[Active-l] (NEWS) Today's Cultural Warfare Update

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

Here, have a mini-update. More to come, I'm studying for my bio  
midterm on Wednesday and also trying to finish up my tax prep. God  
damn I hate doing taxes.

Mitt Romney claims that Sam Brownback used to be pro-choice too;  
however, Senator Brownbacks people say, "oh, HELL no he wasn't";

New Republic notices that the theocon-backed "gay marriage" bans are  
designed to hurt queers in any way possible, and that the "protecting  
marriage" thing is mostly spin;

Houston Chronicle condemns "freakish memo" pushing evolutionary  
theory in classrooms;

American Family Association puts out a very old-school ACTION ITEM  
against "sickness masquerading as art" at Sundance;

AFA ACTION ITEM against Ford Motor for advertising on a show called  
"Dirt," which had a January 16 episode including implied gay sex;

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM against what they call "mandatory  
HPV vaccination of schoolgirls," which is to say including the HPV  
anti-cervical-cancer vaccine in the standard school set. Note that  
the use of the word "mandatory" is a _lie_; Texas law lets you opt  
out of even the school vaccination programme. The reason they oppose  
the HPV vaccine, even on an opt-out basis, because it will "be  
administered in a manner that promotes the myth of 'safe sex.'";

Family Research Council ACTION ITEM against a health exemption in a  
parental-notification law in New Hampshire;

Traditional Values Coalition condemns Hawai'i effort to pass civil  
unions, which it describes as "the same thing as homosexual marriage";

TVC ACTION ITEM condemning Massachusetts for including same-sex  
couples in descriptions of state marriage, marriage of same-sex  
couples being legal in the state and all;

TVC, which has advocated the policy that transgendered people should  
be involuntarily institutionalised, condemns the University of  
Southern Maine for adjusting its housing rules to deal with  
transgendered people and also gay and lesbian students;

TVC condemns teenaged transwoman in Germany, calling GRS "genital  
mutilation";

TVC condemns attempts to "lure Christians to Democrat Party," asserts  
that the "Sojourners" Christian group is "more in line with the old  
Soviet Union than with America".


----- 1 -----
Brownback campaign: Romney misleading voters
eyeon08.com
"Watching the 2008 pre-election"
Online as of 12 February 2007

http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/02/12/brownback-campaign-romney- 
misleading-voters/

I think that this press release just about says it all. No need to  
comment. Apparently this was triggered by the Romney campaign  
circulating statements comparing Sam Brownback and Mitt Romney’s  
record on abortion:

Mitt Romney’s Campaign Misleads Voters about Senator Brownback’s  
Position on Abortion
"Mitt Romney’s flip flops are enough to make John Kerry blush."

Alexandria, VA – Documentation surfaced over the weekend that the  
Romney for President Exploratory Committee is misleading voters.

In an e-mail circulated to right-to-life leaders on February 8, 2007,  
a key Romney staffer wrote: "Just like Sam Brownback, Mitt was once  
pro-choice but changed his views upon being elected to office… When  
Brownback was elected to office, that is when he also had a  
conversion and voted with the pro-life movement."

Brownback for President National Campaign Committee Member Dr. Jack  
Willke, who was President of National Right to Life for ten years,  
responded: "Senator Brownback has always been pro-life, and has never  
made a statement or cast any vote to the contrary."

[More at URL]


----- 2 -----
A gay marriage ban that hurts conservatives.
Spouse Abuse
by Jonathan Cohn
The New Republic
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=LtYthOOtlbZwz4o%2BlnfuuS%3D%3D

ancer Peter Sparling isn't just another resident of this city; he's  
an institution. A graduate of Julliard and protégé of the legendary  
choreographer Martha Graham, Sparling left New York two decades ago  
to join the University of Michigan faculty. It was a homecoming of  
sorts for Sparling, who had grown up in nearby Detroit, and, once he  
returned, Sparling figured he was back for good. In 1993, with the  
university's blessing, he established the Peter Sparling Dance  
Company--a troupe known nationally for its innovative performances  
and beloved locally for its popular children's dance classes. By late  
summer 2004, as he was celebrating his 20th year with the university  
and his eleventh with the dance company, Sparling told the Detroit  
Free Press that "I've never felt more rooted to a place than I do  
right now to Michigan."

But today Sparling wonders whether he can stay, thanks to a decision  
handed down by a state appeals court two weeks ago. According to the  
decision, Michigan's 2004 law against gay marriage prohibits state- 
run institutions from extending spousal benefits to gay couples. And  
that's a big problem for Sparling, whose partner of 17 years is a  
self-employed visual artist who depends upon Sparling for health  
insurance. Given the couple's financial resources and his partner's  
health problems, Sparling says buying individual coverage for him  
will be virtually impossible. "We definitely want to stay--we've  
invested too much in this town," Sparling tells me in an interview.  
"But we would have to consider leaving if it were financially  
difficult."

[...]

Of course, many conservatives in Michigan and around the country  
would reject that premise. The whole point of their crusade against  
same-sex marriage is to de-legitimize gay couples as families. But  
public opinion is moving in precisely the opposite direction:  
Americans have grown more tolerant--not less--of homosexuality over  
time. According to a recent Gallup-USA Today poll, 54 percent of  
Americans now consider homosexuality acceptable, the highest  
percentage that survey ever recorded. And each succeeding generation  
is proving more tolerant than the last: While only 36 percent of  
people older than 80 think it's acceptable, 62 percent of 18-to-29- 
year-olds do.

[More at URL]


----- 3 -----
Not in Kansas anymore
Just when Kansas returns science to the classroom, Rep. Chisum tries  
to goad Texas toward Dark Ages.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 15, 2007, 8:13PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4557923.html

It started off as a such a good week — both for science and for the  
American students who must understand it to compete with their peers  
abroad. The Kansas Board of Education finally joined most of the  
United States in accepting the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Then Texas' own state Rep. Warren Chisum, chairman of the House  
Appropriations Committee, had to mail colleagues a freakish memo  
denouncing evolution as a religious plot disseminated by one  
"Pharisee Religion."

The mix of nonsense, free-floating anti-Semitism, misuse of power and  
seeming obliviousness to all of the above were like a dip into the  
Dark Ages.

[More at URL]


----- 4 -----
Tax dollars support sickness masquerading as art at Sundance Film  
Festival
Contact Your U.S. Senators and Representative Today!
February 6, 2007

http://www.afa.net/neasundance.htm

Recently I sent you information on two films featured at the Sundance  
Film Festival. One, "Hounddog," featured a scene where a 12-year-old  
girl was raped. The other film, "Zoo," was about a man having sex  
with a horse.

AFA has learned that your tax dollars were used to support the  
Sundance Film Festival. The National Endowment for the Arts gave  
between $100,000 and $249,000 to help underwrite the festival, and  
the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) gave between $50,000 and $99,999.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) gets millions of dollars to  
support "art." A few years ago the NEA helped fund a crucifix  
submerged in urine and named "Pis- Christ." NEA has sponsored similar  
"art" projects with tax dollars.

PBS gets tax funding from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  
Every other non-profit broadcasting station must raise their own  
funds, but CPB and PBS are funded with hundreds of millions of tax  
dollars. PBS is probably the most liberal network in America.  
Hollywood has hundreds of millions of dollars to underwrite the cost  
of the Sundance Film Festival, but they would rather use your tax  
dollars than their own money. Together, these two organizations  
provided upwards of $350,000 of tax money to the film festival.

[More at URL]


----- 5 -----
Ford Helps Sponsor Explicit, Sickening Homosexual Scene
American Family Association
January 23, 2006

http://www.afa.net/aa012307.asp

Rather than backing down from its support of homosexuality, Ford  
Motor Company has apparently taken a "rub it in your face" attitude.

On the January 16 episode of "Dirt," which airs on the FX channel,  
Ford helped sponsor one of the most explicit, sickening homosexual  
scenes ever shown on television.

Because it is so explicit, I could not even include a description of  
it here. I hope you will simply trust me. However, if you want to  
read our review of the scene, or to see the video of the scene, click  
here. Be forewarned, it is extremely graphic.

Ford has made it extremely clear that they have no intentions of  
ending their support of homosexuality. Among other things, the  
company reneged on their agreement to remain neutral in the culture  
wars, increased their support of homosexual publications, sponsored  
TV programs pushing homosexuality and required employees to attend  
"diversity" training promoting homosexuality. For more information on  
Ford's track record, go to BoycottFord.com.

Take Action

Send an e-mail to Ford's new CEO Alan R. Mulally.

Forward this e-mail to your local Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar,  
Land Rover, Mazda or Ford dealer (all owned by Ford). Find their e- 
mail address here (click on the auto icon). Ask the dealer to forward  
it to CEO Mulally.

If you haven't already done so, please sign the Boycott Ford Pledge.

Print out the Boycott Ford Petition and distribute it at Sunday  
School and church.

Extremely important! Help us get the word out about Ford by  
forwarding this to friends and family! For more information on Ford’s  
support for the homosexual agenda, click here.

[More at URL]


----- 6 -----
Oppose Mandatory HPV Vaccination of Schoolgirls			
[Editor's note: The word "mandatory" is a lie; Texas law allows  
opting out of school vaccinations.]
February 9, 2007 - Friday
Family Research Council
Forward to a Friend!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AL07B02&f=PG06I01#FORM

Governor Rick Perry of Texas (R) bypassed the state legislature last  
week and issued an executive order requiring every schoolgirl in  
Texas to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus by the  
fall of this year. The decision to issue this mandate from the  
governor's mansion and to end debate in the state legislature has  
caused a firestorm of controversy - and it should have. With this one  
decision, Gov. Perry, a leader with a strong pro-family record, has  
short-circuited the kind of legislative debate that is most likely to  
produce a law that will counter the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and  
protect the constitutional rights of parents to make medical  
decisions affecting their children's health.

Your help is needed: Call Gov. Perry at 512-463-2000 and ask him to  
rescind his executive order and allow the Texas state legislature to  
vote on this issue.

The health objectives involved are certainly vital. The vaccine in  
question - trade-named Gardasil and produced by Merck & Co.  
pharmaceuticals - is reportedly safe and effective against strains of  
HPV that cause 70% of the cases of cervical cancer, a malady that  
kills some 3,700 women a year in the United States. Like other  
vaccines, however, Gardasil is not without risk of side-effects.  
Moreover, it is administered in a series of three doses whose cost is  
at least $360 per patient and possibly much higher. Because HPV  
infection is caused by sexual activity, it is not transmitted by  
casual contact and therefore is not in the same class as other  
diseases like polio for which mandatory, school-based vaccination is  
a public health imperative.

Informed and empowered, most parents will decide to have their  
children vaccinated against HPV, but many will decide to do so only  
after more health data has emerged, when their daughter is older, or  
in settings that minimize the risk that the vaccination will be  
administered in a manner that promotes the myth of "safe sex." These  
parents have rights too, and Gov. Perry's sweeping order, even with  
its "opt-out" feature, tramples on their wisdom and usurps their  
responsibility. An information and "opt-in" policy for Gardasil would  
better serve the rights of all Texas families.

Please call Gov. Perry and let him know you support restoring the  
legislative process on Gardasil in order to preserve parental rights.  
His order has galvanized the HPV vaccine debate across the United  
States and put new focus on the balance between public health and  
parental rights, a balance that has suffered so much in our  
sexualized culture.

Thank you for taking action today and God bless you.


----- 7 -----
New Hampshire Committee Votes to Silence Parents
To: Friends of Family Research Council
From: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins
February 16, 2007 - Friday
Please forward this to your Friends and Family!

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07B12

While nearly a dozen states debate laws that would expand parents'  
rights, the New Hampshire legislature is working overtime to  
undermine them. Since 2003, the Granite State has had a parental  
notification law on the books, requiring at least one parent to be  
informed 48 hours before their minor daughter has an abortion.  
Planned Parenthood, concerned that the law would scare off business,  
challenged the measure in court on the grounds that it didn't include  
a health exemption for the mother. Ultimately, the suit landed in the  
U.S. Supreme Court, where, in January of last year, the justices  
reversed a ruling that had struck down the law. Now the state  
legislature is fighting to repeal the law, insisting that the  
government--not moms or dads--should be the ultimate authority on  
matters that affect children's health. Yesterday, the House Judiciary  
Committee voted 12-5 in favor of abolishing a parents' right to know.  
 From there, the measure will go before the full state House for a  
vote and, if successful, could be signed into law by Gov. John Lynch  
(D) as early as March. If the appeal passes, the court case is moot.  
When FRC attempted to alert our supporters in New Hampshire to the  
urgency of this issue, we were informed that unless our organization  
had a lobbyist registered in the state, we were forbidden from e- 
mailing New Hampshire voters. Obviously, the government is intent on  
silencing those that would expose their strategy to suppress parents  
on an issue as vital as teen abortion. In fact, some leaders consider  
the whole matter of parental notification a distraction from state  
business. As Rep. Liz Hager (R) said, "Let's get this expensive,  
unconstitutional problem behind us." However, the true expense will  
be the toll on innocent, human lives should the state erase a law  
that serves to give young girls pause about killing their unborn  
babies. Our friend Karen Testerman, head of New Hampshire's  
Cornerstone Policy Research, is circulating a petition in hopes of  
persuading elected officials--not to change their position on  
abortion, but to uphold parents' rights. For more information on  
Cornerstone's efforts, log on to www.cnht.org.

Additional Resources
The Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers

[More at URL]


----- 8 -----
Hawaii Homosexual Activists And Allies Push For Civil Unions
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2999

February 1, 2007 – After Hawaiians successfully fought to ban  
homosexual marriage in their state in 1998 by amending their  
constitution, homosexuals and their allies are working to convince  
the state legislature to grant civil unions to homosexuals.

Civil unions would grant the same rights and privileges to homosexual  
couples as those given to married couples. This effort would violate  
the wishes of the Hawaiian people and the constitution, but  
homosexual activists don’t care. They’ll push for civil unions as  
equal to marriage.

The homosexual newpaper, the Washington Blade, is touting the work of  
former anti-gay marriage advocate Debi Hartmann, who once led  
Hawaii’s Future Today to fight the legalization of homosexual  
marriage. Hartmann is now an advocate of civil unions – which is the  
same thing as homosexual marriage.

[More at URL]


----- 9 -----
Massachusetts Has ‘State Interest’ In Promoting Homosexuality To Kids
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3008

February 15, 2007 – Lawyers representing the Estabrook Elementary  
School in Lexington, Massachusetts claim that the state has a  
compelling state interest to teach children about homosexuality.

The lawyers are defending the school against a lawsuit filed by David  
Parker, a parent who was arrested in April 2005 for protesting pro- 
homosexual teachings to his son.

The pro-homosexual lawyers argued that the state must fight  
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and that parents  
have no right to control what ideas the school presents to elementary  
school children. A lawyer stated: “Once I have elected to send my  
child to public school, my fundamental right does not allow me to  
direct what my child is exposed to in the public school.”

“What Estabrook Elementary School did to Josh Parker as a  
kindergarten child being taught that homosexual marriage is right and  
proper, is a blatant violation of the rights of parents to direct the  
destiny of their children. This school district violated their rights  
by not informing the parents of this homosexual marriage  
presentation. David Parker has filed a federal lawsuit over the  
violation of his parental rights,” said TVC Chairman Rev. Louis P.  
Sheldon.

More details on this case are available on the WorldNetDaily site and  
on MassResistance.org, which has been working to defend Parker and  
all parents from homosexual recruitment programs in the public  
schools in Massachusetts.

TAKE ACTION: Access and distribute TVC’s reports on homosexual  
recruitment programs in our nation’s schools and reports on the Gay  
and Lesbian Straight Education Network’s seduction of children into a  
homosexual lifestyle.


----- 10 -----
University Of Southern Maine Features Co-Ed Rooms
The introduction of co-ed rooms was originated by the USM Center for  
Sexualities and Gender Diversity to provide rooms for ‘transgender’  
students.
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3014

February 15, 2007 – The University of Southern Maine is one of 20 or  
more colleges in the U.S. that now offers co-ed rooms, permitting  
single men and women to live together and share a common bathroom.

According to a report in the Portland Press Herald (2/11/07), the  
program, which began in 2004 “was designed to offer gay, lesbian,  
bisexual and transgender students an alternative housing arrangement  
on campus.”

School officials now acknowledge that male and female students are  
comfortable sharing living quarters on campus.

According to Sarah Parker-Holmes, director of the Center for  
Sexualities and Gender Diversity, college institutions “rely too much  
on the binary concept of you are either one or the other. That does  
not recognize that is not always the case.”

More and more schools are changing their policies to cater to  
“transgender” students. One such student is Jeffrey Chang who attends  
Clark University in Massachusetts. Chang was originally denied his  
request to live with a female friend in a dorm. Chang looked into  
gender-neutral policies and created www.genderblind.org, a web site  
that helps other students create similar policies at their  
universities. The National Student Genderblind Campaign seeks  
inclusive dorm rooms and restrooms.

Chang believes that college policies are rooted in past assumptions  
about men and women. “I think college students want the maximum  
amount of freedom and choice that they can get at any university,”  
said Chang.

Recommended Reading From TVC’s Archives:
“A Gender Identity Disorder Goes Mainstream”
“Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School?”


----- 11 -----
12-Year-Old Boy To Undergo ‘Sex Change’ Operation In Germany
[Ed. Note: the child is 14, not 12. Also, other sources indicate that  
the "sex change operation" is not happening until she turns 18.]
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2998

February 1, 2007 – A child suffering from Gender Identity Disorder  
(GID) has been recommended by psychiatrists for a sex-change  
operation. The boy has, unfortunately, been confused about his sexual  
identity since he was two.

The boy kept telling his parents that he was a girl and at four  
threatened to cut off his male organ. From that point on, the parents  
referred to him as Kim.

Psychiatrist Bernd Meyenburg at Frankfurt University has approved the  
so-called sex change operation for Tim, who is now 14. He is  
undergoing hormone treatments to allegedly become a girl.

There is a growing trend among psychiatrists and pediatricians here  
in the United States and around the world to make the unscientific  
assertion that being male or female are social constructs – not  
biological realities. As a result, these physicians and therapists  
are recommending genital mutilation to supposedly fix what is a  
mental problem.

TVC’s report, “Will Cross-Dressing Activists Come To Your School?”  
describes dangerous trends within the pediatric community and  
psychiatry to normalize sex change operations for kids. Our report,  
“A Gender Identity Disorder Goes Mainstream” details the political  
agenda of transgender activists to force cross-dressing and  
transsexualism upon our culture.

[More at URL]


----- 12 -----
Leftist Group Seeks To Use ‘God Talk’ To Lure Christians To Democrat  
Party
Traditional Values Coalition

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3000

February 1, 2007 – A two-year-old public relations firm called  
“Common Good Strategies” is working behind the scenes to help  
Democrats convince Christians that they should vote for Democrats of  
“faith.”

The PR firm is headed by Mara Vanderslice, a 1997 graduate of Earlham  
College. Vanderslice formerly worked as an intern for Jim Wallis’  
Sojourners organization, a far-leftist “Christian” group that is  
attempting to convince moderate or conservative Christians that  
Democrat policies are best for achieving “social justice.”

Jim Wallis has been consulting with Democrat strategists for years to  
lure Christians away from the Republican Party. TVC’s special report  
on Wallis reveals the consistent far left policies of the group –  
which have been more in line with the old Soviet Union than with  
America.

[More at URL]