(14) Politics and Beyond: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America

Gays in Power

Politics involves the ability of interest groups to effect social and legal decisions in favor of their preferred results. Out.com notes that "influential gays are becoming increasingly more visible and more powerful." The Power 50: The Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America were outed on their website. Four criteria were used to determine their choices, including; political clout, pop-culture resonance, individual wealth, and current personal profile.

Descriptions of their first five choices are listed as follows: 1.

1. David Giffen is a $4 billion Hollywood entertainment powerhouse. His money has bought him influence over Democratic presidential politics and his name on UCLA's medical school.

2. Anderson Cooper, as anchor of CNN News, pulls a $4 million salary.

3. Ellen DeGeneres hosts her own talk show that draws 2.3 million viewers on a daily basis. This out and proud lesbian is reportedly worth $65 million.

4. Tim Gill is the country's biggest gay political donor who made his fortune as founder of the publishing software Quark.

5. Barney Frank, Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, assumed chairmanship of the House Committee on Financial Services when Democrats took control of the House and Senate.

Bankrolling the Battle 2.

Tim Gill, the leading funder of the homosexual agendas, is perhaps the most powerful force for homosexual activism. Gill grew up in Denver and became involved in homosexual activism after enrolling at the university of Colorado at Boulder in the early 1970's. With a passion for computer technology and making money he launched the software company Quark, which became a major international software firm, making Gill a very rich man.

In 1992, Gill refocused on gay activism after the passage of Amendment 2, which prohibited Colorado localities from passing gay-right ordinances. Feeling angry that "the forces of evil are out to destroy us" he began to funnel his wealth to work for pro-homosexual agendas. In 1994, he formed the Gill foundation through which he was able to use his fortune to "seed gay-rights organizations in all 50 states."

His support enabled the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to grow into the leading gay-activist group in America's schools. By 2001, USA Today reported that the "Gill Foundation donations to homosexual-rights organizations around the country represented 20 percent of their annual budgets. As of this year, the foundation has made grants of well over $115 million."

Besides huge donations, Gill used creative and effective ways to promote the gay agenda. He launched training seminars across the country to "help the organizations sharpen their message, hone their efficiency and raise money more effectively." To portray homosexuality as mainstream, Gill also gave large grants to symphonies, libraries and colleges with the stipulation that the organization have a non-discrimination policy toward homosexuals and that they advertise through plaques, event programs, and annual reports that the funding came from the Gay & Lesbian Fund of Colorado.

In 2000, Gill became involved in "strategic politics". Focusing on local campaigns, Gill gave $300,000, followed by $800,000, followed by $5 million to influence political races. He recruited three multi-millionaires to join his pro-gay cause: Jared Polis; Rutt Bridges; and billionaire heiress, Pat Stryker, sister to a homosexual billionaire from Michigan, Jon Stryker. The four "Gillionaires" fed money into local races to shift control of legislatures in favor of gay-friendly candidates. In 2006, Gill and his allies targeted 70 state and local races in a dozen states. When Gill funneled $5 million into Colorado politics, Democrats took control of both the House and Senate for the first time in three decades. In New Hampshire, a new Democrat majority passed a civil-unions law. In Iowa, the Republicans lost the House; the Democratic majority was able to stop the state marriage amendment and the Legislature enacted a homosexual nondiscrimination law.

Obama's Rainbow World 3.

When Barack Obama was elected president, lavender, the signature color of the gay movement, became the preferred color of major media newscasters and talk show hosts. Purple and lavender ties, shirts, dresses, and suit coats blossomed. On inauguration Day of 2009 the Human Rights Campaign president, Joe Solmonese said, "Today's inauguration represents a paradigm shift. The pendulum has swung away from the anti-gay forces and toward a new president and vice president who acknowledge our equality."

Throughout his campaign, Obama made it clear that he supported the homosexual "civil rights" movement. Immediately after his inauguration, the Obama White House web site posted it's agenda, which include a section addressed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community. Obama is quoted, "Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us... But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

On the web site (www.whitehouse.gov) Obama spoke to the relevant political concerns:

Hate-Crimes - We will "expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act."

ENDA - Obama "supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act...our anti-discrimination laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity."

Gays in the Military - "we need to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy".

Defense of Marriage Act - the President wants to "repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which was signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton. Obama wants to "enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions."

Gay adoption - In a letter to a gay rights group in Massachusetts, Obama said, "We have to eliminate discrimination against LGBT families. And that's why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws."

After taking office Obama disappointed many gay activists by not moving aggressively forward in pursuit of gay rights, and even defending some of the policies he criticized. Gay rights groups became outraged when the Obama administration filed a legal brief defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which Obama had opposed during his campaign. To lessen the anger, In June of 2009 Obama signed a presidential memo extending some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. 4.

In February of 2010, Obama again disappointed homosexuals who were wanting to serve openly in the armed forces. Michael Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm, reported that the Pentagon is conducting a year long review of policy change. President Obama and Congress will table this issue for the rest of the year. 5.

REFERENCES

1. Out.com. "The Power 50: The Most Powerful Gay Men & Women in America." http://out.com/detail.asp?id=22394. 2/26/10.

2. Paulton, John. "In the Image of Gill". Citizen magazine. Focus on the Family. Vol. 21, No. 12. December, 2007:24-27.

3. Vitagliano, Ed. "Homosexual Agenda." American Family Association Journal. Vol. 33, No. 3, March 2009:20-21.

4. Froomkin, Dan. "Consolation Prize for Gays." 6/17/2009. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/a-consolation-prize-for-gays_pf.html. 2/26/2010.

5. The Washington Times. "Editorial: Obama disappoints gays again." Feb. 3, 2010. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/o3/homosexuals-disappointed-again. 2/26/2010.

(11)Gay Adoption: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America

A study done in 1993 indicated that there were 3-8 million lesbian or gay parents raising 6-14 million children in the United States. While most were children from a former heterosexual relationship or marriage, a growing number were opting to become parents through commercial reproductive services or adoption. 1.

Adoption becomes controversial

A March 2007 study reported that 65,000 adopted children were being raised in the U.S. by same-sex parents and an estimated 14,100 foster children were living with one or more gay or lesbian foster parents. States differ in their laws for single gays and lesbians and same-sex couples who seek to adopt.

*Florida is the only state that bans gay adoption by both singles and couples but it does allow gays to become foster parents.

* Arkansas, Utah and Virginia prohibit all singles or unmarried couples from adopting a child.

* California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and the District of Columbia have laws permitting gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered (GLBT) single, joint or second parent adoptions.

* Colorado permits same-sex couple adoptions while also allowing grandparents and other people who are raising a child to adopt.

Many states do not have specific laws covering gay adoptions or foster parenting. Gay singles have an easier time adopting than do gay couples. Twenty states permit single GLBT adoptions but are unclear in regard to joint adoptions. In these states gay couples wishing to adopt or foster a child are at the mercy of judges and adoption agencies. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a non-profit organization that studies adoption and foster care claims that about 60 percent of adoption agencies accept applications from gays and lesbians, but they often are confronted with prejudice during the process 2.

Rob Calhoun and his partner, Clay Calhoun, have two adopted children, a 4 year-old daughter and an 18 month old son. Calhoun said, "We're not moms, we're not heterosexual, we're not biological parents... But we're totally equal and just as loving as female parents, as straight parents, and biological parents. Love makes a family, not biology or gender." 3.

BACKLASH/ Americans divided

A 2006 Pew Research Center poll reported that 46 percent of Americans support gay and lesbian adoptions. Opponents argue that children raised in gay or lesbian households suffer from not having both a mother and a father. Others argue that there are millions of single heterosexual mothers and fathers raising children across the country. They question why children of single or same-sex couples would be worse off.

Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, wrote in a commentary for Time magazine.

"Love alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development...The two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy, any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for a little girl." 4,

The Catholic Church opposes gay adoption. On the Catechism on Call website, Robert Fry speaks for the church in saying, "A child who grows up with a mother and a father is exposed to both the masculine and the feminine, which according to God's plan, allows that child to grow up with an intimate and connected experience to both sexes. A boy, for example, raised by two women is deprived of the right to learn what society expects of men, and how men are expected to handle the challenges they will face in that society. A woman cannot transmit this knowledge to a child! You can't pass on what you don't know! Every child has a right to a mother and a father...Two men, for example, who choose to adopt a little boy, make a conscious decision that this boy will never have a mother. The situation is much worse when artificial insemination is involved, and the father's role is reduced simply to that of being a 'sperm donor'...To think that we've now decided to tamper with this foundation of our civilization, just so that a minority of adults can have their lifestyle sanctioned and codified as both normal and even 'healthy' should concern us all." 5.

The Catholic Church has been highly involved in adoption services. Changes in legislation which prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation places in jeopardy the ability of the church to continue offering this family service. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, is deeply concerned about how same-sex legislation will effect religious liberty in the country. He reports, "When Catholic Charities in Boston insisted that they would stay true to principle and refuse to place children for adoption with same-sex couples, they were told by the Commonwealth that they could no longer do adoptions at all." 6.

REFERENCES

1.The Gay Almanac. Compiled by the National Museum & Archive of Lesbian and Gay History. New York:Berkley Books, 1996:232.

2. Gandossy, Taylor. "Gay adoption: A new take on the American Family". http://www. cnn.com/2007/US/06/25/gay.adoption.

Johnson, Ramon. "Where is Gay Adoption Legal?" http://gaylife.about.com/od/gayparentingadoption/a/gaycoupleadopt.htm?p=1. 2/11/2010.

3. Gandossy.

4. Ibid.

5. Fry, Robert. "Learn What the Catholic Church Really Teaches: Catholic Church and Adoption." http://wwwcatechismoncall.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/catholic-church-gay-adoption/. 2/11/2010/

6. Perkins, Tony. "Same-Sex 'Marriage' vs. Religious Liberty." Truth & Triumph. Alliance Defense Fund. Vol. 11, Issue 3. 2009:14-15.