[Welcome, so-called Anglicans! And just so you know I haven’t forgotten you….]

You remember the Scaife-funded gay hater Episcopalians? The ones who had to go to Nigeria to outsource Bishops who hated gays enough to satisfy them?

Well—and of course, it’s never about the money—they don’t get to break away from the Church and take the buildings with them, because the buildings (duh) belong to the Diocese. LA Times:

In a victory for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, a state appeals panel has upheld the diocese’s claim to the buildings and other property of three conservative parishes that had severed their ties with the diocese.

The unanimous decision by a panel of the appeals court in Santa Ana reversed lower court rulings in the case, which involves St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David’s Church in North Hollywood.

The ruling was reached late Monday by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal.

In August 2004, the dissident parishes pulled out of the six-county Los Angeles Diocese and the 2.3-million-member Episcopal Church, citing differences over biblical interpretation, including what they described as the diocese’s too-lenient views on homosexuality. Instead, they placed themselves under the jurisdiction of a conservative Anglican bishop in Uganda.

The Los Angeles Diocese sued, arguing that the parishes held their church buildings in trust for the diocese and the national Episcopal Church and thus were not entitled to the property. An Orange County trial judge, in separate decisions, had ruled in favor of the parishes.

Good. And anything that makes life harder for these assholes is good. These people should check their Bibles and look in their hearts, if any. Luke 7:36-47:  Read more 

Later is better than never:

When I was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I supported the current policy because I believed that implementing a change in the rules at that time would have been too burdensome for our troops and commanders. I still believe that to have been true. The concern among many in the military was that given the longstanding view that homosexuality was incompatible with service, letting people who were openly gay serve would lower morale, harm recruitment and undermine unit cohesion.

In the early 1990s, large numbers of military personnel were opposed to letting openly gay men and lesbians serve. President Bill Clinton, who promised to lift the ban during his campaign, was overwhelmed by the strength of the opposition, which threatened to overturn any executive action he might take. The compromise that came to be known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” was thus a useful speed bump that allowed temperatures to cool for a period of time while the culture continued to evolve.

The question before us now is whether enough time has gone by to give this policy serious reconsideration. Much evidence suggests that it has.  Read more 

Look, I’ve been here what? Ten days? And already, I’ve met more queer servicemembers or former servicemembers than I can easily relate. It’s a simple fact: gay people love the uniform in equal proportion to everyone else, perhaps more so. If they join to ’travel to new places, meet new people, and kill them’ or because there are significant social, professional, and financial benefits to doing so, it hardly matters. This shit has got to stop:

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has issued a statement warning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the US Military to use caution when posting personal information online or using the Internet in other ways to convey such information.

The SLDN warning came in the wake of an Associated Press article which described military officials and their reviewing of “official and unofficial blogs and other Web sites.” Military bloggers who are deployed, according to the AP, are required to let commanders know about their site. Such sites are monitored quarterly.  Read more 

Just a little reminder for all you kids playing at home: be sure to make Mike one of your daily stops. He’s got a version of the now Infamous List up, you remember, the one some gay activists have been sending to all kinds of fundie and winger groups, reminding them how many of the heroes in the hallowed halls are faggots? You may also want to read more about The Purge, and perhaps mock pajamalist sissy boy Corn for protecting his boyfriends about to be outed. Boo Hoo, we wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, would we David? I mean, we just can’t be sure, so let’s keep it all quiet.

For the children, I’m sure.

High on the long list of “people I can’t figure out why they’d be Republicans anyway” (which includes of course women, patriots, Christians, Jews, lovers of the Constitution, patriots, supporters of the military, carbon-based life forms, etc.) gay folks have to be near the very top. How self-hating do you have to be?

Pretty goddam self-hating indeed, and not too bright besides according to this LA Times piece. And I left Whiny-Ass-Titty-Babies off the list above, which turns out to be an oversight:

In recent days, gay political staffers and activists have expressed anger with Foley.

“Thanks a lot, Mark,” said Catania, the District of Columbia councilman. “You weren’t any help to us when you were in the closet, and you’ve really hurt us now.  Read more 

I’ve got a lot to do today, forgive the grab bagging. Pensions: do you have one? I honestly can’t tell if this bill is a good thing or not, but since Bush signed it, I’m inclined to think it will make things worse.  Read more