Indian Government Mulls Repeal Of Law Against Homosexuality

NEW DELHI, INDIA - Home ministry, which had been so far against change in section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which bans homosexuality, now
appears to be in favour of repealing of the law.
As against his predecessor Shivraj Patil's view, home minister P Chidambaram is learnt to have expressed his views on repealing of section 377.
Officials believe since law minister too has now a lenient view, the government stand before high court
will now change - provided the health ministry too expresses the need to change the law or repeal it altogether in favour of homosexual relationship.
Home minister Chidambaram, who is in favour of repealing of section 377, has called a meeting of health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, law minister V Moily and home ministers of all states for consultation.
With Chidambaram and Moily on board, it seems the gay right activists may now break their biggest hurdle.
Home ministry is now waiting for formal nod from health and law minister.
Earlier, it was the home ministry which opposed it in the high court, arguing that homosexuality is not accepted by Indian society and repealing of the law would open the floodgates of delinquent behaviour.
Home ministry had however argued that homosexuals are vulnerable to HIV-AIDS, hence the discrimination against them should end.
Home ministry is now waiting whether the new health minister G N Azad too favours his ministry's earlier stand. With Chidambaram and Moily being on board, the ball is now in Azad's court.
Final decision will be taken after taking consent of all in the proposed meeting.
from The Times of India

Beliefs On Homosexuality Gets Charity Worker Suspended

UNITED KINGDOM - A Christian housing charity today denied any involvement with a hostel worker suspended for expressing anti-gay views.
David Booker, 44, was chatting about his faith with co-worker Fiona Vardy during a late shift at the hostel in Southampton, Hants on March 26.
He told her he was opposed to same-sex marriages and to homosexual clergy but denied being homophobic and said he had homosexual friends.
The next evening, Mr Booker was suspended from his £19,000-a-year post as a hostel support worker with Society of St James where he has worked for the past four years.
Charity English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) used to run the hostel but transferred the support services to the Society of St James in February 2008 and sold the building to Saxon Weald housing association in January 2009.
The charity has been inundated with calls from angry Christians and Derek Caren, ECHG managing director, said: "We have had no involvement with the project or any disciplinary action against any Society of St James staff as it is simply not our business any longer.
"We successfully managed the Southampton Street project for many years but no longer retain an interest and strongly refute any connection with this unfortunate incident.
"I'm dismayed the good name of this organisation has been unfairly tarnished as a result of a mistake."
On March 30, Mr Booker received a formal suspension notice which alleged he "seriously breached" the code of conduct "by promoting your religious views which contained discriminatory comments regarding a person's sexual orientation...
"The action has been taken to safeguard both residents and staff" at the Southampton Street hostel.
Mr Booker, 44, a born-again Christian from Southampton, turned to the Christian Legal Centre (CLC) which instructed human rights lawyer Paul Diamond to represent him.
Trevor Pickup, chief executive of Society of St James, said: "The Society would like to make it clear that it only suspends people when allegations against them are very serious.
"We cannot say more at this point because we have a duty to ensure that Mr Booker is treated fairly.
"If the investigation finds that he has a case to answer then the evidence will be presented to him and he will have the opportunity to defend himself at a hearing where he has the right to representation by a trade union representative or work colleague."
The charity has 170 staff and works with more than 300 homeless people in Southampton.
The Society said it was not a Christian organisation and Mr Pickup added: "We are, however, committed to being fair to all our staff, from whatever background or faith."
from 24 Dash

Homosexuality Starts With A Thought

WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA - I am writing because of the recent article in The Democrat. Homosexuality is not a disease. It all starts with a thought and then the thought leads to an action. Just like when a thief decides to steal: He first thinks about stealing and then has a choice to give into the thought or to have self-control.
I happen to have a relative who was previously in a homosexual relationship. Our family prayed for the person, accepted the person but not the lifestyle that the person chose to live. There is a vast difference. The person came out of homosexuality and is now living a fruitful heterosexual lifestyle. Homosexuals can control their lust, just like everyone else. They claim to be the only people in the world who don't have self-control, but it's a lie. Stop believing the lie. Stand up for yourself, your marriages, your children and future generations. I would like to hear from others who came out of the homosexual lifestyle. Stand up and speak hope, not hopelessness, selfishness and despair.
Bonnie Fee
from Daily Democrat

Sexual Orientation Only Natural

Except for my bare-knuckled politics, I am not a lefty. I was born and bred right-handed and have never strayed. On the other hand, I harbor no ill will for those whom nature was not so accommodating.
Some of my best friends are southpaws. So was my first wife. Through the ages, all over the planet, being left-handed has not been naturally good. It's sometimes called Cain's hand and has been associated with Satan and evil in the Christian world, while offering a left for a handshake greeting is a serious personal insult in Arab society. It even has its own think tank to strategize about keeping the left-handed from being left out: Indiana University's Handedness Research Institute.
After all these centuries, lefties are still facing discrimination. It's a right-handed world.
In an effort to correct their handedness, small children are still abused for using their hand of choice instead of their right. Some lefty police and soldiers still find themselves at risk because their gun holsters hang right, making it a challenge for them to be quick on the draw. Spiral notebooks, three-ring binders, even pencil sharpeners are still user-unfriendly for the left-handed. So are most classroom desks, with an arm rest designed to support the right elbow. The few left-handed desks available are typically placed in the back of the classroom, reports the institute, which also quotes on its Web site lefties who claim not being hired because of wrong-handedness, or report that a left hand was tied behind the back to force a fit to the norm.
Nobody knows how many of the estimated 13 percent of the world's lefties have been turned out through such dedicated efforts to make them right. Nor does anyone know why they were born using that other hand to begin with.
Nor does anyone know why some people are born gay. We do know, however, that statistically speaking, there are about the same number of gays in this world as there are lefties.
And we should know that the biggest difference between the left-handed and the gay -- if we follow the American Family Association and its founder and chairman, the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon -- is a matter of agenda. Left-handers have none. Gays have an insidious one. They're ''intent on molding American culture in their own image,'' according to Wildmon and his organization, which he claims numbers more than 3 million.
A couple of weeks ago, the Association and its leaders launched an action alert on a bill in Congress that they assert would make pastors and other Christians subject to huge fines and prison terms if they say hateful things about homosexuality.
''The proposed law could make it a crime to preach on Romans Chapter 1 or I Corinthians Chapter 6. Or even to discuss them in a Sunday School class. If churches and individuals want to keep the government from telling them what they can and cannot preach and teach about homosexuality, they better get involved now!'' the association advised.
Never mind that Snopes, the urban legends Web site, has determined the association's claim about the bill is false. The radical right religious organization remains steadfast in insisting that if this bill passes, ''liberal judges will rush to make it a federal crime to publicly criticize the homosexual lifestyle.''
And never mind that more than half of America is not so quick to curse or condemn. A CNN opinion poll last week reported that 56 percent of Americans believe that gays and lesbians could not change their sexual orientation even if they wanted to. In the poll, 42 percent of respondents also said they believe homosexuality results from upbringing and environment, while 39 percent said they believe it is something a person is born with -- a close call that echoes the national debate over nurture vs. nature.
Our sexual orientations, in reality, are no different from the rest of the animal world. Zoologists are discovering that, within and throughout the animal kingdom, homosexual and bisexual activity is a familiar occurrence.
So, if it's hands-down quantitatively natural, what makes some believe it's not?
from The Chicago Sun-Times / Monroe Anderson

Gay Brotherly Love

While some scientists search frantically for "gay" genes, a University of Toronto researcher has discovered a hitherto unsuspected contributor to male sexual orientation: having lots of older brothers.
According to psychologist Ray Blanchard, each older brother that a boy has raises his chances of being gay by a third over the rate in first-born sons. "It might go from a 3 percent probability of homosexuality with the first son to 4 percent for the second to 5 percent for the third," explains Blanchard.
There may be psychosocial reasons why a brother glut would increase the odds of being gay, but Blanchard thinks the immune system is to blame. Pregnant moms sometimes have immune reactions against male-only proteins on a boy fetus. If immune cells "remember" earlier pregnancies and react more strongly with each one, Blanchard posits, then they might attack and alter fetal brains cells that will later influence sexual behavior.
from Psychology Today

Suspended Teacher To Get Public Hearing

INDIANA — A Woodlan Junior-Senior High School journalism teacher requested a public hearing this week after she was informed of her possible termination for a conflict with administrators who have accused her of insubordination and an inability to teach.
Amy Sorrell, adviser to The Tomahawk student newspaper and the school yearbook, received a notice on March 29 for her potential contract termination after she was placed on "administrative leave" for undisclosed reasons March 19. The letter clarified the school's actions by listing seven violations against the school such as insubordination, neglect of duty and "substantial inability to perform teaching duties."
The conflict arose when an opinion article calling for tolerance of homosexuality was printed in The Tomahawk on Jan. 19, prompting Principal Edwin Yoder to require future prior review of all articles.
At that point, Tomahawk Editor Cortney Carpenter said she and her staff refused to print the newspaper and a revised district student publications policy that was edited by Assistant Superintendent Andy Melin. In response, Sorrell began teaching First Amendment court cases so the students could offer suggestions to Melin on writing a new policy, Sorrell said.
Changing "the prescribed curriculum" was one violation noted in the letter along with her alleged use of the district's e-mail system to transmit "false or misleading statements to the media," casting Yoder "in a false light" and her refusal to retract and replace the Tomahawk's current editorial policy. The letter also addressed her failure "to provide appropriate instruction and supervision to the yearbook program."
"The journalism program...would be better served by replacing you with a teacher willing to work collaboratively with, not in conflict with, the building administrator in carrying out the prior review curriculum requirement for school sponsored publications," the letter said.
Melin said Sorrell has the right to request a hearing prior to the final decision, but the administration views this as a personnel issue that would need to be discussed privately.
"I think it's in my best interest to have this hearing public so people can be heard," Sorrell said. "East Allen is trying to turn this into a personnel issue," Sorrell said. "This is about East Allen's stance on tolerance and disregard for the First Amendment."
Melin disagreed, stating that the conflict was never with the content or the newspaper.
"After an investigation, our administrative team felt there was enough justification to put in front of the school board a consideration of termination of contract," Melin said. "It's not something administrative that we take pleasure in. We wish that we would not have to go to this extent, but on the other hand, based on what has transpired, we felt that we had no alternative."
Sorrell said many of the accusations are "not going to hold up" and that she is confident in the amount of support she has.
A response to the hearing request is expected after the district's spring break, taking place this week, and a final decision on Sorrell's status as a teacher will take place at the May 1 school board meeting, Sorrell said.
from The Student Press Law Center

Judge Mulls Suit Over Gay Classroom Talk

BOSTON - Officials from a suburban Massachusetts school district asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two couples who claim their parental rights were violated when homosexuality was discussed in their children's classrooms.
U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf did not immediately issue a decision in the case from Lexington, but peppered lawyers on both sides with questions and said he understood the importance of the case to both parents and school administrators.
Tonia and David Parker sued after their 5-year-old son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay family. David Parker was later arrested for refusing to leave his son's school after officials would not agree to notify him when homosexuality was discussed in his son's class.
Another Lexington couple, Joseph and Robin Wirthlin, joined the Parkers in the suit after a second-grade teacher read "King and King" to her class. The fairy tale tells the story of two princes falling in love.
Both couples claim Lexington school officials violated their parental rights to teach their own morals to their children.
The case has attracted a great deal of attention in Massachusetts, the only U.S. state that allows same-sex marriage.
John Davis, an attorney for Lexington school officials, argued in court Wednesday that teaching diversity is a "legitimate state interest." He said that it would be "an administrative nightmare" for schools in Massachusetts to try to predict when the topic of gay marriage will come up and to inform parents ahead of time.
"The parents do have rights ... but they don't have the right to dictate to the public school system what their children can be exposed to in the way of ideas," Davis said.
Robert Sinsheimer, an attorney for the parents who filed the lawsuit, called the homosexual discussions and materials "a form of propaganda" that goes against the parents' religious beliefs. He said the parents do not want to dictate curriculum, but do want to be able to remove their young children from classrooms when homosexuality or gay marriage is being discussed.
"What they fear is that their children are being brainwashed," he said.
About 30 people on both sides of the issue demonstrated outside the courthouse.
from The Associated Press

Vatican Enraged By Italian Magazine

VATICAN CITY - An Italian magazine report which sought to prove that what some priests tell Catholics in the confessional is not always what the Church preaches in public has enraged the Vatican.
To write the cover story in this week's L'Espresso, reporter Riccardo Bocca visited 24 churches in five large Italian cities and confessed sins he never committed or invented ethical dilemmas for the priest.
In one confessional in Naples he told the priest he felt guilty over his father's death after the family allowed a doctor secretly to detach a respirator. The father had for years been paralysed, confined to a bed and unable to breathe autonomously.
Although euthanasia is officially condemned by the Church, the priest told him not to worry too much because God would be the ultimate arbiter.
"If I had a wife, a father or a son who for years was alive only because of artificial life support, I would pull the plug too," said the priest, who then gave him absolution.
In another confessional box he faked being HIV positive and was told by a priest that whether or not he used a condom in order not to pass the virus to the woman he loved was "a very personal matter of conscience".
The Church teaches officially that abstinence and monogamy -- not condoms -- are the best way to stop the spread of AIDS.
The author said the article was a piece of investigative reporting, but the Vatican reacted with scathing vehemence.
NO DISRESPECT
An editorial in the Vatican's newspaper, l'Osservatore Romano, said the report had "profaned" the sacrament of Penance, also known as Reconciliation, in the name of "an ignoble scoop".
"Shame -- there is no other word to express our shock over something that is disgusting, unworthy, disrespectful and particularly offensive," the newspaper said.
Bocca said it was not his intention to show disrespect for the Catholic church or its sacraments.
"What I wanted to show was the difficulties facing these priests as they try to carry out their duties in good conscience," he told Reuters. "The differences I found were shocking even to me."
On homosexuality, one priest told him: "Well, homosexuality is a tendency which is a valid human expression. There are even homosexual priests and lesbian nuns."
Asked if he should openly declare his homosexuality, the priest told him: "Generally the best thing to do is to be yourself. Come clean. Do what the English call 'coming out'."
The Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but homosexual acts are.
Apart from abortion -- which all 24 priests unanimously condemned -- he received conflicting advice on moral issues such as divorce, stem-cell research and prostitution.
from Reuters

Board of Education Approves New Sex-Ed Curriculum

The Montgomery County Board of Education approved new sex-education lessons yesterday for the eighth and 10th grades that teach what it means to be homosexual but say little about how people become gay, resisting pressure from a divided community to define homosexuality as nature or nurture, right or wrong.
Approved by a unanimous vote, the lessons mark the first time Montgomery schools will introduce the topics of sexual orientation and homosexuality. The materials, including a new 10th-grade condom-demonstration DVD, will be field-tested in a handful of middle and high schools in spring, barring intervention by the courts.
Some school board members said they expect a lawsuit from the same community groups that persuaded a federal judge to halt a version of the curriculum in spring 2005. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. found that the curriculum presented one view of homosexuality, "that homosexuality is a natural and morally correct lifestyle," to the exclusion of all others.
"I believe we will be sued. That's okay. . . . Bring it on," said board member Sharon W. Cox (At Large).
Leaders of the protest groups said yesterday that they would consider their legal options and signaled that they have the same objection to the new curriculum as to the old one: They say it offers one viewpoint, favorable toward homosexuality, anal sex and premarital sex. Observers on both sides have predicted that "viewpoint neutrality," or lack thereof, would eventually form the basis of a lawsuit.
"Absolutely nothing is allowed to be said that is negative about homosexuality," said Ruth Jacobs, an infectious-disease specialist and member of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, which, with Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, sued to block the curriculum in its first incarnation.

Defenders of the previous curriculum hailed the new one, which explores the range of sexual orientations and gender identities, defines harassment and discrimination and teaches tolerance regardless of sexual orientation. Board of Education President Nancy Navarro applauded the group's 8 to 0 vote, which, in the face of potential litigation, "sends a message that we stand firm on the balanced approach that we have taken with these revisions."
About 15 opponents of the curriculum appeared at the board meeting, carrying signs that read, "Children's health before political agendas" and "Not viewpoint neutral."
The opposition groups say that if lessons on sexual orientation are taught at all, they should include perspectives that homosexuals can change, that transgenderism is a mental disorder and that anal intercourse is dangerous. One representative from each of the two opposing groups sat on a 15-person advisory committee that recommended dozens of additions and changes to the curriculum.
Others on the committee lobbied the school board to insert stronger statements in the curriculum in support of gay, lesbian and transgender students. Yesterday, that campaign narrowed to a request that a single sentence be added to the lessons, instructing that mainstream medical and mental health organizations have concluded that homosexuality is not a disease or a mental illness.
The suggestion divided board members, who split 4 to 4 on a motion by Patricia O'Neill (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) to instruct teachers to provide the statement upon a student's request.
School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast reminded board members that the curriculum, written by his staff, had been built on specific academic objectives and tailored to "circumscribe our liability."
from The Washington Post / Daniel de Vise

Sex Education Revisited

Montgomery County school officials released new sex-education lesson plans yesterday after a 2005 legal settlement with two citizens groups that objected to the previous lessons. Here is a recap of the chief complaints and how the new lessons address them:
· Condom video. Critics are mostly pleased with a new condom video that is purely instructive. In the disputed video, a young woman unrolled a condom onto a cucumber.
· Homosexuality. Sexual orientation is introduced to eighth-graders, despite protests from the groups.
· Religion. The new lessons do not broach religious beliefs. A federal judge found religious bias in the previous lessons, which singled out some religions for intolerance of homosexuality.
· Anal sex. Anal and oral sex are cited in the lessons, and anal sex is not singled out for potential health risks, contrary to the citizens groups' wishes.
· Former homosexuals. The viewpoints of former homosexuals, who contend that sexuality is a choice, are not voiced in the new curriculum, as the citizens groups' had hoped.
from The Washington Post

Troubled Childhood Increases Risk Of Homosexuality

Out of Denmark comes a study that will be sure to put a crimp in the we-are-born-that-way theory of the origins of homosexuality. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, provides interesting and tantalizing evidence that the less stable or traditional a child’s home is, the more likely that the child will turn to homosexuality as an adult.
The study used 2,000,355 native-born Danes between the ages of 18 and 49, virtually “the entire Danish population”. With such a large base it can hardly be claimed that the sampling was problematic. Many studies in the past have been discounted because of their sampling sizes — generally being claimed too small.
Denmark was the first country to legalize gay marriage and has a large variety of recognized modes of cohabitation and lifestyles, so this study is of particular interest in that the stats cover the longest range of time available from which to establish the most reliable statistics.
Effects of Upbringing on Sexual Orientation
As quoted on the NARTH website, the study’s authors conclude: “Our study provides population-based, prospective evidence that childhood family experiences are important determinants of heterosexual and homosexual marriage decisions in adulthood.”
The authors go on to say, “Whatever ingredients determine a person’s sexual preferences and marital choices, our population-based study shows that parental interactions are important.”
A further observation is made by Linda Ames Nicolosi of NARTH.
Assuming that people who marry heterosexually are almost always heterosexual — especially in a country where homosexuality carries little stigma, and gay marriage is legal — and people who marry homosexually can be presumed to be homosexual, the study’s findings offer intriguing evidence about family factors separating homosexual from heterosexual persons.
The findings show that children who have unstable or abusive homes are more likely to have homosexual relationships later on. This rings true to many studies that show homosexual males were often sexually abused as children.
This would also tend to prove that homosexuality is more a pathology, than a mere “natural” predilection. It would make the claims of being born gay problematic and, rather, a result of the mind’s reaction to a troubled childhood. It would also tend to make the removal of homosexuality from the rolls of mental health problems a mistake.
Here are some of the findings from the Danish report:
1. Men who marry homosexually are more likely to have been raised in a family with unstable parental relationships — particularly, absent or unknown fathers and divorced parents.
2. Findings on women who marry homosexually were less pronounced, but were still associated with a childhood marked by a broken family. The rates of same-sex marriage “were elevated among women who experienced maternal death during adolescence, women with short duration of parental marriage, and women with long duration of mother-absent cohabitation with father.”
3. Men and women with “unknown fathers” were significantly less likely to marry a person of the opposite sex than were their peers with known fathers.
4. Men who experienced parental death during childhood or adolescence “had significantly lower heterosexual marriage rates than peers whose parents were both alive on their 18th birthday. The younger the age of the father’s death, the lower was the likelihood of heterosexual marriage.”
5. “The shorter the duration of parental marriage, the higher was the likelihood of homosexual marriage…homosexual marriage rates were 36% and 26% higher among men and women, respectively, who experienced parental divorce after less than six years of marriage, than among peers whose parents remained married for all 18 years of childhood and adolescence.”
6. “Men whose parents divorced before their 6th birthday were 39% more likely to marry homosexually than peers from intact parental marriages.”
7. “Men whose cohabitation with both parents ended before age 18 years had significantly (55% -76%) higher rates of homosexual marriage than men who cohabited with both parents until 18 years.”
8. The mother’s age was directly linked to the likelihood of homosexual marriage among men — the older the mother, the more likely her son was to marry another man. Also, “only children” were more likely to be homosexual.
9. Persons born in large cities were significantly more likely to marry a same-sex partner — suggesting that cultural factors might also affect the development of sexual orientation.
In any case, this is a large sampling culled from among what is purportedly the most “tolerant” nation toward homosexuality and alternate lifestyles and it shows that, far from being benign, homosexuality is a result of abuse and instability in the home, as opposed to being some natural proclivity, for a large percentage of the population.
from Blogger News Network / Warner Todd Huston

Homosexuality And Abortion Are A Threat To National Security

Homosexuality and abortion represent as much a clear and present danger to the national security of America as does terrorism. The public immorality of the United States of America is appalling and the nation is fast heading for massive decline. Now, thanks to New Jersey , ten percent of the states have given homosexuals equal or near equal rights to those of married couples. No society in the known history of the world has survived the embracing of homosexuality as mainstream. This plague, combined with the letting of innocent blood by killing America’s pre-born babies, are two highly immoral actions tolerated by Americans that will someday bring this country to its knees.
Whenever the same sex marriage issue is brought before the American people for a vote, it is defeated overwhelmingly. Yet states like California , Massachusetts , Vermont , Connecticut , and now New Jersey are controlled by leftist immoral courts and legislators that are willing to ignore the good sense of the majority. Worse yet, the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood, and a host of organizations are promoting homosexuality as normal, and abortion as a preferred option for unplanned pregnancies. America ’s children are being educated by government supported schools and organizations that homosexuality and abortion are good an right.
And the mass education program is working. In Maryland , for example, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that in 2005 there were 3,681 abortions costing taxpayers some $2.3 million. The reasons for the abortions are alarming. There were three because of possible genetic deformity or abnormality; five because of endangerment to the life or physical health of the mother; two because of rape, sexual offense or incest; and 3,671 abortions due to medical evidence that continuing the pregnancy would represent a threat to the mental health of the mother. Of course, there is no mention of post-abortion mental health problems—which is even a larger issue.
Homosexuality and abortion have long term negative impacts on the mental and physical health of this nation. Still, the largest single reason for the spread of AIDS is homosexual men. Killing babies is against the laws of nature. Homosexuality and abortion lead to death—many studies indicate that the average lifespan of the homosexual is far less than heterosexuals. Pre-born babies never get a chance. The collective result is a society embracing immorality and death.
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.”-- Deuteronomy 30:19
from WDC Media / Bill Wilson

Panel Faces Tough Debate On Gay Jews

Rabbi Elliot Dorff concedes that his opinions about ordaining gays and restricting some sexual activity are likely to upset both traditionalists and liberals in Judaism's Conservative movement.
In a much-anticipated event, an international rabbinical council is scheduled next week to debate and vote on possibly dropping the unevenly enforced bans against gay rabbis and same-sex commitment ceremonies.
Dorff, rector of the University of Judaism in Bel-Air and a well-known bioethicist, is one of the lead authors of a position paper that would end the bans. But, keeping some tradition of rabbinical interpretation of the Bible, his proposal would prohibit anal sex between men. Other forms of consensual, monogamous sex would be permitted.
Jewish leaders predict this could be a watershed moment for Conservative Judaism, which occupies the theological middle ground between Orthodoxy's strong traditionalism and Reform's liberalism.
It also is another example of Christian and Jewish denominations struggling to be more welcoming of gays while abiding by what some view as scriptural injunctions against homosexuality.
"It is a compromise, no question," Dorff, 63, said recently at his Beverly Hills home. It seeks "to maintain the continuity of the law to the extent that we can, while at the same time getting rid of the harm it causes."
He cited the pain gays feel at not being fully included in Jewish life and the loss of Conservative movement members, both gay and straight, who don't agree with current policies.
More traditionalist Conservative Jews contend that ordaining gays would violate what they see as the denunciation of homosexuality in Leviticus: "Do not lie with a man as one would lie with a woman; it is an abomination."
Conversely, some rabbis are seeking to lift the bans, with no sexual restrictions, as the Reform movement did in 1990.
Dorff's compromise, as he predicted, is being criticized from both other sides as logically incoherent and possibly open to mockery as bedroom policing.
Still, observers say, the stance by Dorff and his two co-authors may well pass when the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which is part of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly and guides general policies, convenes Tuesday and Wednesday in New York. But because only six of the panel's 25 votes are needed to approve a position paper, or teshuvah — from the Hebrew for "answer" — it is likely that a contradictory policy will be adopted as well. Such a split result would allow rabbis and seminaries to choose which course to follow.
The authors of Jewish law are always affected by societal changes, said Dorff, who has a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University.
Dorff said he came to know many gay men in the 1980s during pastoral work with AIDS patients. His thinking also was influenced by research showing that people are born homosexual, as demonstrated, he said, by one of his four children, a lesbian who has had a child by artificial insemination.
A restriction on gay anal sex, he said, is similar to rules against heterosexual intercourse during menstruation. But requiring celibacy would be, he said, cruel and "very un-Jewish."
Whatever the vote's outcome, some Conservative Jews fear it could trigger further erosion in their U.S. ranks of about 1.3 million. Conservative Judaism used to be the largest wing of American Jewry but now represents about 33% of Jewish households, compared to 39% for Reform, according to the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey.
Some Canadian synagogues have talked of leaving the Conservative movement if the bans are lifted, echoing the splintering in the Episcopal Church over the 2003 consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire.
"Am I worried? You bet," said Rabbi Joel Roth, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, one of two Conservative seminaries in North America. (The other is Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at Los Angeles' University of Judaism.)
Roth, author of a motion that upholds the ban on gay clergy, said the decision would define whether Conservatives remain halachic, meaning based on Jewish law. "And I don't think there is anything more important than that," he said.
In Roth's view, Jewish law forbids all homosexual sex. "It is as unacceptable to ordain people who thought you could eat cheeseburgers," he said, referring to kosher rules against mixing meat and dairy. Homosexuals should be welcomed at temples, but a moral God can demand their celibacy, he said.
But others discount any talk of mass defections; they say similar warnings were unfulfilled when Conservative Jews began to ordain women in 1983.
Some leaders say Dorff's proposal does not go far enough.
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, a Conservative rabbi in Los Angeles, described Dorff as "one of the giants of Jewish scholarship in our movement and a mensch of the first order." But Diamond supports gay ordination without the restriction on sexual activity and said he feared that Dorff's compromise would confuse people. (Diamond said he was expressing his own opinion and not that of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, of which he is executive vice president.)
Rabbi Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents about 800 congregations in the U.S. and Canada, said there was a "strong chance" that contradictory measures on gays would pass.
Such an outcome would be all right with Dorff, whose co-authors were rabbis Daniel Nevins of Michigan and Avram Reisner of Maryland. "I do think it's wrong to pretend we're united where we are not," Dorff said. "And you know what? We will get along fine as a movement."
The emotions around the issues were evident last week when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government there to register same-sex marriages performed abroad. The decision was denounced as a moral outrage by Orthodox leaders but praised by advocates of civil marriages in Israel, where only religious ceremonies are allowed.
American Christian churches are grappling with similar questions about the role of gays in religious life.
Earlier this month, the American Catholic bishops said again that non-celibate homosexuals should not receive Communion, but they encouraged the baptism of children of same-sex couples. The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the nation's second-largest association of Baptists, the same week voted to cut ties with "gay-friendly" churches.
In June, after decades of contention, the Presbyterian Church USA moved to allow local governing bodies to decide whether to ordain homosexuals. Last year, the United Methodist Church removed a Pennsylvania woman from the ministry for being a lesbian.
Much of American Judaism operates with looser governance. In 1992, the Conservative Jewish panel voted against gay commitment ceremonies and ordaining gays but said they were welcome in synagogues and schools. Some Conservative synagogues still hire gay rabbis and some allow the commitment rituals.
The Ziegler School has rejected openly gay applicants but Dorff, its former dean, says he knows students who remained under a kind of "don't ask, don't tell" policy. If the rabbinical panel gives the go-ahead, the Los Angeles school will enroll openly gay students, he said.
from The Los Angeles Times

James Dobson Says Haggard Is 'At War With Himself'

James Dobson said Wednesday that disgraced evangelical Ted Haggard was not a hypocrite for preaching against homosexuality while engaging in "sexual immorality" with a gay escort, but was a man "at war with himself."
Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, told CNN's Larry King Live that evangelicals are not perfect.
"Well, he obviously was, again, at war with himself," said Dobson, a child psychologist and Christian media advocate.
"He was involved in activities that I think horrified him. He said that he fought against it, but he also knew what he believed. It was not hypocrisy. It was a struggle between behavior and a belief system."
Haggard was fired earlier this month as senior pastor from his 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs after he admitted to purchasing illegal drugs and practicing "sexual immorality" with a male escort in Denver. He also was forced to resign as leader of the powerful National Association of Evangelicals.
He is supposed to be undergoing a "restoration" and will be counseled by a three-member panel. Dobson had been picked as a panelist, but withdrew because he and Focus board members felt he simply didn't have time to aid Haggard.
Dobson strongly criticized liberals for playing judge and jury on the issue and reiterated that even evangelical Christians are not infallible. The key, Dobson said, is for those who have committed a great disservice to undergo the restoration similar to what Haggard is doing.
"Everybody gets exercised when something like this happens, and for good reason," Dobson said. "It's deceit. It's betrayal. It seems that those who are on the left approach this with glee.
"But I would say what else is new? If you just look at humankind. We're flawed. Go back to the greatest men in the Bible. Look at King David. He killed a man to get his wife for sexual purposes. He repented. He said, 'I've sinned before God.' "
Nonetheless, Dobson agreed that Haggard had managed to live a double life and keep it hidden from his family, friends and congregation.
"He sure has," he said. "That's a very sad circumstance. I feel terrible for him. I feel bad especially for his wife, Gayle - she's a wonderful lady - and their five children. We had no idea that this is the case. I've known him for many years, and this was a very private kind of thing, you know, this double life that you call it.
"It has now resulted in the loss of just about everything. His dignity, his work, his influence. He was a powerful influence in the Christian community. So we're all very very sad about that."
Dobson said he has not had contact with Haggard since the founder of New Life Church admitted his sexual escapades. A successful restoration partly will involve helping Haggard stop being gay, he said.
"That'd be part of it," he said. "It's a spiritual restoration, too. It's a personal and marital restoration. It involves every aspect of life."

Dobson quotes

• On forgiving Ted Haggard
"His sin was not against me. God has to do the forgiving. I continue to love him. He is a friend. He will always be my friend, and I'm sorry for what happened, but God has to forgive him. I mean his relationship with his wife has to be one of forgiveness. It's not my job to do that."
• On whether one becomes gay because of genetics
"What homosexual activists especially would like everybody to believe is that it is genetic. That they don't have any choice. And if it were genetic, identical twins would all have it. If you had homosexuality in one twin, it would be there in the other. So it can't be simply genetic."
• On disgraced Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley
"That was most unfortunate. I thought the media did everything they could to discourage values voters from voting, and I don't think Mark Foley had anything to do with that."
• On Republican electoral losses
"Republicans were given a marvelous opportunity. They had a 10-vote margin in the Senate - that's about as good as it gets, and a 29-vote margin in the House. And they essentially sat on it and did very little that so-called values voters care about. And I think people remember."
• On his support for the Iraq War
"I don't believe it was a mistake. You know if you go back to World War II, people have been very critical of (President) Roosevelt for not responding earlier to the holocaust that was going on. In fact, he was tone deaf to that misery. Well, that's what was happening in Iraq. You know, Saddam Hussein killed, as far as we know, a million people. Murdered them in cold blood. And that required some kind of response. I think what the president did was right and correct to do that. But now we're in a mess, and I admit that, and I'm very concerned."
• On liberals
"Those again on the liberal end of the spectrum are those who have no value system, or at least they say there is no moral and immoral. There's no right or wrong. . . . But when a religious leader, or especially an evangelical, falls, guess who is the most judgmental of him and calling him a hypocrite? . . . Those that said there is no right and wrong in the first place. The truth of the matter is there is right and wrong. And we all within our midst have failures, and they do occur."
from The Rock Mountian News

Man Who Outed Haggard Stands By His Decision

Mike Jones hates the word "prostitute.''
''I was an escort, all right? Not everyone I went with wanted sex,'' said Jones, who this month brought down evangelist Ted Haggard. "I think I give escorts a good name.''
Jones just spent three days in Miami Beach, where he did a photo shoot and interview for an upcoming book by South Florida writers David Leddick and Heriberto Sanchez and photographer David Vance. The title: Escort.
''Forty profiles with photographs of men who sell sex. I'm not taking a moral position myself. It's fascinating,'' said Leddick, who finds the escorts in magazine and website ads.
Each escort in the book will be paid $100 and get copies of his photos, he said.
Jones, 49, is Leddick's star. Three weeks ago, the muscular massage therapist went public and told the world that he had a three-year relationship with Haggard -- married president of the 30-million member National Association of Evangelicals, a confidante of President Bush and a leader in the anti-gay political movement.
Haggard, 50, paid $200 cash per session, ''plus tips,'' said Jones, who said he also helped Haggard buy methamphetamine.
At first, Haggard denied even knowing Jones. Within days of the scandal breaking on Nov. 2, Haggard amended his story, saying that he had paid Jones only for a massage and that he did buy meth -- but that he had thrown it away, unused. The reverend soon resigned from all church leadership positions and publicly called himself ``a deceiver and a liar.''
Jones said a man named Art first called him about three years ago.
Six months ago, Jones saw Haggard on television discussing the Antichrist. 'I said, `Oh my God, that's Art!' ''
Haggard helped lead a successful election battle this month to ban gay marriage in Colorado. ''He was reaching millions of people and that was difficult for me to swallow,'' said Jones, who decided to out Haggard at a local newspaper and radio station.
Jones life has ''been a whirlwind'' the past few weeks since he has become a minor celebrity.
Many, though, decry him for ruining Haggard's career and hurting the reverend's family.
''People have scolded me for that, particularly right-wing people,'' Jones said. 'But did Ted Haggard go to his wife and say, `I'm going to have a gay affair. Is this going to hurt you and the kids?' I don't want to have this guilt over my head.''
Jones' fellow sex workers are not happy, either.
''All the escorts are [angry] with me. This was such a unique situation. I could have ruined many careers in my day. A lot of politicians and athletes and clergy. But none of them got up and ranted and raved about homosexuality,'' he said.
Jones said his relationship with Haggard was strictly business.
Jones says that he retired from sex work two years ago, but that Haggard ''begged me'' to continue their sessions.
''I'm sure he regrets begging me now,'' he said.
Jones got into the sex business as a young gay man.
''Gosh, when I started going to bars, I had a fake ID at 19,'' Jones said. ``As time went on, more and more people offered me money.''
Jones eventually posed nude for gay men's magazines and made one porn film. He doesn't remember the title.
He has no issues with getting paid for sex and says prostitution should be legal.
Still, he holds being an escort above being a street prostitute.
''That's what people have in their heads, streetwalkers and such. I never, never did that,'' he said. 'I hate to use the word, `classier,' but it is in a way.''
from The Miami Herald

Pentagon Alters Homosexuality Guidelines

WASHINGTON - Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or "circumstances" that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying.
The new rules are related to the military's retirement practices. The change does not affect the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits officials from inquiring about the sex lives of service members and requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
The revision came in response to criticism this year when it was discovered that the guidelines listed homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
Mental health professionals said Thursday they were not satisfied by the change.
"We appreciate your good-faith effort to address our concern that the document was not medically accurate," James H. Scully, head of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "But we remain concerned because we believe that the revised document lacks the clarity necessary to resolve the issue."
The guidelines outline retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. The rules include sections that describes other specific conditions, circumstances and defects that also could lead to retirement, but are not physical disabilities.
Among the conditions are stammering or stuttering, dyslexia, sleepwalking, motion sickness, obesity, insect venom allergies and homosexuality.
"More than 30 years after the mental health community declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, it is disappointing that the Pentagon still continues to mischaracterize it as a 'defect,' said Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said "homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder. A clarification has been issued."
The psychiatric association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. Questions about the Pentagon's guidelines were raised in June by a research institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
There were 726 military members discharged under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy during the budget year that ended Sept. 30.
from The Associated Press

Campus Homosexual Club In Spotlight

BEIJING - Homosexuality, often a taboo subject in China, has been in the headlines since a homosexual student group became a registered club at one of the country's prestigious universities.
The "Rainbow Group", which includes both homosexuals and heterosexuals, was named after the "Rainbow Flag", a symbol of the campaign for equal rights for homosexuals.
The group will study homosexuality and oppose sexual discrimination, according to Ai Xiaoming, the group tutor.
The group obtained registration permission from Zhongshan University in the country's southern Guangdong Province and became the first of its kind in the country.
Controversial sexologist Li Yinhe hailed it as "a landmark event" and "historical progress" on her blog.
"It's wonderful to see the Rainbow Group set up because it shows that a state university in China has given way to students with different sex orientation and is willing to hear their voice, " said professor Ai Xiaoming.
However, some students' parents are worried as they consider homosexuality a disgrace to their family.
"One boy's mother attempted to commit suicide when she discovered her 24-year-old son was gay," said Li Yinhe.
"If anyone in my daughter's university dares to give a lecture advocating new types of sexual relations and attacking traditional family values, I will sue the university," said Xue Yong, parent of a university student.
"I believe parents are just as worried about homosexuality as they are about sexual liberation," Xue continued.
In fact, homosexuality is no stranger to college students in China and nearly all big universities in China have homosexual forums on their websites.
In 2003, Peking University held the First Beijing Homosexual Film Festival. In 2005, Fudan University opened an optional course for undergraduates on homosexual research.
According to Li Yinhe's recent survey, 91 percent of Chinese respect homosexuals' choice of lifestyle, more than 80 percent hold that homosexuals deserve equal job opportunities and more than 60 percent do not object to having homosexual friends. The survey polled over 400 people in large and medium-sized cities in China.
Most people "accept homosexuals but hope they can change and become 'normal'", said the survey.
from China Daily

Hurting Gays, And Ourselves

We're all familiar with the headlines involving homosexuality. The names of Jim McGreevey, Mark Foley and now Ted Haggard have become known throughout America because of admitted or alleged homosexual "indiscretions." We have not heard as much about their families. That's where I come in. I understand something of what their families are going through because I've been there.
We all understand that reputations were ruined, careers lost and families hurt by these scandals. Apparently what we don't understand is that we are all part of turning these disclosures into scandals. And our clucking and condemnation after they emerge, while a contributing factor, isn't where our real culpability lies. The root of the problem is in our denial that gays and lesbians are as worthy and unworthy, flawed and gifted, as heterosexuals. The root belief that homosexuals are "less than" the rest of us stretches long and deep in this society.
Our condemnatory attitudes began in the latter part of the Middle Ages. Until then the Christian church in Western Europe, and thus the general culture, had largely tolerated or ignored homosexual acts. But everything changed when Thomas Aquinas and other religious writers labeled not only homosexual acts but all non-procreative sexual behavior "unnatural." The Roman Catholic Church continues to promote this idea today, even though most critical thinkers appreciate the relational bonding, tension release and joyous pleasure that sexuality affords along with the possibility of procreation. Of course any practice of sexuality that harms, takes advantage of or demeans another person is wrong, no matter who is involved. Nonetheless, instead of dealing with this and other related issues in a straightforward way, many join the church in simply rejecting gays and lesbians.
Let me hasten to say that I do not intend to single out the Roman Catholic Church for criticism. For several years my own denomination, the United Methodists, has presented invitational ads on national television proclaiming the church to be one of "open hearts, open minds, open doors" while declaring in its Book of Discipline that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." Thus the United Methodist Church, like many others, remains deeply divided over this issue.
It took the Catholics 171 years to accept Copernicus's insight that Earth revolves around the sun. Today too many people are hurting and too much damage is being done to continue to wait for any church to step up and admit it is wrong about its condemnation of the "practice" of homosexuality. It's time we did our own critical thinking and rejected outdated science and theology. For, ironically, the anguish of our rejection of gays and lesbians, as horrible as it is for them, affects us all.
I know this because I have suffered deeply as a result of America's prevailing views about homosexuality. You have as well. I was married to a closeted gay man for 15 years, and we had three children before the truth of his sexual orientation emerged. The emotional devastation of that revelation and our subsequent divorce has been profound for me, my children, my former husband, our extended family and our friends.
I was fortunate to be able to move forward with my life instead of remaining, as one friend recently put it, "a puddle of violated humanity." I remarried, became an ordained clergywoman and served the church for 25 years as a pastor, district superintendent and dean of the cabinet of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. Broken relationships with family have been largely, if not totally, healed.
But many people are not as fortunate. They, and our society at large, miss out on the fullness of life that is tragically denied to so many because the rest of us don't want to deal fairly and fully with such a difficult and embarrassing subject. Families are torn apart, careers ruined, gifts and graces underutilized, and lives destroyed. Thus, ironically, the anguish that gays and lesbians suffer because of their rejection isn't visited just upon them, as horrible as that is. It affects us all.
This Election Day the citizens of our country demanded change by voting for different leadership in Congress. Now I would urge us all to seek actively to inform ourselves and change our attitudes about gays and lesbians. For only in this way will we begin to address the real problems that our condemnation has visited upon them, upon those who love them and, indeed, upon us all.
from The Washington Post / Ermalou Roller

Ted Haggard in Clip From 'Jesus Camp' Movie

Rev. Ted Haggard In 'Jesus Camp' Movie

The Rev. Ted Haggard has been fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use, but the evangelical leader can still be seen at the height of his powers - preaching to thousands and condemning homosexuality - in the documentary "Jesus Camp."
In one scene of the film, which follows a group of children as they develop evangelical Christian beliefs, directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady visit Haggard's 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. He tells the vast audience, "We don't have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity. It's written in the Bible."
Then Haggard looks into the camera and says kiddingly: "I think I know what you did last night," drawing laughs from the crowd. "If you send me a thousand dollars, I won't tell your wife."
Later, another joke for the filmmakers: "If you use any of this, I'll sue you."
The married, 50-year-old father of five admitted in a letter read Sunday to his followers that he was "guilty of sexual immorality." He has yet to address specific claims by a male escort that Haggard paid him for sex over the past three years.
Haggard has acknowledged that he paid Mike Jones of Denver for a massage and for methamphetamine, but said he didn't have sex with Jones and didn't take the drug. He resigned last week as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 30 million people, and was removed Saturday as leader of his own church.
"Jesus Camp" is playing in several cities and expands to more on Friday and throughout the year. Ewing and Grady said that when they shot footage for the film at the New Life Church in October 2005, they were struck by how enraptured Haggard's followers looked.
"Pastor Ted, they were so proud of him. They thought he was hip, young, he didn't have that stodgy James Dobson feel," Ewing said Monday, referring to the Focus on the Family founder. "They all really adored him, that's the first thing I thought - those people, those faces, they hung and took notes on every word he said - I can't imagine what those people must be feeling."
Haggard has disputed the way he's portrayed in "Jesus Camp," saying on his Web site (in a posting that since has been removed) that the filmmakers shot for hours at his church and only used the parts in which he was playing with negative stereotypes.
"You can expect to learn as much about the Catholic Church from 'Nacho Libre' as you can learn about evangelicalism from 'Jesus Camp,'" he wrote. Ewing and Grady say Haggard is the only one who has complained about the way he was depicted in the film.
"Jesus Camp" also shows Haggard speaking to an aspiring young preacher named Levi, asking him whether people listen to him because he's a kid or because he has something to say. His advice: "Use your cute-kid thing until you're 30, and by then you'll have good content."
Grady said that when she first heard about the accusations against Haggard, "I was shocked but I was not surprised in any way because he did come across as somewhat of a hypocrite even in our movie - in a smaller way, of course. He was so cynical in that exchange with that child in our movie, it was odd and it popped out."
Haggard also leads the audience in praying for President Bush to select a Supreme Court nominee who supports their beliefs (it would end up becoming Samuel Alito) and later brags about the rapid expansion of evangelicalism.
"It's got enough growth to essentially sway every election," Haggard says with a smile. "If the evangelicals vote, they determine the election."
from The Associated Press