Headline pretty much says it all, but read more here, then sign the petition to reinstate Jenna Talackova to the competition. Which is run by Donald Trump and which, according to the Vancouver Sun, does not explicitly prohibit trans contestants.

My first reaction upon learning of the arrest of two gay-cruise passengers who had sex on their ship’s balcony in full view of fellow passengers and islanders in Domenica was to think “Guys, enjoy yourselves, but in private, for God’s sake.” Straight sex, gay sex, any sex, these things don’t belong in full view of strangers, particularly strangers in a country where you are a guest.

My second thought was “What the hell were they doing there?” And people are indeed asking why Atlantis Events arranged for a cruise to stop in a country with anti-gay laws. Should they have?

My third thought: Of course gay cruises shouldn’t stop at anti-gay ports. To heck with such ports. They don’t get to earn money from people they hate. Nor should gay people put themselves at risk. No-brainer.

Then I remembered that the best way to overcome homophobia is to encourage visibility. LGBT people in anti-gay countries are generally closeted, therefore they don’t get to know each other and straight people don’t get to know them. Fertile ground for myths, lies, and hatred. Maybe anti-gay ports are where happy, out gay people who can afford cruises should be stopping, precisely because those places need to witness happy, out gay people doing the normal things that people do. (Though of course we Americans lose points with locals when we show up abroad in our big sneakers and our loud, plaintive voices.)

This argument, of course, casts LGBT people in the role of ambassadors. Though we live in parlous times and LGBT ambassadors are sorely needed–hence Dan Savage’s oft-repeated calls for closeted people to come out for the community’s sake as well as for their own–does that obligate anyone? Just because I’m x, one might retort, doesn’t mean I have to engage in x identity politics or convince people not to be prejudiced against x’s as a group. I just want to live my life and enjoy my cruise. [And have sex in my cabin, for God's sake.]

What do you think, readers?

Yesterday, the “pan-denominational” and evangelical news website Christian Post yesterday posted an interview with a Florida deacon named Dean who states that he has same-sex attractions but is not gay. Read as a cultural text, the article reveals the assumptions that underlie much conservative Christian thinking about homosexuality.

Dean recounts a relationship with a man that became “stale and unfulfilling,” which he left in pursuit of a relationship with God. He and the reporter appear to believe that such relationships are mutually exclusive: “[he] realized that he also had no integrity as a gay man who was part of the church.” The use of the word “realized” (as opposed to the more objective “concluded” or “decided”) makes it clear which side the reporter is on–natural, given his employer and audience. Dean appears to have concluded that it was not a bad relationship but his sexual orientation (oops, “lifestyle”) that was keeping him from a fulfilling religious life. Conservative Christian culture will have prepared him to believe this and will affirm his conclusions as long as he moves in those circles.

Here is how the article describes a member of this man’s support group: “Another was in a gay relationship, but today is devoted to his church’s ministry to the poor.” In this sentence, the cultural assumptions lie in the conjunction “but.” “But” implies that caring for the poor and being in a gay relationship are mutually exclusive. It goes without saying here that they are not.

And, of course, the very phrase “gay lifestyle,” to which this article resorts numerous times, underscores the conservative Christian belief that being gay is a chosen way of life. It is not.

Many of the gay men Dean has met over the years, he says, were involved in church life during their youth, and they often feel a sense of loss over not being a part of a church community any longer.

Here Dean conflates correlation with causation, as do so many conservative Christians who argue that gay kids kill themselves because of their innate gayness, not because they’re being harassed and tormented by bigots. Why aren’t Dean’s gay contacts part of that church community? Because they’re expected to “realize” that they have “no integrity” as gay churchgoers. Au contraire. I suggest that these gentlemen have decided to embrace integrity over fear and even over their former communities.

Dean offers some advice which, when taken out of context, would seem to be good advice for would-be religious LGBT people:

“Do you know God can be a part of your life? And no matter what you are doing, no matter what kind of sinfulness you’re in, no matter how trapped you feel, God wants you to be in a relationship with Him,” said Dean.

But only if you’re not gay. If you are, you must lie to yourself and pretend that you’ve chosen gayness.

Dean has chosen to be celibate, and everyone is entitled to struggle with their conscience and make their own choices, as long as those choices don’t harm others. But Dean’s choice to help perpetuate destructive myths about homosexuality by calling himself “ex-gay” and agreeing to an article of this kind will add to the ongoing enormous harm being done to gay people, particularly those who value their religions.

Albanian LGBT activists are planning a Pride Parade in the capital city of Tirana on May 17. Naturally, many are up in arms, including Deputy Defence Minister and Chairman of the royalist party of Albania, Ekrem Spahiu, who is quoted by the French LGBT magazine Tetu as saying “My only comment (on the Pride): they must be beaten with truncheons.”*

A few fun facts about Albania: It’s a parliamentary democracy with a GDP of about $25 billion, landing it below the rank of such countries as Democratic Republic of the Congo and Trinidad and Tobago. It is struggling to update its roads and power plants, join the EU, and mitigate brain drain. It wants to attract tourists (it got a great endorsement from Lonely Planet in 2011) and foreign investment.

It would seem that even to a bigot, LGBT people would not count among Albania’s major problems. And indeed, the country has established some admirable protective legislation for its LGBT population, including anti-discrimination laws that exceed EU standards. Yet good policy does not erase bigotry, and every country has its inciters (and their sympathizers). Human Rights Watch has called out Spahiu on his remarks, and Tetu suggests that legal action may be taken.

* Translation Google’s.

With all the talk lately of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s signing a pre-abortion forced ultrasound bill into law–thus reportedly damaging his chances at being picked as the GOP running mate–what has been largely forgotten is that Rick Perry did the same thing last year, only worse.

Virginia’s first attempt to pass their bill mandated that the ultrasound be transvaginal rather than transabdominal, but that was watered down somewhat and now medically unnecessary transabdominal ultrasounds are what the government of Virginia requires prior to an abortion.

By contrast, legalized rape has been a fact in Texas since Rick Perry signed his state’s forced ultrasound bill, whose enforcement commenced in February. The government requires a woman seeking an abortion to undergo medically unnecessary forced ultrasound, the vast majority of which will be by vaginal probe in the first trimester. (The law requires that the sonogram seek the fetal heartbeat, though the woman are allowed apparently to “choose not to hear” it. But fetal heartbeats can’t easily be detected early in pregnancy with an abdominal probe–it’s the vaginal probe that is typically used to examine fetuses at that stage. Hence the rape.) Why legalized, government-mandated rape in Texas has not lit people up with outrage, amid Perry’s recent prominence and all the outrage around McDonnell, is a complete mystery to me.

Thankfully, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau has finally called attention to the wretched Texas law in a series of comic strips (look for them at the hyperlink starting March 12) that have already been banished by some newspapers. And thankfully, Rachel Maddow defended the strip on her March 12 show.

This is interesting and sad:

Once, long ago, Evie looked after “Barry” Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world’s most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia’s streets.

Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. She describes how soldiers once shaved her long, black hair to the scalp and smashed out glowing cigarettes onto her hands and arms.

The turning point came when she found a transgender friend’s bloated body floating in a backed-up sewage canal two decades ago. She grabbed all her girlie clothes in her arms and stuffed them into two big boxes. Half-used lipstick, powder, eye makeup – she gave them all away.

“I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn’t want to die like that,” says Evie, now 66, her lips trembling slightly as the memories flood back. “So I decided to just accept it. … I’ve been living like this, a man, ever since.”

…Evie says she chose her current name because she thought it sounded sweet. But she adds, as she pulls out her national identification card, her official name is Turdi and gender male. Several longtime residents of Obama’s old Menteng neighborhood confirmed that Turdi had worked there as his nanny for two years, also caring for his baby sister Maya. When asked about the nanny, the White House had no comment.

…She says she didn’t know the boy she helped raise won the 2008 U.S. presidential election until she saw a picture of the family in local newspapers and on TV. She blurted out that she knew him.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she says, breaking into a huge grin.

Her friends at first laughed and thought she was crazy, but those who live in the family’s old neighborhood say it’s true.

“Many neighbors would remember Turdi … she was popular here at that time,” says Rudy Yara, who still lives across the street from Obama’s former house. “She was a nice person and was always patient and caring in keeping young Barry.”

Evie hopes her former charge will use his power to fight for people like her. Obama named Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender appointee, as a senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department in 2010.

For Evie, who’s now just trying to earn enough to survive each day on Jakarta’s streets, the election victory itself was enough to give her a reason – for the first time in a long time – to feel proud.

“Now when people call me scum,” she says, “I can just say: ‘But I was the nanny for the President of the United States!”‘

One wishes the Obama administration had something to say about this poor woman.

The article is worth reading–it examines not only Evie but Indonesian transgender people as a group. They’re harassed and unsafe, yet more visible than you might think.

For those who haven’t gotten a chance to watch “This Is What Love In Action Looks Like,” a documentary  that criticizes the ex-gay camp Love In Action, you can now pre-order a copy on Amazon. It’ll be released on May 8 to DVD. Pop some popcorn and have a free showing at your local public library!

[h/t Box Turtle Bulletin]

As reported by GLAAD, the only GSA club at Churches of Christ-affiliated Pepperdine University continues after a year of dialogue to be denied recognition by the university, which states that the club violates the school’s policies on sexual activity. The club denies that. It is reportedly the fourth time a gay-straight club at Pepperdine has been denied recognition or discouraged from applying for it, and it means LGBTs and allies can’t meet on campus or tap activity fees. Read more and sign the petition asking the university to reverse its stance and support the club.

The Reverend Delman Coates heads a black church in Prince George County, and in stark opposition to many other African-American clergy, he supports marriage equality. In an eloquent and thoughtful interview with NPR’s The Takeaway, he points out that theology should not determine public policy in this country. He has testified before Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley in support of marriage equality, and he has taken fire from fellow preachers for his position.

The opening moments of the interview feature a short excerpt from one of Reverend Coates’ sermons; it’s delivered in that intense rhetorical style traditionally favored by fire-and-brimstone preachers, except that he’s using this voice to scold his flock for religion-based bigotry. It makes for remarkable listening, and the interview that follows will put heart into LGBT activists who have despaired of other Christian leaders’ position on civil rights. If he’s a political conservative (and he declines to discuss his personal views on homosexuality), then he’s a rational, intellectually honest one of a type we seldom hear from these days.

“My support for the Civil Marriage Protection Act,” says Reverend Coates, “is rooted in my heartfelt sense that in America, we have to protect public policy from personal and private theology and personal belief.

“I think the principles of our country are founded upon the ideals of our Constitution which protect religious freedom and institutional autonomy, yet at the same time preserve individual liberty as well. I’m really concerned about the way in which in many of our public-policy conversations…people are using theology as a basis for public policy. I think that’s a dangerous precedent.

“Governments fund things that are against people’s religious beliefs, personal theology and doctrine, all the time. Right now, local governments and municipalities allow for alcohol establishments, liquor stores in communities, gambling, and yet at the same time religious institutions teach their parishioners not to engage in these activities.

“There’s a difference between our public policy imperatives and our theological imperatives. Our challenge is to live in our faith…not to legislate it.

“We want foreign policy decisions as Americans to be based on sound intelligence. We want it to be based on credible threats. We don’t want foreign policy decisions for example, to be based on the theology of a particular religious tradition….

“We know that there could come a point in the future when the majority now is no longer the majority…I want to make sure that, 200 years from now, if my local church and those who worship in the local church, are no longer the majority in the local and national community, that our rights are preserved from the theological musings and understandings of whomever might be in the majority at that time. So I think it’s critically important for us to figure out a way to segregate and to separate public policy from theology.”

Same old nonsense, different language: a handsome “ex-gay” therapist claims to be “ex-gay” himself, thanks to Jesus, etc. He was interviewed on Aquí y Ahora, a popular Spanish-language news magazine which made no effort to interview people hurt by attempts to change their sexuality or to mention that such “therapies” have been widely discredited. This propaganda appears shortly after the Ecuadorian government’s petition-fueled efforts to close the country’s ex-gay camps. GLAAD called them out, pointing out that Aquí y Ahora has done far better in the past (it has even been nominated for GLAAD media awards), while Ricky Martin sent a sarcastic tweet asking if heterosexuals are born or made.

GLAAD has reached out to Aquí y Ahora to apologize and commit to doing a segment that provides the balance sorely lacking in the recent segment and that explains the harm done by so-called “reparative therapies.” Univision responded that they have taken careful note of GLAAD’s concerns and will respond next week.

[h/t Towleroad]