PFLAG's work is never done

At Greater Boston PFLAG's Pride and Passion benefit on May 2, openly gay Channel 5 newscaster David Brown, who emceed the event at the Back Bay Events Center, shared one of his own experiences of confronting homophobia. After a presentation by Greater Boston PFLAG Executive Director Pam Garramone, during which she recognized a group of Canton High School students for their leadership on efforts to end anti-gay bullying and harassment at the school, Brown noted how hurtful anti-gay slurs can be and underscored the importance of confronting people who use them with an anecdote from his own workplace. About a year ago, Brown recalled, another Channel 5 reporter used the derogatory term "that's so gay," within Brown's earshot.

"I went up to her and said, "that's offensive," said Brown, "and she said, 'Oh.' That was it."

He added, "And I thought, 'So this is what's going on in your family, with your husband that's a state senator,' drawing a burst of laughter from the audience as they recognized the likely slur perpetrator. "I'm not going to say who it was," Brown added to more laughter.

Oh, we won't name names either. But we imagine that Channel 5 reporter might get a little huffy if she reads this, as would her husband, who's been known to use language as colorful as his last name when taking on supporters of marriage equality during high school assemblies.

Menino's next career?

Speaking of Pride and Passion, Boston Mayor Tom Menino and his wife Angela also put in an appearance, with Menino being put to work during the evening's live auction to hawk a pair of Red Sox tickets. After auctioneer extraordinaire Kathy Kingston raked in big bucks pushing goodies like an African safari (helped by a monkey puppet) with the lightning speed Menino took the mic and said of Kingston, "I don't know how I can replicate what she's done," an ironic statement given the many people who think the mayor's elocutionary style lends itself perfectly to the job of auctioneer.

Alas, the mayor acquitted himself quite nicely, beginning the bidding for a Sept. 13 Sox- Tampa Bay Rays showdown at 100 bucks. When the bidding quickly hit $450, Menino offered to sweeten the deal by promising the lucky ticket holders would also get to go onto the Fenway Park field before game time. When the bidding hit $850, Menino joked about the possibility of scoring two more game tickets for the bidders.

"You think you might have some connections, Mayor?" Kingston asked, to which the mayor quickly replied, "Anyone here from the ethics commission?" drawing laughter from the crowd. "I have no friends," said Menino. "I have no friends; I can't do anything." With that, the bidding war ended at $900.

Know Thy Neighbor does Arkansas

The North Shore-based Know Thy Neighbor (KTN) has set up an on online database listing the names and addresses of folks who signed the petition to put Arkansas' Act 1, a ballot initiative to prohibit same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples from adopting or providing foster care for children (previous proposals singled out only same-sex couples for the ban, but the amendment was drafted to also exclude unmarried straight after constitutional questions were raised by the gay-only ban). The amendment passed last November.

KTN, an all volunteer organization that does not prof worked collaborated with the Arkansas LGBT advocacy group Center for Artistic Revolution to create Know Thy Neighbor Arkansas, after receiving a gift of human and financial resources from a donor Lang declined to name but described as "a person of national attention" who "appreciates what we do." The benefactor, said Lang, contacted him earlier this year and pledged to provide resources to create a KTN signature database for the state of Lang's choosing. Lang chose Arkansas believing that Act 1 was a particularly "nasty amendment" because of its thinly-veiled attack on LGBT families at the expense of children in need - evidenced by the addition of a ban on unmarried heterosexual couples to the amendment to ensure that it would pass legal muster.

"In other words," said Lang, "our relationships are so reprehensible to them that they will use children, they will hurt children, just to make a point. So I thought that was a big blow to the gay community."

The signatures, of course, were already a matter of public record on file with the Arkansas Secretary of State. But a whole lot more people can access them now, thanks to KTN. Unlike KTN's flagship Massachusetts site, which only includes the transcribed names and addresses of petition signers, KTN Arkansas also includes scans of the actual paper petitions in addition to the transcribed names on them. The transcribed names link to a PDF version of their actual signature on the actual petition. After going live on April 28, it wasn't long before news of a man whose signature and address on the petition appeared to match those of Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke started making the rounds in cyberspace, which has been somewhat of a PR nightmare for the Arkansas-based company.

Of course, it wasn't long before critics of the site and accusations of intimidation emerged either, much as they did when KTN launched here and in Florida and Oregon.

"The truth is, since gay activists can't win at the ballot box, they are trying to win by creating a 'chilling effect' that will intimidate voters from signing petitions. Stifling a form of free speech is ultimately their last line of defense," said Jerry Cox, president of Family Council Action Committee, the Arkansas organization that sponsored Act 1.

Again, the launch of another KTN database has provoked as much debate about free speech and democracy as it has about LGBT equality - the latter of which is KTN's main mission. But thus far no one - at least in our opinion - has rebutted the whiners with the degree of common sense and passion that CAR co-founder director Randi Romo offered during a recent e-mail interview with Bay Windows.

"We are in a fight for our lives, for our families, for our children," Romo wrote when asked to respond to the intimidation claims. "We have been forced by the continued assaults on our humanity to use every tool at our disposal. And we want to remind people -- there would have never been a list to publish if the Arkansas Family Council hadn't compiled it.

"If Arkansans hadn't put our lives and the dignity of our families up for a vote, there would have never been a single name published," she continued. "We have far more important things to do than wage this fight. Like making sure our children get into college, will the car start, who's cooking dinner, is the laundry done, is there enough to pay all the bills and buy groceries, can we afford child care, etc.? All the things every family in this country is doing, except we have to do it with one hand tied behind our backs.

Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Cox.