Exodus: Live Out Loud

Presbyterian Panel OKs Gays' Ordination

Twenty-Eight years ago my husband first gave public testimony of his former gay activities and his new orientation as a heterosexual because the Presbyterians (where we attended church) started a discussion on ordaining gays. It saddens my heart that this idea has finally come to fruition. - NKB

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040630/ap_on_re_us/presbyterians_gays_3

Tue Jun 29, 9:53 PM ET
By JUSTIN BERGMAN, Associated Press Writer

RICHMOND, Va. - Gays and lesbians moved a step closer to ordination in the Presbyterian church after a legislative committee approved a measure Tuesday that would partly lift the church's ban on gay ministers.

The proposal will go before the national legislative assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for a full vote later this week.

If passed, it would allow individual churches to dismiss a 1978 interpretation of church law that prohibits gays from being ordained as ministers, elders or deacons.

Gays and lesbians in relationships could still be barred from ordination under a separate church law passed in 1997, but liberals said removal of the 1978 restriction would be a major step toward full inclusion for gays in the church.

"It provides opportunities for gays and lesbians they did not have before," said Doug Nave, who serves on the board of the Covenant Network, a group of Presbyterians lobbying for gay ordination. "We think it will show that Christians can disagree on something and still be part of a single community of faith."

Democrats argue gay-marriage ban in Senate debate

www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/9040929.htm

Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004

RUSS BYNUM

Associated Press

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The two Democratic front-runners in the primary race to succeed Sen. Zell Miller clashed Tuesday on whether they would support an amendment to the Georgia constitution banning gay marriages.

U.S. Rep. Denise Majette said she would cast her ballot against the amendment to restrict marriages in Georgia to same-sex couples, a measure the state Legislature has approved for a statewide vote in November.

"We have never used the constitution in order to restrict people's rights, only to respect those rights," Majette said during a debate sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association.

Businessman Cliff Oxford, considered Majette's chief opponent because he's spent more than $1 million of his own money running in the July 20 primary, was the sole Democrat among seven to say he would vote in favor of the ban.

"I support marriage between a man and a woman, and I intend to vote accordingly," Oxford said.

Dobson Stands by FMA Ads in Nebraska; Senators' Claims Just 'Political Posturing'

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usnw/20040629/pl_usnw/dobson_stands_by_fma_ads_in_nebraska__senators__claims_just__political_posturing_165_xml

Tue Jun 29, 5:55 PM ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., June 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Focus on the Family Action (news - web sites) Founder Dr. James C. Dobson today denounced complaints by Nebraska Sens. Bill Nelson and Chuck Hagel about an ad that ran in the Omaha World-Herald yesterday in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

"Focus on the Family Action stands by its assertions that Sens. Nelson and Hagel have not done everything in their power to protect marriage in this country," Dobson said. "It is disingenuous at best for Sen. Hagel to proudly proclaim that his children have a mother and father when there is absolutely no guarantee that every other American child will be so fortunate apart from the FMA.

"Furthermore, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only recourse available to prevent each and every state from eventually being forced to accept same-sex marriages imposed by activist judges," Dobson said. "The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which itself is currently under challenge in federal court in Florida, does not prevent states from establishing same-sex marriages."

Transportation Letter a Travesty

www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0032701.cfm

June 29, 2004

by Terry Phillips, correspondent

Secretary of transportation urges employees to wholeheartedly celebrate Gay Pride Month.

A government worker recently found that diversity doesn't apply to Christianity when her boss e-mailed a letter gushing over Gay Pride Month.

In the letter, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta urges workers to embrace homosexuality, something one family advocate calls a "tragedy."

"There's really nothing to be proud of in homosexuality," said Peter LaBarbera, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute.

That's the way one of the letter writers to Focus on the Family felt last week. She's a transportation department employee and a Christian, but her boss's letter tells her to "appreciate" the differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals.

Melissa Fryrear, a gender-issues analyst at Focus on the Family, said that's the wrong attitude for any employer to take.

"In situations like this," she said, "you have other employees of the transportation department who are being forced to accept homosexuality."

A Pharmacist's View on Gay Marriage

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/292004js.asp

Guest Commentary

By J.R. Schoenle, Pharm.D.
June 29, 2004

(AgapePress) - Having worked with AIDS patients and investigational drug studies for HIV at Johns Hopkins Hospital, I feel a lot of compassion for homosexual persons. But as a professional health care provider, I am compelled to educate people with medical facts regarding same-sex marriage.

This is not a "privacy" issue. Gay activists have brought the gay lifestyle into the public square with their demands for "marriage" or "civil union." (The public has not gone into anyone's bedroom; rather, they have brought their bedroom issues out in public.) "Gay marriage" or "civil unions" will give legal protection and government benefits to the gay lifestyle. YOU, the taxpayer, will be paying those government benefits out of YOUR pocket, so you deserve to have an opinion on the subject and you deserve to be informed about facts relating to these same-sex unions.

If marriage between man and woman has been with humanity since the beginning of time and has been the cornerstone of every culture and religion, then why is there this "new idea" of what marriage can mean? The idea of "gay marriage" or "civil union" would have been ridiculous 3,000 years ago, 1,000 years ago, 500 years ago, 50 years ago, even 10 years ago. What has changed?

The cultural "perception" of homosexuality and the gay lifestyle has changed. Two common myths have been instrumental in this change: (1) 10 percent of the population is homosexual, and (2) people are born with their homosexual orientation.

Attempts to Protect Marriage Can Work

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/292004e.asp

By AFA Journal
June 29, 2004

(AgapePress) - A new study shows that when clergy in a community agree to work harder to preserve marriage, they can do just that.

Ministers in 185 cities across the U.S. have signed on to a Community Marriage Policy (CMP), in which they make a commitment to make marriage preparation more intensive, enrich existing marriages, and aid troubled ones.

These CMPs are the brainchild of Mike and Harriet McManus, who began an organization called Marriage Savers in 1997, in an attempt to help churches halt the high number of divorces that afflict the Christian community.

The Institute for Research and Evaluation compared cities which had instituted CMPs with cities in which clergy had no such policy. Over a seven-year period, non-CMP cities saw their divorce rates fall 9.4 percent while CMP cities recorded an average 17.5 percent drop.

"The results are important, not because of their magnitude, which is modest, but because there are any results at all," said Dr. Stan Weed, president of the Institute. "The deck was stacked against finding a program effect. Community Marriage Policies depend on local volunteers of varying degrees of motivation, commitment, and ability and with high turnover. There’s wide variation in program implementation. The proportion of signed congregations is often small, while the data is county-wide. Serious training of mentor couples began in 1998. Under these conditions, finding a significant program effect is actually pretty surprising."

Arkansas Christians Pray While Homosexual Activists March

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/292004d.asp

By Allie Martin and Jody Brown
June 29, 2004

(AgapePress) - Hundreds of Christians in one Arkansas town turned out to pray for traditional marriage as a "Gay Pride" parade took place nearby.

On Sunday, the main street in Conway, Arkansas -- a suburb of Little Rock -- was the site of a pro-homosexual parade. At the same time, more than 700 people filled Second Baptist Church of Conway for a time of prayer and worship.

Troy George, minister of adults for Second Baptist, says the prayer rally was a chance for area Christians to pray for their city, their state, and their nation.

"We had a great showing here at our church in support of prayer for the family," he explains. "We had a table set up for people to sign up for [supporting] the Federal Marriage Amendment [defining marriage as between] one man and one wife. And the people here had a great attitude of love and caring for the whole community and seeking the Lord."

Critics Say High Court Ruling Protects Pornographers, Harms Children

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/292004a.asp

By Jenni Parker
June 29, 2004

(AgapePress) - The United States Supreme Court ruled Tuesday (June 29) that Congress' latest attempt to protect innocent children from the devastating effects of Internet pornography, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), is unconstitutional. In a 5-4 decision, the Court sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, ruling that filtering software was a less restrictive alternative to the requirements of COPA.

Attorneys with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy are outraged by the decision. Senior litigation counsel Mike DePrimo described the justices' apparent "utter lack of concern for the irreparable harm pornography does to our most innocent citizens" as "astounding."

The court's opinion cited concerns about COPA's "potential for extraordinary harm and serious chill upon free speech." However, DePrimo contends the only real harm that pornographers would suffer if the law went into effect would be a loss of money. He says for the high court to find otherwise is "reprehensible."

The Family Research Counsel's senior legal advisor, Pat Trueman, who helped author the FRC's amicus brief in the case, also issued a statement in response to the ruling, calling it "yet another victory at the High Court for pornographers at the expense of America's children." He says companies that peddle porn should not have the luxury of exposing their filth to every child who may stumble onto their website.

Bid to Stop Mass. Gay Marriages Rejected

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040629/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_1

By JENNIFER PETER, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected an attempt by conservative groups and state lawmakers to stop gay marriage in Massachusetts.

The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which launched the lawsuit, said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites).

The plaintiffs had argued that Massachusetts' high court usurped the power of the Legislature — and thereby violated the U.S. Constitution — when it ruled last year that gay couples are entitled to wed.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) disagreed Tuesday, and said the appropriate way to contest the state court ruling is by amending the Massachusetts Constitution — a long process already under way.

Supreme Court rules against Child Online Protection Act

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/mc/20040629/tc_mc/supremecourtrulesagainstchildonlineprotectionact

By Grant Gross, IDG News Service MacCentral

The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) on Tuesday sided with a lower court injunction against a law intended to protect children from sexually explicit material posted online, saying the law is likely unconstitutional because less restrictive ways of shielding children from pornography are available.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld the Third Circuit (news - web sites) Court of Appeals' injunction against enforcing the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1998, which allows for a fine of US$50,000 per day and a six-month prison sentence for posting online materials that are "harmful to minors." The Supreme Court's ruling sends the case back to the lower court to decide whether the law violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The case that challenged the law, Ashcroft vs. the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) (ACLU), pitted U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) against the civil liberties group, representing several publications, including Web sites that include information on sexually transmitted diseases. Among the publications the ACLU represented in the case were OBGYN.net. PlanetOut Corp., Philadelphia Gay News and Salon.com.