTT LAMBETH CONFERENCE

The Lambeth Conference happens just once every decade, and one quarter of the world's Anglican bishops (many from African nations) are boycotting the conference, exposing the rift caused by the Episcopal Church's ordination of Gene Robinson five years ago, Reuters reports:

"Church officials said that 230 of the 880 bishops in the Anglican worldwide communion were staying away from the Lambeth conference being staged in the English cathedral city of Canterbury, spiritual home of the deeply divided church. Bishops from Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, who boast some of the fastest-expanding congregations in the Anglican church, were among those who pledged to snub the conference. "Liberal and conservative clergy have been brought to the brink of schism over the ordination in 2003 of Gene Robinson in New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in the church's 450-year history.

Robinson, of course, was snubbed by the conference, but still plans to hold events in Canterbury, England, where the conference is held. Said Robinson of the boycott: "With young men knifing each other in the streets of London and a billion or more people going through life on less than a dollar a day, what a shame , what a waste it is for the Anglican communion to be tearing itself apart over two men or two women who want to make a Christian family together."

Researchers Discover 'Achilles Heel' of HIV Virus?

An innovative approach in attacking the location where HIV attaches to cells has led researchers from the University of Texas to believe they have found the virus' weak spot. The 'Achilles heel' is hidden within a protein that remains constant among all the mutating forms of the virus. To attack it, they have developed a special antibody with enzymatic activity referred to as an abzyme:

"[A group led by Sudhir Paul, Ph.D., pathology professor in the UT Medical School] has engineered antibodies with enzymatic activity, also known as abzymes, which can attack the Achilles heel of the virus in a precise way. “The abzymes recognize essentially all of the diverse HIV forms found across the world. This solves the problem of HIV changeability. The next step is to confirm our theory in human clinical trials," Paul said. Unlike regular antibodies, abzymes degrade the virus permanently. A single abzyme molecule inactivates thousands of virus particles. Regular antibodies inactivate only one virus particle, and their anti-viral HIV effect is weaker. 'The work of Dr. Paul’s group is highly innovative. They have identified antibodies that, instead of passively binding to the target molecule, are able to fragment it and destroy its function. Their recent work indicates that naturally occurring catalytic antibodies, particularly those of the IgA subtype, may be useful in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection,' said Steven J. Norris, Ph.D., holder of the Robert Greer Professorship in the Biomedical Sciences and vice chair for research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the UT Medical School at Houston."

California Court Allows Anti-Gay Marriage Measure To Go To Voters

The California Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to hear a challenge to a ballot measure asking voters to ban same-sex marriage.

As is the court's practice it did not give a reason for deciding not to hear the challenge by LGBT rights groups. The decision virtually assures the issue will be put to voters in November.

Lawyers for Equality California petitioned the court last month to hear the case, arguing that the proposed amendment to the California Constitution should be invalidated because its impact was not made clear to the millions of voters who signed petitions to qualify the measure before the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions.

"This court has recognized that gay and lesbian couples have a fundamental right to marry and, as of June 16, such couples have been getting married across the state," the petition stated.
"Rather than effecting 'no change' in existing California law, the proposed initiative would dramatically change existing law by taking that fundamental right away and inscribing discrimination based on a suspect classification into our state Constitution."

The petition also claims the so-called California Marriage Protection Act should be disqualified because it would revise, rather than amend, the state Constitution by altering its fundamental guarantee of equality for all - in essence writing a law the state high court has already found unconstitutional into the constitution.

The last time the state Supreme Court was asked to decide if a proposition should remain on the ballot was 2005, when it did so twice. In both decisions, the propositions were allowed to stay on the special election ballot.

In both 2005 cases, the state Supreme Court overturned lower courts who had taken the propositions off the ballot. The propositions were a redistricting initiative backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and another that would have re-regulated the state's electricity market.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, which represents the measure's sponsors, called the petition a desperate move.

Public opinion polls show California voters narrowly approving of same-sex marriage.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pledged to fight against the proposed amendment. Schwarzenegger told a convention of gay Republicans in April that he was confident a ban would never pass in California and called the effort "a waste of time."

Massachusetts Senate Votes To Allow Out-Of-State Gays Marry

The Massachusetts Senate has voted to repeal a 1913 law used to bar same-sex couples from states which would not recognize their marriages from marrying in Massachusetts.
The House is expected to vote this week.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D) and Senate President Therese Murray (D) both support the repeal effort. If the bill passes the House Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has said he will sign it.

The old law, which says marriage licenses cannot be issued to couples whose weddings would be illegal in the states where they lived, was originally passed when interracial marriage was legal in Massachusetts but not in most other parts of the country.

When the US Supreme Court overturned state bans on interracial marriage the the Massachusetts law fell into disuse.

However, when the Massachusetts high court struck down the state ban on same-sex marriage in 2003, then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) dusted off the old law, threatening to charge local clerks if they issued marriage licenses to out-of-state same-sex couples.

In a challenge to the out-of-state ban the Supreme Judicial court in 2006 upheld the law but noted that since Rhode Island did not have a specific law defining couple in its marriage law gay and lesbian couples from that state could marry in Massachusetts. Rhode Island is believed to be the only state without a definition of what constitutes a couple.

The court also said that the Massachusetts legislature could repeal the 1913 law.

An analysis by the state Office of Housing and Economic Development found repealing the law would draw thousands of couples to Massachusetts, boosting the economy by $111 million, creating 330 jobs and generating $5 million in taxes and fees over three years.

The study assumes New York would provide the largest number of gay couples - more than 21,000 couples - with New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine bringing the total to more than 30,000 in the first three years after the ban was lifted.

California, the only other state to allow same-sex marriage has no out-of-state limitation.

Tutu Calls for Anglican Unity Amid Homosexuality Controversy

Archbishop Desmond Tutu pleaded with the Anglican Communion to show unity as it tries to reconcile the views of liberals and conservatives over homosexuality.

"The Anglican Church prides itself -- and this is one of its greatest attributes -- it prides itself on being the church that is comprehensive, meaning that it includes all kinds of points of view," Tutu told Sky News. "One of the sadnesses about the current crisis is that we seem to be jettisoning this wonderful inclusivity that is a characteristic of our church."

Tutu's comments come after a protester interrupted a sermon by the openly gay American bishop Gene Robinson at the Anglican Conference in England. Ever since Robinson's consecration in 2003 by the Episcopal Church in the United States, there has been growing division between conservative and liberal elements of the church.

Tutu told an audience in April, "How sad it is that the church should be so obsessed with this particular issue of human sexuality when God's children are facing massive problems: poverty, disease, corruption, conflict," according to Pink News, a major online source of European gay news.

Tutu, 76, was the recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement in South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle.

Robinson Refuses To Be Silenced Over Anglican Gay Summit

The first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop was barred from a once-a-decade Anglican meeting so he wouldn't become a focus of the global event.

Anglicans on all sides of the issue agree: The strategy has backfired.

New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson has been embraced by sympathetic Anglicans in England and Scotland who view his exclusion as an affront to their Christian beliefs.

Robinson plans several appearances on the outskirts of the Lambeth Conference to be what he called a "constant and friendly" reminder of gays in the church.

"I'm just not willing to let the bishops meet and pretend that we don't exist," Robinson said in an interview Sunday with The Associated Press before preaching at St. Mary's Church Putney. "They've taken vows to serve all the people in dioceses, not just certain ones."

PER DOMA, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU WON'T BE COUNTING GAY MARRIAGES

As of now, plans for the 2010 U.S. Census do not include recognizing the thousands of same-sex couples that are expected to be legally married in California and Massachusetts by that date:

"The U.S. Census Bureau, reacting to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and other mandates, plans to edit the 2010 census responses of same-sex couples who marry legally in California, Massachusetts or any other state. They will be reported as "unmarried partners," rather than married spouses, in census tabulations - a policy that will likely draw the ire of gay rights groups. The Census Bureau followed the same procedure for the 2000 census, and it does not plan to change in 2010 even though courts in Massachusetts and now California have ruled gay men and lesbians can marry lawfully... Critics say the census plan will mask the records of legal, same-sex, married couples and therefore degrade the quality of the government's demographic data. 'I just think it's bad form for the census to change a legal response to an incorrect response,' said Gary Gates of the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California-Los Angeles law school that studies gay-related public policy issues. 'That goes against everything the census stands for.'"

They have the data but they're just 'dutiful' followers: "'This has been a question we've been looking at for quite a long time,' said Martin O'Connell, chief of the Census Bureau's Fertility and Family Statistics Branch. 'It's not something the bureau could arbitrarily or casually decide to change on a whim, because our data is used by virtually every federal agency.' The Census Bureau is not falsifying people's responses, O'Connell said, because the bureau will retain people's original census responses. 'We're not destroying data; we are keeping that data,' O'Connell said. 'We are just showing the data published in a way that is consistent with the way every other agency publishes their data.'"

John McCain on Gay Adoption and Marriage

In an interview with the NYT on Sunday, John McCain said flat out that he doesn't believe gay couples should be allowed to adopt children:

"I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption."

Forget all the same-sex couples who have successfully raised children.

He also spoke on the subject of same-sex marriage: "Many social conservatives strenuously oppose California’s decision to allow same-sex marriage. But Mr. McCain, who also opposes same-sex marriage, has always said that the issue is up to the states, and in the interview he said he would stick to that position as president even if California chose to continue allowing gay marriage after putting the matter to a statewide vote in November. 'I respect the right of the states to make those decisions,' he said."

Archbishop of Wales would Consecrate Gay Bishop

Dr. Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, said over the weekend that he was in agreement with gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson about gay clergy and that he would consecrate a gay candidate for bishop if that candidate was qualified:

"If there was a candidate who was in a homosexual relationship that would be discussed. It would be my job to say 'you have to vote according to your conscience, but I’m duty bound to tell you that it will have repercussions as far as the wider Anglican communion is concerned’. If they said they want to do that well so be it. If a priest had a partner and someone nominated them that wouldn’t be a bar to them becoming a bishop."

Morgan's comments come on the eve of this year's Anglican Lambeth Conference from which Robinson has been excluded. As I posted earlier, Robinson's presence has already been noted by a heckler during a sermon over the weekend.

California Hyatt Boycotted After Owner Donates to Prop 8

Gay rights advocates have begun boycotting the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego after owner Doug Manchester donated $125,000 to Proposition 8, reported the San Diego Union-Tribune’s website.

The hotel mogul’s contribution to the proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage in California has struck a nerve among gay rights supporters.

Fred Karger, an organizer of the boycott, told the Union-Tribune, “This is someone who is giving an exorbitant amount of money to write discrimination into the constitution for the very first time.”

Manchester told the Union-Tribune earlier this year that he decided to support Proposition 8 after learning that schools teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman could be sued for discrimination.

Despite also referring to his Catholic belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, he told the Union-Tribune that his hotels and restaurants would welcome gay and lesbian clientele.

EPA Won't Act on Emissions This Year

The Bush administration has decided not to take any new steps to regulate greenhouse gas emissions before the president leaves office, despite pressure from the Supreme Court and broad accord among senior federal officials that new regulation is appropriate now.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce today that it will seek months of further public comment on the threat posed by global warming to human health and welfare -- a matter that federal climate experts and international scientists have repeatedly said should be urgently addressed.

The Supreme Court, in a decision 15 months ago that startled the government, ordered the EPA to decide whether human health and welfare are being harmed by greenhouse gas pollution from cars, power plants and other sources, or to provide a good explanation for not doing so. But the administration has opted to postpone action instead, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post.

To defer compliance with the Supreme Court's demand, the White House has walked a tortured policy path, editing its officials' congressional testimony, refusing to read documents prepared by career employees and approved by top appointees, requesting changes in computer models to lower estimates of the benefits of curbing carbon dioxide, and pushing narrowly drafted legislation on fuel-economy standards that officials said was meant to sap public interest in wider regulatory action.

The decision to solicit further comment overrides the EPA's written recommendation from December. Officials said a few senior White House officials were unwilling to allow the EPA to state officially that global warming harms human welfare. Doing so would legally trigger sweeping regulatory requirements under the 45-year-old Clean Air Act, one of the pillars of U.S. environmental protection, and would cost utilities, automakers and others billions of dollars while also bringing economic benefits, EPA's analyses found.

"They argued that this increase in regulation should be on the next president's record," not Bush's, said a participant in the lengthy interagency debate, referring principally to officials in the office of Vice President Cheney, on the White House Council on Environmental Quality, on the National Economic Council and in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The Girls - 21 now

Well, we lost one of the hens the other night.

It seems that one of the Golden Lakenvelder hens flew just high enough to get out to the chicken yard. Adele found the hen on "her" side of the fence. Sean found Adele with the half of the chicken that still remained.

With Adele, my guess is the chicken didn't even know what happened. Just dead!

So, we are down to 21 hens. Which is still a lot. They should start laying at the end of August.

Alabama A.G. Troy King Preparing to Resign Over Gay Sex Scandal?

A spokesman for the Alabama Governor's office has denied that Alabama Attorney General Troy King is preparing to resign as rumors swirl of an explosive scandal involving King, his wife, and a male aide:

"The word is, according to multiple sources in Montgomery and elsewhere, that King was recently caught by his wife in a gay affair with a male aide and banished from his home. According to Tara Hutchison in the executive office of the governor they have heard of no plans in the works for King’s resignation. She said she had not heard that he had been kicked out of his home because of a gay affair. Governor Bob Riley’s press office had refused to return multiple phone calls from this independent press outlet even though some sources accuse Riley of perpetrating the leak. The attorney general’s press office also declined to return phone calls seeking comment."

King is apparently a big homophobe who called homosexuality "the downfall of society" in a 1992 editorial in the U. of Alabama's Crimson White. No details as of his anti-gay efforts since then but it's not likely he changed.

Efforts Underway to Repeal 1913 Massachusetts Marriage Law

Some state lawmakers and gay marriage advocates are hoping to repeal a 1913 law that in 2004 was used to prevent out-of-state gay and lesbian couples from traveling to Massachusetts to be legally married:

"The 1913 statute prevents Massachusetts from sanctioning marriages that are not legal in the state where the couple lives. The law was enacted in part to prevent interracial couples from evading their own state's ban by traveling to Massachusetts to marry. It was a little-used and rarely enforced law until opponents used it to prevent out-of-state gay couples from getting married in Massachusetts after the state legalized same-sex marriage in 2004."

Both the Senate and the House are expected to take up the issue as early as next week. With California as an example, many likely see the economic benefits as an impetus to repeal the law:
"Removing the law would put Massachusetts on par with California, where a court ruled in May that gay marriage was legal for all couples, including those who live out of state. In May, Governor David Paterson of New York directed all state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages in other states, including Massachusetts and California."

Said Governor Deval Patrick's spokesperson: "The governor supports the repeal of the law and will sign it if passed."

“At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G-8 leaders will be long forgotten.”

ANTONIO HILL, spokesman for Oxfam International, on world leaders' goal of slashing greenhouse-gas emissions in half by midcentury to stave off global warming

Corals join frogs and toads as world's most endangered

Within one generation, diving on coral reefs could be a very rare holiday opportunity. The first comprehensive review of tropical coral species reveals that over one-quarter reef-building coral species already face extinction.

This means corals join frogs and toads as the most threatened group of animal species on the planet.
There are 845 known species of corals that build reefs and live in symbiosis with algae. Not enough is known about 141 of these to determine how threatened they are. But of the 704 remaining species, scientists say 32.8% are at risk of extinction.

California County Refuses To Ban Gay Marriage

Kern County supervisors refused to ban gay marriage, rebutting a conservative group that sought to make it the first California county to reject the statewide policy.

The Campaign for Children and Families hoped the passage of a gay marriage ban in Kern County would embolden other counties to follow suit.

But supervisors declined to act on the measure after Bernard Barmann, the county's lawyer, said it would be illegal for the county to adopt its own same-sex marriage ban.

The Kern County clerk's office stopped offering all marriage ceremonies on June 15, the day before gay marriage became legal.

The five-member board also let die a motion to explore whether county employees who are willing to officiate same-sex weddings could be deputized for the duty by officials in neighboring San Bernardino County.

George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant

“We think it's a fitting tribute.”

BRIAN McCONNELL, a member of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco, which aims to get a proposal to rename a sewage-treatment plant after President Bush on the November ballot

As the Anglician World Spins....

Episcopal Leader To Explain Gay Stance To World Anglicans

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was installed as head of the U.S. church less than two years ago, inheriting a mess not of her own making.

The global Anglican Communion was in an uproar over the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Long-simmering differences over Scripture and the global Anglican fellowship erupted into a threat of full-blown schism.
Jefferts Schori, a theological liberal who supported Robinson's election, has tried to ease the tensions in meetings with other Anglican leaders.

Starting next Wednesday, she will be explaining the church's actions in her broadest venue yet: the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world. Jefferts Schori said she's looking forward to the ``face-to-face conversation'' at the event.

``We're far more diverse than we're presented in some quarters,'' she said in a recent interview at Episcopal headquarters in New York. ``We have people all over the theological spectrum and liturgical spectrum.''

It won't be an easy sell.

About 200 conservative Anglican bishops won't even be there. They are boycotting the 18-day event outside London because the U.S. bishops who consecrated Robinson were invited. (For the sake of unity, the Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, barred Robinson and a handful of other bishops from the assembly.)

But that won't mean a conflict-free Lambeth for Episcopal bishops.

Tradition-minded church leaders who want the Anglican family to stay together despite its rifts will attend. They will undoubtedly ask Jefferts Schori about complaints that the 2.2-million-member U.S. church is mistreating its conservative minority.

Of the tensions within the American church, Jefferts Schori said ``we've attempted to deal with it in the Christian community'' but haven't always been successful.

Although the exact figure is in dispute, Episcopal officials say that fewer than 100 of the more than 7,000 U.S. Episcopal parishes have voted to split off since Robinson was elected.

The entire Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., voted to withdraw from the denomination, and the Diocese of Pittsburgh, is poised to do the same this fall.

The national church is suing to retain hold of the San Joaquin diocese and its many millions of dollars in property. Another lawsuit is moving through the courts over 11 breakaway churches in Virginia. Critics have called the legal fights ``un-Christian'' and have asked Episcopal leaders to halt the lawsuits.

But Jefferts Schori said, ``We really don't have the authority or the moral right to give away those gifts that have been given by generations past and for the benefit of generations now and the benefit of generations to come.''

Last month in Jerusalem, conservatives from around the world held the Global Anglican Future Conference and said they hoped to create a North American province for breakaway conservatives in the Episcopal Church and the liberal-leaning Anglican Church of Canada.
Already, Anglican archbishops, called primates, from Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and South America, have taken oversight of seceding U.S. parishes. At Lambeth, Jefferts Schori said she will ask Williams ``to encourage other parts of the communion to cease their incursions.''

``It's totally opposed to a traditional Christian understanding of how bishops relate to each other,'' she said. ``That's the biggest difficulty. They're setting up as something else in the same geographical territory.''

Williams has already spoken out against the idea of a North American province, but Anglican conservatives defend the idea as critical for the spiritual well-being of traditionalists.

While Robinson won't attend the Lambeth meeting, he will be just outside the event.

He is preaching at a British church, despite a request from Williams that he refrain from doing so. A group of Episcopal bishops will host two receptions for Robinson outside the Lambeth Conference grounds so other Anglican bishops can meet and speak with him.

Jefferts Schori said she didn't ask Robinson to refrain from preaching and said his presence on the outskirts of the conference ``doesn't make my life more difficult.''

``I think it's an opportunity for others to meet him as a human being, as a member of this church, as an honored member of this church,'' she said.

Liberal Christians believe that committed same-sex relationships are permitted under the Bible's social justice teachings. Conservatives disagree - and they are a majority in the 77-million-member Anglican fellowship. The communion, a group of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, has a long tradition of accommodating different views, but it's unclear whether that broad practice will continue.

``Some people think that you can read the Bible without understanding the original context and simply take literally what you read. We will interpret - and it's an important part of faithful living,'' Jefferts Schori said. ``To assume there is only one way of reading is hubris.''

To prepare for the meeting, the presiding bishop said she has been speaking and praying with other Episcopal leaders. She is urging them to have realistic expectations for the event.

``Conversations that are challenging can't be solved in one meeting,'' she said. ``These issues aren't going to be finished by the end of the summer.''


Church of England Split on Women Bishops

The Church of England's move to accept women bishops further roiled an already troubled Anglican Communion Tuesday, infuriating conservatives and complicating efforts to promote unity with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church of England's ruling body on Monday night voted to back women becoming bishops without giving traditionalist supporters of male-only bishops the concessions they had sought.
The Right Reverend Tom Wright, the bishop of Durham and conservative leader, said the General Synod's decision was muddled, just like one reached at a meeting of bishops in May.

"We should have pulled that debate then and there. It was the wrong time," Wright said.
Monday's decision also caused consternation at the Vatican. It's "a further obstacle for the reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England," said Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

More than a dozen of the 38 national Anglican churches worldwide have authorized women to serve as bishops, but only four have appointed or elected a woman to the job.

The Episcopal Church, the Anglican body in the United States, is led by a woman, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.


Vatican Regret at Anglican Vote to Ordain Female Bishops

The Vatican Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity issued a Statement Tuesday regarding recent events within the Anglican Communion. The Council is headed by Cardinal Walter Kasper. The statement reads: “We have regretfully learned of the Church of England vote to pave the way for the introduction of legislation which will lead to the ordaining of women to the Episcopacy.

“I think $100 for a tank of gas is cheap now.”

COLLEEN HAMMOND, who drives a GMC Yukon XL with a 38.5 gal. tank

California Fires

According to some reports, there are still over 1,000 wildfires burning in the region with little hope for improvement in the near future. Over 1,400 square kilometers of land have already been burnt, and there are more than 19,000 firefighters on hand, many from around the country, helping to put out the blazes.

The image was captured on June 25.

US Withdrawal Timetable Insisted Upon By Iraqi Government

Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.

President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.

U.S. officials had no immediate comment Tuesday on al-Rubaie's statement.
Al-Rubaie spoke to reporters after briefing Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf on the progress of the government's security efforts and the talks.

"Our stance in the negotiations underway with the American side will be strong ... We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn't have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq," al-Rubaie said.

The Iraqi proposal stipulates that, once Iraqi forces have resumed security responsibility in all 18 of Iraq's provinces, U.S.-led forces would then withdraw from all cities in the country.

After that, the country's security situation would be reviewed every six months, for three to five years, to decide when U.S.-led troops would pull out entirely, al-Adeeb said.

So far, the United States has handed control of nine of 18 provinces to Iraqi officials.

"This is what the Iraqi people want, the parliament and other Iraqi leaders," said al-Adeeb.

The proposal, as outlined by al-Adeeb, is phrased in a way that would allow Iraqi officials to tell the Iraqi public that it includes a specific timetable and dates for a U.S. withdrawal.

However, it also would provide the United States some flexibility on timing because the dates of the provincial handovers are not set.

Some type of troop status agreement between the United States and Iraq is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.

Iraq's government has felt increasingly confident in recent weeks about its authority and the country's improved stability. Iraqi officials have sharpened their public stance in the negotiations considerably in just the last few days.

Military gays don't undermine unit cohesion

Congress should repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" law because the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win, according to a new study released by a California-based research center.

The study was conducted by four retired military officers, including the three-star Air Force lieutenant general who in early 1993 was tasked with implementing President Clinton's policy that the military stop questioning recruits on their sexual orientation.

"Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion," the officers states.

To support its contention, the panel points to the British and Israeli militaries, where it says gay people serve openly without hurting the effectiveness of combat operations.

Undermining unit cohesion was a determining factor when Congress passed the 1993 law, intended to keep the military from asking recruits their sexual orientation. In turn, service members can't say they are gay or bisexual, engage in homosexual activity or marry a member of the same sex.

Supporters of the ban contend there is still no empirical evidence that allowing gays to serve openly won't hurt combat effectiveness.

"The issue is trust and confidence" among members of a unit, said Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, who retired in 1993 after working on the issue for the Army. When some people with a different sexual orientation are "in a close combat environment, it results in a lack of trust," he said.

The study was sponsored by the Michael D. Palm Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which said it picked the panel members to portray a bipartisan representation of the different service branches. According to its Web site, the Palm Center "is committed to keeping researchers, journalists and the general public informed of the latest developments in the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy debate." Palm himself was "a staunch supporter of civil rights in the gay community," the site says.

American Family Association Launches Boycott Against McDonald’s For ‘Promoting The Homosexual Agenda’

Today, the right-wing American Family Association (AFA) announced a boycott of McDonal's. According to AFA, Ronald McDonald and his gang are part of giant gay agenda:

What the boycott of McDonald’s IS about

It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald’s has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.

AFA is upset at McDonald’s for refusing to condemn Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis’s decision to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). AFA President Donald Wildmon said the situation is “strange” because “it’s the family that McDonald’s appeals to — children’s playland, you know, all the little toys, all of that. And they are promoting a lifestyle that would utterly destroy the traditional family.”
So far, McDonald’s is holding strong, writing a letter to Wildmon on May 29 and rebuffing his attacks:

We treat our employees and our customers with respect and dignity, regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other factors. We support our employees’ personal involvement in organizations of their choice.

Although AFA tries to make clear that it is NOT protesting McDonald’s “hiring homosexuals” or “homosexuals eating at McDonald’s,” as Good As You notes, “Whether it’s a direct attack on gay customer or employees or an attack on particular employees role in a pro-gay capacity, this situation is still about the company supporting diversity (something the AFA resists at every turn).”

AFA has a long history of silly, offensive boycotts against, among others, Wal-Mart (for selling “Brokeback Mountain” DVDs), Ford Motor Company (for advertising in gay-friendly publications), and the American Girl dolls (because the maker contributed to a youth organization that was pro-choice and supported the acceptance of lesbians). In 2005, it called off its unsuccessful nine-year boycott of Disney (for its "embrace of the homosexual lifestyle").
McDonald’s should follow Disney’s lead and ignore the right-wing protests. After all, during the nine years AFA was boycotting Disney, the company saw record profits.