Rob Howard has, from a political standpoint, been a conservative (supported Goldwater in ’64); a liberal (supported Humphrey in ’68); an independent (supported neither party in 72); a Democrat, a moderate Republican, and most recently (since 1982), back to being a very liberal Democrat. He has been an LGBT activist since coming out in 1984, and a senior activist since 2004. Organizations he has been a board member or officer for include Prime Timers Worldwide and it’s Central Oklahoma chapter, Cimarron Alliance Foundation, DBA Metro Business Association, and the Respect Diversity Foundation.

Last week it was my pleasure to visit Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas, and to tour this engineering marvel. To get there, I drove nearly 1700 miles on Interstate Highways, over the Great Plains, and through the Rocky Mountains. The dam, and the highway system, were the largest public works projects of their time, and were paid for by the US Government. When the far-right wing nuts in control of the Republican Party talk about less government, they should pause and think of these two gigantic public works. They are together a Temple to what government can do.

Hoover Dam was approved by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican President. It ended generations of floods and drought across the Southwest and irrigates over a million acres of farmland; it provides the drinking water needs of 20 million people in Nevada, California, and Arizona; it generates over 4 Billion kilowatt-hours of low cost electricity a year. Taking the tour makes you wonder at the magnitude of the effort – 16,000 men over several years; construction around the clock 24/7; engineering innovations that made the project possible, and built a dam that is estimated to have a 2,000 year lifespan.

The Interstate highway system was passed by a Democratic Congress, under a Republican President. Today, it has 46,876 miles of high speed limited access road; about one-third of all miles driven in the US are on these highways; its estimated cost of $425 Billion makes it the most expensive public works project in history. In addition to supporting the economy by movement of goods, the system provides hundreds of thousands of jobs each year, and ensures mobility of our military when needed.

These are just two of the things our government provides us as citizens. Neither could have happened without the Federal Government. If you feel safe from foreign attack, it’s because we have a military. If you grew up in a rural area and had electricity for lighting and pumping water, it’s because of the Federal Rural Electrification Administration. If a teacher inspired your life, it’s because we have had a generations long dedication to government funded public schools. If you get mail six days a week, it’s because we have a national postal service, required by the constitution, and funded from its start by the government. When your grandmother gets her health care through Medicare, it’s because we have a national system of healthcare for seniors, funded by the Federal Government. And don’t forget clean water, healthy food, and safe medications. I could go on and on.

Where do the Federal, State and Local governments get their money? Taxes. The Tea-Party wants to do away with taxes. The Republicans in Congress, and running for President, want to reduce taxes. To do it, they want to cut government spending. Think about that for a few minutes. Which of the very few government activities listed above are you willing to live without?

In the past, our political parties have worked together to provide things too big to be provided any other way – dams, highways, schools, defense. Today, there is almost none of that – and we should all demand that our Senators and Representatives work together to change the toxic partisanship that is crushing our government.

Back to highways for a moment. On March 14, the Senate passed a Highway bill – the first since 2006 – authored by our own Senator Inhofe (one of the most conservative Senators), and Senator Barbara Boxer of California, one of the most liberal – to break the logjam in Congress and get our highway systems back up to standards; at the same time it will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, 45,000 here in Oklahoma alone, according to Sen. Inhofe. I salute Sen. Inhofe for his efforts on this. Those who know me will be astounded.

In late January, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule that required all employers – even of church related organizations like hospitals and universities – to provide health insurance that fully covered contraception services without co-pay. Churches themselves were excluded from the rule.

Well, all hell broke loose. The Catholic Bishops Conference (USCCB) attacked the rule as an unconstitutional restriction on their free exercise of religion, because contraception is against Catholic teaching.

The rule is an important step in helping people plan their families, preventing poverty and other health problems among other ills. There is a compelling governmental interest in providing these services. In response, President Obama modified the rule so that it did not require health insurance policies of church affiliated organizations to include the coverage. The insurance companies providing the policy must provide such services to the employees free of charge.

Under the Constitution, churches would be clearly excluded from the rule. And businesses that aren’t formed for a religious purpose would be required to follow it. But in the middle, you have religiously affiliated organizations, like Notre Dame University, Mercy Health Services, and Catholic Charities, that act like businesses.  They were formed for a religious purpose – to respond to the call to serve others.  Catholics and other religions set up such organizations because their faith compels them to do so.

The President’s modification of the rule gives church organization cover in that they aren’t publically providing services which they consider immoral based on the tenets of their faith.

But really, who is paying for the insurance that will provide contraception services to women for free? It is either the religious-affiliate that pays the premium, or all people who pay premiums to that company, or all of us, from the government. Insurance companies are not charitable organizations, and they don’t like paying for legitimate medical needs, let alone being mandated to provide some of them for free.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 allows the government to make rules that include church-affiliated organizations, when there is 1) a compelling governmental interest, and 2) the method required is the least restrictive means of fulfilling that interest. Protecting women’s health is clearly a compelling government interest, and providing it at no cost is probably the least restrictive means of doing that, since it makes it available, but doesn’t require anyone to violate their religious belief by using it (even though about 99 percent of all women use some form of contraception at some point in their child-bearing years).

Well, of course, the right-wing candidates running for the GOP nomination for President, and the right-wing members of Congress that lead the GOP have taken up the cause. Newt Gingrich has been accusing the President of waging a “War on Religion.” Rick Santorum has been quoted as opposing all contraception – period. Mitt Romney appears to be in the “war on religion” camp.  The GOP leadership in the House and Senate has announced that they want to allow any employer the right to not provide things that violate their religious beliefs. The Bishops appear to agree with that approach. Republican Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is proposing a bill that would allow any employer or insurer to deny [medical] services that are, “contrary to the provider’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.” By logical extension, that might mean that if a business owner doesn’t like providing medical services to gay men, they could exclude coverage for them.

Hopefully, such approaches won’t become law. And just for the record, this whole argument is the foundation of the reason that the government should provide all health-care as a single payer – Medicare for everyone – which makes this whole discussion moot.

There is no “War On Religion” but you can make a pretty good case that there is certainly a “War to Impose Right-Wing Christianity” on all of us. Any of us gay and lesbian people can figure out pretty quickly what that would mean for our rights.

Taking approximately 70% of the vote, Al McAffrey makes a clean sweep against his Republican opponent in the special election held on Valentine’s Day for Oklahoma State Senate seat in District 46. McAffrey is Oklahoma’s first openly gay Legislator serving at the state’s capitol.

“Thanks to all my supporters; those who supported me financially, who volunteered and those who voted for me,” said McAffrey in a statement to the Gayly. “I plan to represent this Senate District the same way I spoke for those in my House District and my Open Door Policy remains in effect.” McAffrey also paid a special thanks to David Stinson for, “putting up with me,” for his added support and, in particular, putting together his victory party.

McAffrey is a strong supporter of all Civil Rights and his voting record shows he has consistently voted for the benefit of seniors, the preservation of human rights and the middle class.

“Tonight, the people of Senate District 46 have put their faith in me to represent them. I do not take their faith in me lightly or for granted,” McAffrey Added in a statement sent to his supporters. “I am committed to fighting for the values that define our district: fairness, equality and moving Oklahoma forward.”

At the victory party for newly elected Senator Al McAffrey, pictured above are McAffrey (c) and Richard Ogden (l) and Steve Cortes (r).

At the New Hampshire Republican debate on January 7, any hope that LGBT people would have any rights left if a Republican is elected President in 2012 were blown away. They spent nearly one-quarter of the debate talking about the “Right to Privacy,” affirmed by the Supreme Court in the 1965 Griswold decision, Roe v. Wade, and same-sex marriage.

The “Right to Privacy” decisions of the Supreme Court, first in Griswold and then in Roe v. Wade in 1973, provided the foundation for the Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003 that ruled sodomy laws unconstitutional. Removing the barrier of our sexual behavior being criminal in many states is considered a foundation for other LGBT rights now and in the future.

Mitt Romney, the front-runner and presumed future nominee, believes that Roe was incorrectly decided and wants to overturn it. He wants a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  Rick Santorum, who tied Romney in Iowa but placed a dismal fifth in New Hampshire, goes even further.  He believes the Supremes were wrong on the right to privacy, thinks states should ban contraception, and wants to overturn Roe.  Worse, he believes in a federal ban on same-sex marriage, and the couples who are already married in the five states that allow it are just out of luck. “They wouldn’t be married,” he said.

Jon Huntsman, who isn’t going anywhere in this race, supports civil unions; somewhat enlightened, he said he doesn’t believe that his marriage is threatened by gay people having civil unions. Newt Gingrich believes same sex couples should have some rights, like hospital visitation and inheritance, but apparently doesn’t support even civil unions. Rick Perry, also a non-starter, wants a constitutional amendment. Ron Paul doesn’t want a constitutional amendment, but believes the issue should be left to the states – an easy position, because something like 45 states ban same sex marriage by law or by constitutional amendment.

If we look at the whole spectrum of these extreme views regarding the rights of LGBT folks, we can easily conclude that if marriage is banned federally, we remain second class citizens forever. And if they appoint more Robert’s, Alito’s and Scalia’s to the Supreme Court, the stage would be set for an overturn of the foundation of our rights – the Right to Privacy. I can see a return to same-sex intimate sexual behavior bans in many states, and even a ban on business and governments extending domestic partner benefits to same sex couples.

Every one of these candidates has a view of the LGBT community that ranges from the simply conservative to the irrationally extreme. When the most critical issue facing us is the economy, the best these guys can do is spend one-quarter of a two hour debate talking about our rights.

I don’t much care for President Obama’s stance for civil unions against same-sex marriage, but his record in other LGBT areas is stellar:  the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the enforcement of rights of partners to visit their partners in the hospital, the appointment of many LGBT people to positions of responsibility; and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crimes law, all are great accomplishments given the right-wing Republican opposition to our rights for the last two decades.

We must all pay very close attention to what this collection of nuts is saying, fight them over their extreme positions, and encourage to President to support even more of our rights with the passage of ENDA, and the repeal of DOMA.  In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m voting for Obama this fall.

LGBT activist Margaret Cox shows her disapproval of the Supreme Court decision regarding corporations as people on the second anniversary of this decision.

Frustrated and angry citizens attended a rally Friday, January 19th in front of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Oklahoma City. This same protest was staged in about 80 cities nationwide marking the 2nd anniversary of the January 20, 2010 Supreme Court decision of Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission. Largely referred to as the “corporations are people” decision it struck down spending limits by corporations and unions in political campaigns. This decision has sparked a fierce and polarizing debate over the issue of corporate money’s influence on political outcomes and at least one congressional member is proposing a constitutional amendment to overturn this decision. The only other legitimate method of overturning a previous Supreme Court ruling is to nullify it with a contradictory ruling on a current case.

The Oklahoma City rally drew approximately 50 people from Stillwater, Norman, and elsewhere in the Oklahoma City metro area. Speakers at the rally included Dr. Ed Shadid, Oklahoma City councilman, ward 2.

Demonstrators attend a “corporations are not people” rally Friday, January 19th in front of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Oklahoma City.

Pray cooler heads will guide America in the dialogue and decision-making over Iran’s position in the world. Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and there is no certain evidence that such a program is under way. Certainly Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and the interests of world peace demand that these issues be resolved without military action that could launch a catastrophic war.

Another war would destroy America’s painful recovery from the indebtedness of two wars and the 2008 economic crash.  Gasoline prices would probably go up another dollar per gallon. The Iraq and Afghanistan war’s final costs will exceed $2 trillion. Some estimates say $4 trillion, or even $6 trillion, including lifelong care for veterans physically or emotionally disabled.

Iran has four times the population of Iraq, many times the military capability, and would seek support from other nations like Russia and China, possibly sparking an unpredictable regional war.

Political hawks and shock-jocks on talk radio condemn calls for negotiations and dialogue to resolve such matters without military action as weakness. The U.S. spends as much on military preparedness as the rest of the world combined, so no one can doubt America’s capacity to wage war. It is shocking that the theme song of one national talk show host states,” We’ll put a boot up your ass, it’s the American way.”

The world does not find this amusing or appealing.

More than six thousand American families grieve the deaths of sons and daughters in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. More than 30,000 U.S. troops have been physically wounded in action, and untold numbers have returned home emotionally and physically disabled.  Suicides of war veterans each month exceed combat deaths.

Official estimates of some 100,000 deaths in Iraq and 20,000 in Afghanistan are considered low by other calculations.The British polling group Opinion Research Business (ORB) has estimated Iraqi deaths at closer to one million, with some 5 million becoming displaced refuges who are homeless or have left the country.

Many believe our wars in the Middle East are breeding resentments that will last lifetimes.

War brings big profits to military contractors and oil companies that simply raise their prices. Everyone else pays dearly, in dollars, lives and blood.
The people of Iran are not well served by having a bellicose posturing leader in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Cowboy professions of toughness are usually hot air, appealing to the pride of some, but are not helpful to the interests’ of peace. The vast majority of humanity desperately hopes for negotiated resolutions to political tensions to avoid war and its deaths and destruction that ruin lives and wreck economies.

The United States must lead the world in calling for cooler rhetoric and civil dialogue by all nations in the Iran discussion. Israel particularly must relax its rhetoric, confident that its close alliance with the United States and its own arsenal of some 600 nuclear weapons renders it a muscular regional power whose sovereignty is unquestioned.

War truly is hell, as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan remind us too well. Let’s remember that the terrible attacks on America of 9/11/01 were not from a nation, but from an alliance of individuals from many nations, most prominently Saudi Arabia. The U.S. attack on Iraq is now admittedly blamed on “faulty intelligence,” misinformation and miscalculation. Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that the Iraq war would last six weeks and that U.S. forces would be welcomed with flowers as liberators.

All Americans opposed to another war must stand behind leaders seeking nonviolent resolutions to world situations that could blow up into wars that would wreck our economy, raise oil prices, profit only a few, and cause incalculable suffering everywhere, while we taxpayers foot the bill.

Nathaniel Batchelder
2912 N. Robinson, OKC
batchokc@gmail.com

By Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief

I doubt many of our readers are unfamiliar with the acronym DADT. It stands for, “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” but frankly, it seems to stand for more injustice and bigotry. Particularly with the recent news in Oklahoma of state Representative Mike Reynolds (R) attempt to introduce a bill reinstating DADT to the Oklahoma National Guard (OKNG).

Speaking in regard to the legal battles, “We could lose the Oklahoma National Guard completely,” said Mr. Vince, a 13 year member of the armed forces who also served in Iraq. “The fighting will likely cost us hundreds of millions in lawsuits.” Vince wanted to make it clear that he does not speak on behalf of the military: these are his own thoughts and opinions.

“You see, any member of the armed services must follow the chain of command,” added Vince. “Any member of the service is breaching that chain of command is in violation of their agreement.”

According to Vince, service members could be court martialed for these violations and reminded us, no member of the armed forces made an oath the state of Oklahoma, rather to the Federal Government.

It’s Vince’s opinion that, “We have a clear Chain of Command and the OKNG fall in that chain. By making this law the OKNG would not be able to be part of the Armed Forces, because they would Violate Army and Department of Defense (DoD) policy. This law would force OKNG member to openly disobey the orders of the Commander-n-Chief and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

Vince added, “The State cannot force the members of the OKNG to violate regulations and orders given by a higher command. Members who disobey these lawful orders can be punished under Article 92 UCMJ: Failure to obey order or regulation, and Article 90 UCMJ: Assaulting or willfully disobeying superior officer. Both of these are court martial offenses.”

Documentation obtained from the DoD website lists a memo from Under Secretary Clifford Stanley it states that homosexual conduct will not be considered as a bar for military service and that sexual orientation is a personal and private matter. This was released after President Obama signed the order removing DADT from the US Military rules.

Reynolds told the Tulsa World that the Oklahoma bill he is creating is “in response to requests from members of the Oklahoma National Guard.”
However, in an interview with the Gayly, Lt. Colonel Max Moss, head of Public Relations for the Oklahoma National Guard, had this to say:

“I don’t know who it was who spoke to Representative Reynolds, but Oklahoma National Guard leadership did not. Members are allowed to share their thoughts with their elected leaders. They are not on duty 24/7; they are off duty 28 days of the month and during that time they are no different than any other citizen.”

Moss added that the Guard will not comment about pending political matters.

“We are an apolitical organization and therefore we do not engage in political controversy or discussion. For example, if he (a soldier) wanted to travel to Massachusetts and support Barney Frank, that would be OK as long as he (or she) is not in uniform. We do not influence our soldier’s thoughts on political or religious matters. We do make sure they have the means to vote if they are out of this area on duty.”

Moss also pointed out that the Governor of the state is the Commander in Chief for the Oklahoma National Guard except for soldiers that are called to federal duty. Only then is their Commander in Chief the President of the United States. The Oklahoma National guard currently has more than 3,000 soldiers on federal active duty serving in Afghanistan and Kuwait. They are expected to return to Oklahoma over the next few months.

Finalizing the conversation, Moss added, “We encourage them to vote and participate in the political process, but they aren’t supposed to attend political rallies for any candidate or cause in military uniform.” Regardless of their opinion, we don’t put a filter on what our soldiers say or do as a citizen. It has nothing to do with them being a soldier.”

The Gayly contacted Representative Mike Reynolds office for comment. At the time of press, he had not responded.

Toby Jenkins, representing Tulsa-based Oklahomans for Equality said, “We find it horrifying that women and men who are qualified, educated, and trained to serve their country and their state would be prohibited from doing so were this bill to become law.”

“The ACLU of Oklahoma is calling on the Speaker of the House to send a clear signal that this legislation is dead on arrival and that the House will not waste a single minute considering the politically motivated act of a single legislator, and instead, stand with the brave men and women of the Oklahoma National Guard, regardless of their sexual orientation,” said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma.

Laura Belmonte of The Equality Network mirrored Kiesel’s sentiments by saying, “At a time when members of the Oklahoma National Guard are defending our nation in Afghanistan and playing a critical role in emergency response in our state, Mike Reynolds seeks to distract and divide those who keep us free and keep us safe.  HB 2195 sends a chilling message of intolerance and denies brave gay and lesbian Oklahomans basic fairness and equality of opportunity.”

Speaking for Cimarron Alliance, executive director Scott J. Hamilton said, “When Oklahomans are in the midst of a crisis, do they really care about the sexual orientation of the person who is there to help them? It is unconscionable that a lawmaker would waste precious time and resources on something so blatantly bigoted. We believe that resources could be better spent on shoring up our failing education system, reducing teen pregnancy, and eliminating childhood hunger. Hate is not an Oklahoma value.”

All of the groups have vowed to fight this measure at the national and state levels.

Senator Andrew Rice was presented with a “Certificate of Grateful Appreciation” from the board of Cimarron Alliance for, among many things, his ongoing fight for the rights of LGBT citizens.

On February 14th, Oklahoma City voters will go to the polls to choose a replacement for Senator Andrew Rice (D) OKC. Rice announced last year that he would resign his state senate district 46 seat effective January 15, 2012 in support for his wife, Dr. Apple Rice who is pursuing an out-of-state career opportunity.

Rice has held this seat since 2006 and has been a great supporter of LGBT issues in Oklahoma.  This election is extremely important because it is vital to replace Senator Rice with someone who is sympathetic to the issues affecting gays and lesbians in Oklahoma. Some republican extremists are already moving to erase decades of civil rights advancements in this state and only one candidate can help stop those efforts. That candidate is Al McAffrey.

Currently representing HD 85 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, McAffrey is the first and only openly gay member of the Oklahoma legislature. He has also been endorsed by Senator Rice.

District 46 covers much of the mid-town Oklahoma City area and the area just south of I-40.  This election will be held in the new district area which was recently reapportioned by the Oklahoma legislature. A map of the new district is available on the Oklahoma State Election Board website:  www.ok.gov/elections/. New voter registration cards have been mailed to all registered voters with the location of the new polling places. These polling places may also be found on the election board website at http://www.ok.gov/elections/ppl/index.php.

In order to vote you must bring a government issued photo I.D., your voter registration card, or be prepared to fill out a provisional ballot form as explained on the election board website. Remember to VOTE on Tuesday, February 14th.

Hosting a farewell podcast for Cimarron Alliance Oklahoma: Inside Out podcast is (l) Scott Hamilton with Senator Andrew Rice (r). In an election on February 14th, Al McAffrey is hoping to win the race to fill Rice’s vacated seat.