gay/lesbian

Pastor John Hagee endorses John McCain for PresidentWhile news media have focused on Barack Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, little attention has been paid to the endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain by controversial Texas televangelist John Hagee. Hagee has voiced extreme anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish and anti-homosexual views. In a September 2006 interview on National Public Radio, Hagee reaffirmed his view that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment against New Orleans for hosting a homosexual parade. Hagee has also said that the Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves by "turning away from the true God." He referred to Catholicism as a "false cult," and said the religion contributed to Hitler's anti-semitic views. When Hagee endorsed him, McCain said he was "proud" to have the pastor's support. More recently, McCain has been working to distance himself from Hagee's inflammatory comments.

"Israel's official MySpace page was launched in January under the direction of officials from the Foreign Ministry," reports Gregory Levey. "The MySpace page automatically greets visitors with a sleekly produced hip-hop song called 'Peace in the Middle,'" and "shows pictures of Israel's beaches, glitzy hotels and the Tel Aviv skyline." It's part of the Israeli government's efforts "to reach out to young Americans" and "disarm the conflict-centric image so prevalent in the Western media." The Israeli government also has its own blog, which (like its MySpace page) links to YouTube videos on "Israel's achievements in technology, medicine, business and entertainment," as well as Gay Pride Parades and "a lot of people wearing bikinis. There is nobody wearing a military uniform in the videos, even though military service is compulsory for all Israelis after they turn 18." Future online plans include a second blog run by Israel's Foreign Ministry, "devoted exclusively to politics," and "an Internet television station aimed at American evangelicals and other Christians."

In the last week at least seven newspapers have dropped the syndicated column of conservative firebrand Ann Coulter. Speaking at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 2, Coulter said "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards." Newspapers that have dropped her column include: Sanford Herald (North Carolina); Daily Chronicle (Illinois); American Press (Louisiana); Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania); The Oakland Press, (Michigan); The Mountain Press (Tennessee); and The Times (Louisiana). The editorial director of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, David Hampton, said that while he disagreed with her opinions, the paper would keep her column. "I think her popularity will continue to wane. I believe ideas rise and fall on their merits, and I haven't seen much depth in hers," he said.

The September 2006 issue of a Denver area LGBT magazine, MetroMode, carries a curious full-page ad titled "Busting the Myths of Smoke-Free Colorado" that urges readers to protest Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act, the law that ended smoking in most workplaces (including bars and restaurants) as of July 1, 2006. The ad was paid for by a group called "The Coalition for Equal Rights," and sends readers to the web site www.stopthebans.com where visitors are told that the Coalition for Equal Rights fights for "freedom of choice." A small link on the page asks visitors to "Join CLBA," which, it turns out, stands for Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, a longtime Tobacco industry ally and member of Philip Morris' secret Colorado "Field Action Team", a group of businesses that PM mobilizes to fight restrictions on the sale or use of tobacco. LGBT groups have significantly higher smoking rates than the general population and are more concerned about civil rights than most groups, two facts that certainly were not lost on whoever put together the ad.

Media Matters caught Sean Hannity on Tuesday blaming the "anti-war left" for protesting at the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. In reality, the protesters were members of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) in Topeka, Kansas, which claims that terrorism and other disasters are divine retribution against America for the "sin" of tolerating homosexuality. WBC members, who held signs saying "God blew up the troops" and "Thank God for dead soldiers," also have a website called GodHatesAmerica.com, where the rhetoric of America's religious right sounds ominously like the rhetoric of Al Qaeda: "The American army is a fag army! ... WBC rejoices every time the Lord God in His vengeance kills or maims an American soldier with an Improvised Explosive Device."

The CBS and NBC television networks are refusing to run a 30-second television ad from the United Church of Christ. The ad states that - like Jesus - the church seeks to welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation. According to a written explanation from CBS, the implied acceptance of gay and lesbian worshippers makes the ad "too controversial." According to the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, "It's ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial."

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting funded two new right-leaning shows - "one hosted by Tucker Carlson, who speaks for conservatives on CNN's 'Crossfire'" and "one moderated by Paul Gigot, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal" - while cutting "NOW with Bill Moyers" from an hour to 30 minutes. Moyers responded, "CPB has ordered up programs for ideological instead of journalistic reasons." Common Cause president Chellie Pingree writes, "CPB board members tend to be big political donors who often come with specific ideological agendas." Regarding Lynne Cheney's suggestion "to the head of PBS that ... TV programs starring herself might be a jolly good idea," Laura Flanders suggests an adaptation of Sisters, a 1981 novel Cheney wrote, "full of sex and romance and condoms and lesbian lust in the 19th Century American West."

"When they need people, they keep them. When they don't, they implement their policy of discrimination," said the director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The group found that "the number of gays dismissed from the military under the Pentagon's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy has dropped to its lowest level in nine years as U.S. forces fought in Afghanistan and Iraq." In related news, the Log Cabin Republicans protested the Office of Special Counsel's decision to remove "information about sexual-orientation discrimination" from federal websites. The websites were changed based on the new Special Counsel's interpretation of a 1978 law, which he believes bans discrimination based on homosexual conduct, but not homosexual status.

"Witeck-Combs Communications is helping the Log Cabin Republicans, a band of GOP members who support gay rights, with a wide-reaching PR and ad campaign to fight their own party on a constitutional amendment which would ban gay marriage," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "The Log Cabiners will kick off a $1 million ad campaign -- the first ad blitz in the group's 27-years -- March 11 across the Washington, D.C., area and several swing states like Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin. The overall campaign begins today with lobbying and PR efforts in D.C., along with grassroots work and the revamp of the group's website, logcabin.org. A print ad campaign is also planned. Colleen Dermody, VP at W-C, said her firm has specialized in gay and lesbian marketing and PR work, advising companies like IBM and Ford on issues related to that group. She noted that W-C has generally been associated with left-of-center groups in the past and the current work for the Log Cabiners is its first for that group."

"[San Francisco] Mayor Gavin Newsom's (D) decision to allow same-sex marriages has been hailed by many as courageous, while still derided by others as shocking. Yet many agree that the decision, and the resulting media coverage, was a brilliant PR move by those wishing to force a public debate on this contentious issue," PR Week writes. LGBT advocates say they're pleased with the mayor's decision and the resulting media attention, which boosted several gay-rights groups' Valentine's Day campaigns. The move also impressed political watchers. "I think it's one of the best political and public relations moves of the new administration, and will be looked back upon in history as a significant moment in the gay rights movement," Sam Singer, president of San Francisco-based Singer Associates, told PR Week. "This is a key issue that resonates with one of the leading constituencies in San Francisco."