Former gay and current crazy James Hartline (who bears a striking resemblance to the almost-as-crazy preacher from "Poltergeist 2" - see above and try to guess which one is which) is blaming the gays for the fires stampeding across Southern California:

Each time homosexual activists attempt to force their agenda on California, there have been raging, massive, incinerating fires sweeping across the California landscape.

Today, people are running for their lives as 800 California homes have burned down and the firestorm is spreading like a nuclear holocaust. Yet, the radical homosexual anarchists rampage upon the streets of this state demanding the destruction of marriage and family, and the establishment of their socialistic dark vision for society.

. . . They Would Not Listen -- And Now We Are Burning!
They shook their fists at God and said, "We don't care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in San Diego!" Then Mayor Jerry Sanders mocked the Christian vote and signed off on this rebellious legal document to support same-sex marriage.

And then the streets of La Jolla under the Mt. Soledad Cross began to cave in. They shook their fists at God and said, "We don't care what the Bible says, We want the California school children indoctrinated into homosexuality!"

The San Diego lunatic who, according to his website, is doing everything he can to save his city, "from fighting illegal porn stores to exposing the corruption within the homosexual agenda, James is being used to confront the powers of darkness in San Diego, California" also has a book out so that we can "now read the amazing life and death struggle James Hartline fought to leave the homosexual lifestyle."

Could you imagine? I really think James and medavog, the stellar gay San Diego reporter ("The Berlin Wall, to name a few") whose startling Prop 8 documentary has forever changed my view of the world, should hang out and have a nice chat. I kind of hope medavog's real name is Carol Ann.

Pink News is reporting that given the state of the nation, the ban on gays in the militar will likely not be a priority for the new administration:

A group that campaigns to repeal a ban on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people serving in the US Armed Forces has said it does not expect the new Obama administration to deal with the issue as soon as it takes power.

. . . Given that 75% of the American public have said they want the repeal of the ban on gays in the military, known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," it would seem an obvious choice for early attention from the new administration.

However, a spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network, a group that campaigns for an end to the ban, told Metro Weekly:

"There is a very full agenda for President-elect Obama, and we know we will not be first in line.

More after the jump.

"To be successful in eliminating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law, we need a partnership between the White House, Congress and our military leaders.

. . . In an interview with Gay History Project in September, Senator Obama said he would not use the office of President to abolish [Don't Ask, Don't Tell].

"I want to make sure that when we revert "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," it's gone through a process and we've built a consensus or at least a clarity of that, of what my expectations are, so that it works," he said.

"My first obligation as the President is to make sure that I keep the American people safe and that our military is functioning effectively.

"Although I have consistently said I would repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," I believe that the way to do it is make sure that we are working through a process, getting the Joint Chiefs of Staff clear in terms of what our priorities are going to be.

"That's how we were able to integrate the Armed Services to get women more actively involved.

"At some point, [you've] got to make a decision that that's the right thing to do, but you always want to make sure that you are doing it in a way that maintains our core mission in our military."

Of course, as soon as I posted "Separate Is Not Equal" I came across this post on Pam's House Blend that shows it's not all doom and gloom on the race front:

I wore a t-shirt that read "I'm a Victim of H8" to the car wash. As I was waiting for my car, a young African American man walked up to me, motioned to my t-shirt, and said, "I didn't vote for that."

I was somewhat surprised that this guy felt the need to approach me and let me know that he didn't vote for Prop. 8. Was he concerned about reports in the media about tension between LGBT people and the African American community?

"Thanks," I replied.

"No one I know voted for it either?" he added.

Okay, now I was certain where he wanted to go with the conversation.

"That's great," I said. "You know the majority of voters in Monterey County voted against it. Young voters like you were really against it."

"I just want to say that no one in my family voted for it. Not even the older ones. None of my friends did either. It is just wrong."

"Well, there's going to be a peaceful rally at Colton Hall today at 10:30. You should come if you're not busy. Bring your friends."

"(Laughs) Maybe my friends will come if I can tell them there will be attractive ladies there. You know what I mean?"

"I can promise that there will be lots of young ladies there -- attractive, straight young ladies. Bring a sign that says 'straight but not narrow' and you'll be very popular."

Then, he introduced himself as Shawn. We shook hands and chatted about a few other things as we waited for our cars to get dried off and polished.

I didn't see Shawn at the event later that day. I'm not sure if he was able to make it or not. If he arrived after that crowd got big and we began to march, I would not have been able to spot him.

However, there were quite a few African American folks at the event. Keep in mind that Monterey is very very white. So, it always amazes me that these rallies have such a diverse turnout.

This is exactly opposite of my experience, and it's heartening to know that when we extend a hand, it will be grasped

Via Charmants, Rob Devita.

Click thumbnails to enlarge.

This picture, which I took at the New York City National Day of Protest in front of City Hall, is far and away my favorite picture from that day and it visually sums up exactly what I felt that day.

In the foreground is my friend, actor Paul Stovall, an African-American man. He is standing in front of a sign that reads "Separate Is Not Equal." The sign is being held by a white woman. A white woman using the same language today that a black woman would have used fifty years ago. Who would have thought then that a white person today would have reason to use the exact same language to call for her own equal rights? It's stunning. Beautiful. This should be a powerful image of unity for all people who have struggled to obtain civil rights - black people, female people, brown people, gay people. People who have struggled separately finally coming together to fight for the larger, truer principle -- equality for all. That should be what this image represents. But it's not.

Instead, this picture is bizarre. Bizarre because, during the protest, Paul turned to me and said, "Someone forgot to invite the black people." The crowd was overwhelmingly white. 90 percent white. There were a few black people and a few brown people scattered through the crowd. In New York City. I overheard someone next to me say, "This looks like a circuit party." Bizarre because, there we all were, demanding to be treated equal, demanding to be included, demanding our civil rights, using the language of other minorities who have fought the same fight before us while those people were nowhere in sight! Bizarre because something is very wrong when we demonstrate that we know we have all gone through the same struggle but then don't fight together.

Only one person of color gave a speech. The other speechmakers said the people of color who were scheduled to speak couldn't make it. Separate is not equal, and separate is not united. And separate won't win this fight.

The protest in NYC last Wednesday and the national protests on Saturday were exactly the same. Something is wrong here. I have one question: Why is this fight for civil rights, this fight in particular, such a white fight?

I went to the New York City National Day of Protest. I will be posting pics and my take next, but I wanted to get this up now. Above is a compilation video of some of the speakers. There were a lot of inspiring speakers, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, U.S. Rep. Anthony Wiener, Assembly member Danny O’Donnell, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Marriage Equality New York’s Kathy Marino Thomas, Miss America 1998 Kate Shindle, former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model” and out lesbian Kim Stoltz, poet Emanuel Xavier and others.

But, for my money, the best speaker was Miss America 1998 Kate Shindle. Yup, Miss America gave a smart, moving, exceptional speech that, in effect, reminded us to that reason and tolerance (and I do mean "tolerance" - meaning "you don't have to like it, but you do have to put up with it") are required on all sides of this battle and will go a long way in winning the war because, as she said, "This is no less than the greatest civil rights battle of our generation!" You can hear part of her speech above. The full audio can be heard here (about 4 minutes long).

Everywhere I turn I find evidence that we have no real leader. Tammy Lynn Michaels is our voice? Jasmyne Cannick is our civil rights spokesmodel? The HRC has, as Andrew Sullivan pointed out, has been almost entirely absent these past few weeks:

You will notice that the website of the biggest gay rights group in the country has one single mention - it's a blog about a celebrity, of course - of the massive protests that occurred for marriage equality across the country yesterday. (A letter from Joe Solmonese tells us to be nice.) You will also notice that a handful of young non-professionals were able to organize in a few days what HRC has been incapable of doing in months or years. You will know from brutal experience that in the two decades of serious struggle for marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign has been mostly absent, and when present, often passive or reactive. Here's a simple statistic that might help shake us out of complacency: HRC claims to have spent $3.4 million on No On 8. The Mormon church was able to spend over $20 million, by appealing to its members. Why are non-gay Mormons more capable of organizing and fund-raising on a gay rights measure than the biggest national gay rights group? I mean: they claim (absurdly, but bear with me) 725,000 supporters and members. In the summer, the major problem for No On 8 was insufficient early funding. If HRC had led, they could have thrown their money weight behind it. If every supporter had given $20 - chump change for the biggest ever battle yet for civil rights - they could have delivered $14 million overnight. So why didn't they?

The two people who have been our best voices are Michelangelo Signorile and Wanda Sykes. All of our spokespeople are leading us by default. Where is our Harvey Milk? Where is our generation's Larry Kramer?

On Friday night, a group of Christians preaching in the Castro had to be escorted out of the neighborhood by police in riot gear.

Via Joe.My.God.

KTVU reports:

SAN FRANCISCO -- In San Francisco's Castro District, people on both sides of the same-sex marriage controversy confronted each other on Friday night, as police tried to keep the peace. Proposition 8 passed in a close vote and eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Members of the gay community said that almost every Friday night, a Christian group meets at the corner of Castro and 18th Streets. They try to convert gays and lesbians into a straight lifestyle.

This Friday night, the message didn't go over well. Some gays and lesbians reacted by trying to chase the group out of the Castro.

"Their rights were respected," said Joe Schmitz, an opponent of Prop 8. "They got a chance to go ahead and pray on the sidewalk and I had the opportunity to express my freedom of speech which is telling them to get out of my neighborhood."

San Francisco Police officers in riot gear formed a line and escorted the religious group into a van to safely get them out of the area.

. . . Supporters of Prop 8 include the Mormon and Catholic churches. They say the passage of the measure was the will of the people and that they are being unfairly targeted.

Don Eaton, the public affairs representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in the Bay Area said, "The church only encourages people to vote their conscience. The church also reminded us what our doctrine is with regards to marriage between a man and a woman." He also said that some members of the church gave money to the No on 8 campaign, and they weren't punished by the church.

A non-profit group called the Equal Justice Society joined the legal battle against Prop 8 on Friday. It and the NAACP, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and Mexican American Legal Defense jointly filed a lawsuit. They are asking the California Supreme Court to invalidate Prop 8, arguing that it takes away civil rights.

"People of color need to stand up for the LGBT community," said Eva Paterson of the Equal Justice Society. "We think civil rights groups that represent people of color say it's very dangerous for the California electorate to take away constitutionally guaranteed rights."

The Justice House of Prayer posted the above video on YouTube under their username "IntolerantPeople" with claims that gay men kicked and sexually assaulted them during the melee.

It was the first time we'd been back in the Castro to do our normal outreach since California Proposition 8, which defined marriage as "one man with one woman" was passed. We played the guitar and sang together and worshiped the Lord. After just singing and worshiping God for a while, Roger decided that we should all hold hands in a circle and continue singing. So we did. Someone (Actually a person who came up and hugged and kissed some of us who he knew from the past) convinced some people that we were there to protest against the no on 8 campaign.

More after the jump.

Then some guy who was dressed up like one of the sisters (The sisters of perpetual indulgence is a group of men who dress up like nuns and call themselves the spiritual authority of the Castro.) took a curtain-type thing (Which I think they use to curse people) and wrapped it around us. Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing "Amazing Grace", and basically sang that song the whole night. (At some points we also sang "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" and "Oh the Blood of Jesus".)

At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like "haters" and "bigots". Since it was a long night, I can't even begin to remember all of the things that were shouted and/or chanted at us. Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us. Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us.

At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said "Hey, that's not yours, can you please give it back?". He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said "No, tell him I forgive him." Afterwards, she didn't rejoin us in the circle, but she made friends with one of the people in the crowd, and really connected heart to heart.

Roger got death threats. As the leader of our group, people looked him in the eyes and said "I am going to kill you.", and they were serious. A cop heard one of them, and confronted him. (This part is kinda graphic, so you should skip the paragraph if you don't want to be offended.) It wasn't long before the violence turned to perversion. They were touching and grabbing me, and trying to shove things in my butt, and even trying to take off my pants - basically trying to molest me. I used one hand to hold my pants up, while I used the other arm to hold one of the girls. The guys huddled around all the girls, and protected them.

Soon after, the cops came and stood between us and the mob. When it was getting more heated, the cops were like "You guys should leave." and Roger said "We want to stay." Someone tried to steal my backpack, but I tapped a cop on the shoulder, and said "Hey, that's my bag." and he got it from him and gave it to me. Others weren't so lucky. Probably half our team got their jackets stolen.

Eventually, as the crowd was getting more and more uncontrollable, the cops were afraid for our lives, so they escorted us to our van. (The cops were very nice to us from start to finish.) Our van was parked pretty far because it was hard to find parking that day. As the cops escorted us, the mob followed us, until the cops formed a line, and held off the people so we could drive away. We took the long way home, just in case anyone tried to follow us.

When we got home, we prayed and sang more, and then prayed over each-other. Please know my heart. All of what we do is for the Love of Jesus Christ, and the love for those in the Castro. The Bible says to love God, and then love people. We can only love because He loved us first. We can't hate the people because they are just broken and blinded by the spirit of this age. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers. It's not a political thing, we just love the people.