California Gay Marriage Bill Goes To Gov
Schwarzenegger Veto Expected
Sacramento - The State Senate here sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill allowing gay marriages on September 7, a measure he is expected to veto as Quest goes to press. The bill would redefine marriage as “a civil contract between two persons,” but would retain the right of religious institutions to refuse to sanction the unions.
  “There has been disparate treatment . . . and it’s gone to the heart of our lives,” openly lesbian Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) said. Kuehl, a longtime gay activist who achieved 50’s fame in the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, sponsored the measure in the Senate. The Senate agreed to Assembly amendments on a 22-15 vote.
  Schwarzenegger has not taken a specific position on this year’s version of the gay marriage bill, although he vetoed a similar measure in 2005. Spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor will abide by the results of nearly decade old Proposition 22 ballot initiative. At that time, 61.4% of voters said the state should restrict marriage to a union between a man and a woman.

The Larry Craig Debacle: What Have We Learned?
Analysis by Mike Fitzpatrick
By the time you read these words, the sad saga of toe-tapping Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig’s same-sex shenanigans in a Twin Cities airport toilet and its repercussions will be well into its third week.
  For those who have been too preoccupied with Amy, Briteny and Lindsay’s respective rehabs to notice, here’s a quick recap: On August 27, Washington’s political newspaper Roll Call publishes story of Craig’s early August  plea deal to a June 11 bust by a (very hunky) vice cop for soliciting sex in a men’s room well-known by those seeking anonymous bathroom blow-jobs. Within a day, the Idaho Statesman publishes a lengthy investigative piece alleging Craig’s homo-sex trysts date back to his college days in the 60’s. Activist blogger Mike Rogers points out he published other allegations of Craig toilet sex on his Blogactive.com site nearly a year ago. The Smoking Gun tabloid website offers up the full police report and Craig’s mugshot. Snaps of sexy Sgt. Ray Karnsia show up as well.
  A day later with wife in tow, Craig tells the press “I’m not gay, never have been gay.” Hours later the audio tape of the cop’s interview with Craig reveals the senator at his Clintonesque best failing to remember the particulars of an incident that occurred literally just moments before. Also in the news: There were 41 busts during the month of the Senator’s collar in the same bathroom, which is listed widely on sites such as crusisingforsex.com and - would you believe? - the Twin Cities version of Craig’s List. 
  Virtuous Republicans from presidential hopeful John McCain to also-disgraced one-time Majority Leader Trent Lott call for Craig’s resignation. His committee chairmanships are pulled. By the weekend, Craig indicates he’ll quit at the end of September.
  Or maybe not. Craig hires the same defense attorney used by dog-killin’ NFL quarterback Michael Vick and a  new spin begins. Craig’s adopted kids appear on Good Morning America to vouch that their daddy’s not queer.
(One of them later gets in trouble for an outstanding arrest warrant). Craig announces that he’s both reconsidering his resignation and going to get a lawyer  and fight his own guilty plea. Almost immediately White House insiders spilled their lack of support for Craig’s latest ploy.
  Throughout the scandal radio and TV talkers, bloggers, pundits and political spokesmodels across the spectrum opined on the hypocrisy and humor of it all. Some questioned the effect on the GOP in the next election cycle, while others made note of Craig’s “wide stance” on the issues. The only thing that seems to be missing is the Weekly World News publishing a photo of Craig’s toilet tête-à-tête with that ubiquitous space alien.
 I suspect the whole Craig affair likely will peter out shortly, so to speak. Once a tape of your misdialed voice mail detailing the whole reconsideration strategy hits the web, can you make a credible case for any part of your story? That said, here’s a quick list of lessons learned from the whole sorry affair to date. I’m going to skip the obvious issues: hypocrisy of the Right (or the Left for that matter), sex stings, privacy issues, and so on. They’ve already been analyzed to death.
1. Larry Craig Isn’t Gay - Really. If you believe that being gay means accepting your personal sexual self-discovery and integrating it into your total being just like your handedness, eye color or other trait, then Larry Craig is about as far from gay as you can get, at least without entering a monastery. Larry Craig is at best a member of that ubiquitous breed known as “bi-married-curious,” the ones who research studies show overwhelmingly populate the restrooms, rest stops, park trails and other public places of the planet. The ones social scientitsts and  disease prevention specialists like to refer to as “MSM” (men who have sex with men).
  In a new century where gay teenagers are now coming to grip with their genetic affectional and sexual predisposition at the same time their straight peers, our community does not need to welcome Senator Craig to the family. He is the dinosaur from the Boomer generation whose heroes made Gay Liberation possible. Craig’s species may still exist, but the comet of full gay visibility has already hit the culture - in a generation or two Larry and his fellow Craigosaruses will be but a memory.
  But there is also a warning for you Gayactivosaurs: that same comet is wiping out your species as well. Check with the rank and file of today’s twentysomethings who hang equally with their straight buddies, living fully integrated lives in the what-you-like-to-call the “mainstream” community.. You got your wish: gay is equal to blue eyes or left-handedness now. As such it will be “no big deal” in years to come. Your task? Polish up the leftover identity based politics now - time is short. Your other choice? Evolve and get involved with a new progressive movement such as Common Thread, one that offers our community members a place at their diverse table as equals.
2.GOP Stands For “Gag On Penis.” Since Craig’s cruising crash, we’ve been inundated with jokes about the “Gay Old Party,” or “God’s Own Party,” but my definition really explains it all. For those playing the counting game, the list of Republicans caught in the same-sex spotlight just keeps getting longer and longer: this last month alone Craig, Florida Rep. Bob Allen and Young Republican Federation chair Glenn Murphy, Jr. made the list. When you add the outed and semi-outed Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Jim Kolbe, Ed Schrock, Ken Mehlman, David Dreier, Duke Cunningham, Rick Perry, etc. plus the RNC politicos’ gay staffers (Rick Santorum’s Robert Traynham, Trent Lott’s Dirk Smith, etc.) to the still-not-completely-outed (at least according to outing blogger Rogers) Lindsey Graham, James McCrery and others, the list boggles the mind.
  Why, it’s even longer than faux White House “correspondent” Talon News’ Jeff Gannon-Guckert’s alleged, advertised, for-hire manhood. More importantly, with the exception of the Jim Kolbe, all handled their revelations poorly. You might even say they choked.
  That list also is certainly longer that the one neocon apologists a rattling off from their talking points du jour: Barney Frank, Gerry Studds and Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton? Now I understand: the Republican holier-than-thous weren’t morally outraged over Monica’s Oval Office oral efforts, they were upset Bill didn’t offer them sloppy seconds.
3. Thanks For The Dance Lesson! I can only speak for myself, but until I saw the tearoom tap dance played out on YouTube, I had no clue that was how to get sex in the stalls. I asked a lot of friends. I also asked co-workers who do prevention outreach with the MSM community. Some talked about lingering glances and southward gazes. Only had heard of footsie frolicking. None were up on the toe tapping. Thanks, Larry for one more bit of useless information to store for the rest of my life.
  Actually I’ve learned a lot about the most bizarre sexual practices from homo-haters when I think about it. I have to thank Rantin’ Ralph Ovadal and his Pink Swastika author buddy Scott Lively for getting me up to speed on something they called  “mud dipping.” Good luck finding it on Google. As I recall it involves a bath tub and feces. There are probably people out their in fetish communities who get into that sort of thing. But it ain’t gay per se - it only homo if the two people of the same sex are involved, you know.
4. Next Time Hit The VIP Lounge. The experienced gay travelers in my social circle have little doubt about what Larry was up to in that Twin Cities toilet last June. They know that if you want to avoid the crowds, the mess, the smells and the damp spaces you have to drop your carry-ons in - not to mention any unwanted come-ons - the only place to go - in every sense of the word - is to and in the VIP lounges provided by every major airline in every major hub in the world. Even if Senator Craig wasn’t a member of any frequent flyer clubs, my guess is that the same business card he dropped on the cop plus his boarding pass would have gotten him easy access to any VIP stall available from his flight provider. Of course, there aren’t many productive peeks when you’re accessing such perks.
5. For The GOP, It Ain’t Over Yet. Even if Craig ups and goes away quietly by the time this piece hits the streets, the embarrassment not over for the Republican Party. Have you heard where the already-booked 2008 RNC national convention is going to be held? Welcome GOP Delegates To Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Would you prefer your stall to be sex or no-sex?

World & National News:

Iowa Briefly Okays Gay Marriage
Ruling Finds State’s Marriage Ban Unconstitutional, Stay Issued One Day Later
Des Moines - The window of opportunity for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Iowa lasted just 22 1/2 hours. On August 31, the judge who struck down Iowa’s gay marriage ban the day before issued a stay, halting the acceptance of marriage licenses. At least 25 same-sex couples had been permitted to file their request for marriage licenses with the Polk County recorder during the period between the rulings.
  District Court Judge Robert Hanson’s initial ruling had found the state’s 1998 “definition of marriage” law, that limited marriage to only a man and a woman, was unconstitutional and must be nullified. He ruled that the marriage laws “must be read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage...”  The ruling came after six gay couples denied marriage licenses in 2005 had filed suit against the county.
  On August 31, gay couples began lining up outside the Polk County Administrative Building, waiting for the recorder’s office to open. Iowa State University students Katy Farlow and Larissa Boeck went to the county recorder’s office at 5 AM, then sat in lawn chairs and ate snacks until the office opened at 7:30. They wanted to file an application early, fearing that a judge would grant a stay, stopping applications while Thursday’s ruling is appealed. “This might be our only chance,” Farlow told the Associated Press. “We already knew we were spending the rest of our lives together.”
  Another couple - Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan - took the historic step of getting a license, hurriedly found a judge to waive a three-day waiting period and had the pastor of a Unitarian Church marry them prior to Hanson’s second ruling. They were married in the front yard of the Rev. Mark Stringer, pastor of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines. “This is it. We’re married. I love you,” Fritz told McQuillan after the ceremony.
  Stringer concluded the ceremony by saying, “This is a legal document and you are married.” The men then kissed and hugged.
  Polk County Attorney John Sarcone notified County Recorder Julie Haggerty to stop accepting license applications immediately after learning that Hanson was drafting a stay. Sarcone requested the stay shortly before he appealed Hanson’s ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.
  However, Fritz and McQuillan are married and the county plans no action to change that, according to Sarcone.
  Sarcone’s motion said the judge’s ruling striking down the same-sex marriage ban was far reaching and would likely be overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court. “In the likely event that the Supreme Court does reverse the district court, then a question will arise as to the validity of those marriage licenses issued in the interim,” the motion read.
  The Des Moines attorney representing the six gay couples who originally filed the lawsuit asked Hanson not to stay his decision.
  The Iowa Supreme Court can refer the case to the Iowa Court of Appeals, consider the matter itself or decide not to hear the case.
  The flurry of activity in the courts also prompted a quick response from some lawmakers. Republicans immediately called out Democrats, who hold a majority of seats in the Legislature, to act. “The Democrats should call a special session immediately to take up such issues and to introduce a marriage amendment for Iowa’s constitution,” said House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, (R-Sioux City) in a statement issued to the press. “House Democrats need to start leading or get out of the way.”
  Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act was passed overwhelmingly in 1998 with a vote of 89 to 10 in the House and 40 to 9 in the Senate.
  Governor Chet Culver later issued a statement stating his opposition to gay marriage. “While some Iowans may disagree on this issue, I personally believe marriage is between a man and a woman,” Culver said.
  Gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts, and nine other states have approved spousal rights in some form for same-sex couples. Nearly all states have defined marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, and 27 states have such wording in their constitutions, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Brothers Force Boy Scouts To Reveal 5,100 Leaders’ Sexual Abuse
Seattle -  Like many other boys who grew up in the early 1980s, Tom and Matt Stewart shared a childhood of hikes, campouts and fishing trips, most of it thanks to the Boy Scouts of America.  However, after they became adults, each brother privately struggled with memories that neither wanted to talk about. They had been sexually abused by their Scoutmaster, Bruce Phelps.
  After decades of living in silence, the Stewart brothers grew convinced they weren’t alone. In 2003, they sued the Boy Scouts and their former Scoutmaster and won an out-of-court settlement.
  Four years later, the case has become a landmark in the 97-year history of the Boy Scouts. For the first time, the Boy Scouts of America were forced to turn over to the Stewarts’ attorneys the organization’s entire archive on sexually abusive Scout leaders.
  The file turned out to be huge. The records showed that the Boy Scouts have ejected at least 5,100 adult leaders nationwide for sexual abuse allegations since 1946. More disturbingly, the files revealed that - despite efforts to keep potential abusers from joining - the problems persist. In fact, since 1992 the Boy Scouts have kicked out alleged sexual abusers at a rate of one every other day.
  The 45 boxes of files aren’t public because the court order prohibits the Stewarts and their lawyers from disclosing specific cases. However, the attorneys’ statistical summary shows the problem is larger than previously known.
  Not unlike leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, Boy Scouts officials won’t talk about the cases, but they note that ejected volunteers represent a small fraction of the 1.2 million adults who participate in Scouting every year. They also stress that they now have rules, including background checks and training, that didn’t exist when Phelps was abusing Scouts.
  Phelps has admitted to abusing the brothers and two other boys in sworn testimony. The abuse involving the Stewart brothers included oral and anal sex. The Brothers said the abuse  persisted through high school, occurring at Scout outings and camps, at a drive-in movie theater, at Phelps’ house and in the basement of the Stewarts’ home while their parents were upstairs. He has never been convicted of a crime.
  “The Boy Scouts is very unique because there is a very dangerous bond between Scout and Scoutmaster,” Tom Stewart, now 44, said. “You are out in the middle of nowhere on an outing, and the Scoutmaster is God.”
  “He would say, ‘OK, that knot looks fine; you got your merit badge - now let’s have sex,’ “ 42 year-old Matt Stewart added.
  The Stewarts said they stayed quiet about the abuse because Phelps threatened to shoot their parents -- or himself. They said they believed him because he often carried a revolver. “I was constantly scared,” Matt Stewart said. Phelps denied making the threats.
  According to a police report investigating the Stewarts’ complaint, Phelps admitted to a detective that he had abused the Stewarts and two other boys. The detective wrote that he called the regional Scouting office, but no one returned the call. Despite Phelps’ confession, the case was closed without charges being filed because the statute of limitations had expired, the detective wrote. Phelps’ name wasn’t added to the Boy Scouts’ secret Ineligible Volunteers Files until the Stewarts sued in 2003.
  The Boy Scouts later claimed the lawsuit was the first time anyone had complained about him. But there have been complaints about thousands of other Scout leaders in the United States. In fact, since its founding in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America has kept files on volunteers it considers to be unfit, including sexual abusers, criminals and homosexuals. The organization has periodically purged the files, according to depositions in other cases.
  As early as 1935, the organization had files on about 1,000 so-called degenerates. The Stewarts’ attorneys counted 732 files from 1946 to 1971.
  Boy Scouts spokesperson Gregg Shields told Jonathan Martin of the Seattle Times that the files are intended to prevent ejected Scout leaders from bouncing into new leadership roles among the 300 councils nationwide. “It is merely a suspicion or belief, a question of fitness of an individual in the Boy Scouts,” Shields said. “We are a private organization, and we can extend leadership positions to whomever we see fit.”

Irish President Urges End To Gay Bullying
Dublin - Irish President Mary McAleese called for a national change in attitudes to end the bullying of gay people here August 31. Addressing the International Association of Suicide Prevention Conference in Killarney, the President said the link between sexual identity and suicide had to be addressed.
  “Ireland is making considerable progress in developing a culture of genuine equality, recognition and acceptance of gay men and women,” she said. “But there is still an undercurrent of both bias and hostility which young gay people must find deeply hurtful and inhibiting.”
  “Homosexuality is a discovery, not a decision,” McAleese said. “For many it is a discovery which is made against a backdrop where, within their immediate circle of family and friends as well as the wider society, they have long encountered anti-gay attitudes which will do little to help them deal openly and healthily with their own sexuality.”
  Ireland’s suicide toll is around 500 every year. Young men make up 40% of the total, and elderly men comprise the second-highest at risk group. McAleese added that more discussion was needed on the link between sexual identity and suicide.

State News:

  The parade now starting it’s fourth year will hold a special “Thank you Party” at The Milwaukee Pumphoue on Saturday, September 29 starting at 7 PM.  The Milwaukee Pumphouse earned the right to host the party because they and their customers purchased the largest number of Pride Parade Flag Cards.  The colorful squares were sold for $1 by the bars to raise money for the parade and the Pride Banners that lined the parade route.

     The party will feature a keg of free beer. The Pumphouse will have other events in conjuction with the party.  Parade supporters are invited to come out and meet the Milwaukee Pride Parade board at the event.