LGBTQ news and entertainment
“How ironic that God would use a person like me, who failed so miserably at marriage in the world, to defend it now.
“The Lord picks the unlikely source to convey the message.”
– 4x married Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis to the Associated Press regarding her journey this past year denying same-sex couples a legal marriage license because she disapproved.
Newly elected Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky has issued an executive order removing the requirement for county clerks names on marriage licenses.
For months County clerk Kim Davis asked that the governor’s office make such a change so she would not be, at least in her eyes, a “party” to a same-sex marriage.
Outgoing Gov. Beshear insisted his office did not have the authority to change state law. It appears some legal minds still agree with Beshear.
Bevin’s order on marriage licenses directs the state Department of Libraries and Archives to change the wording on forms so that the names of county clerks are not required to appear. The issue gained national attention after Davis, Rowan County’s clerk, refused to sign off the forms, citing her Apostolic Christian beliefs and objections to same-sex marriage.
Beshear argued for months that state statute determined the wording on marriage licenses and that he could not remove clerks’ names. However, Bevin’s press release states that the change is needed to “ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored.”
William Sharp, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, released a statement saying that Bevin’s action has created a cloud of uncertainty over marriage licenses in the state.
“The requirement that the county clerk’s name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor – conceded by the previous administration in court filings,” he said. “Today, however, a new administration claims to have that authority.”
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| Photo: Reuters |
At a campaign appearance at Cornell College in Iowa, Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton was asked “What would you do about somebody if they were to do something like what Kim Davis did recently?”
The question, of course, was in reference to the rogue Kentucky County Clerk who refused to follow the recent SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
This was her answer:
“I think what happened to Kim Davis was the right thing,” Clinton replied. “She violated the law, and therefore she was arrested. And when she was released, she had to agree that she would not stand in the way of doing her public duty under the Constitution.
“So I actually think that she was treated as she should have been treated,” Clinton continued, before affirming that “people are totally entitled to their personal, private beliefs.”
But that entitlement doesn’t give anyone, especially elected public officials with a taxpayer-funded salary, the right to disobey the law of the land, Clinton added.
“When you take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, that is your job,” she said. “Whether you agree with a decision or not, we have the rule of law. You have to follow the law. … You either enforce the law or you resign from your public position. That is exactly what should have happened.”
Some news stories you may have missed:
• Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis offered $500,000 to do interracial lesbian porn scene.
• What do you do when Tinder matches you with “the most hated man in America?”
• Tennessee’s Blount County commissioners hold a real hearing to vote on formally asking God to spare them from His wrath because of gay marriage. Seriously.
• Showtime’s The Affair has no qualms about male full-frontal nudity.
• Dr. Ben Carson told Fox and Friends today that he would have encouraged those present to charge at the Oregon shooter –“Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me but he can’t get us all.”
• Happy belated birthday to MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts who turned 43 yesterday! Roberts made history a few months ago when he became the first openly gay man to anchor a network newscast.
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| A shirtless 43 year old Thomas Roberts is quite the view to behold |
Jim Obergefell, whose lawsuit led to the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality, has penned an open letter to Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis regarding her opposition to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her county.
Via the ACLU:
“As you may know, when you fall in love with someone, you hand your heart and soul over to them. Anyone who has committed to sharing their life with another human and forming a family unit knows that it is the biggest and most rewarding adventure you will ever take. You know that all of the laughs and all of the tears won’t fall on the echo of an empty room, but will instead be received in the warm embrace of someone who has pledged to see you at your best and love you at your worst. You know that person is there to help pick you up on those days when the odds are stacked against you. You know that you never have to do the dishes alone.
“When I met John, I had no idea that I would spend the next two decades building a life with the man who would one day inspire me to demand our right to be recognized by our country. I earned the right to lawfully call him my husband, just as you have a right to call your husband such. Love transcends gender. You’re imposing the same indignities on couples in Rowan County that John and I suffered when Ohio would not legally recognize us as a married couple. Thankfully, the law is now changed so that nobody should ever have to experience the injustice that John and I endured. No one is above the law, Kim, not even you.
“I joined the fight to have our love treated equally precisely because our love is equal. The love that any family shares is no more or less worthy than that of any other, and it’s not fair for you, or anyone, to judge. It’s your job to simply do your job. Issuing a marriage license at work is not a personal endorsement of my marriage any more than recording a deed is an endorsement of my home ownership.
“It’s simply following the rules in this civil society in which we’ve all agreed to be members. What truly matters is the kindness and compassion we share with our families and with those around us. Love makes a family. And as of June 2015 the federal government agrees. I did not fight for my right to call John my husband in vain. I stand today in his memory and proudly declare him my legally wedded spouse. Do not stand in the way of others seeking their legal right to have their love recognized. Sincerely, Jim Obergefell for ACLU Action.”
After several days of speculation regarding the news that Pope Francis met with rogue Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, the Vatican has issued a statement definitively stating that the meeting was not an endorsement of Ms. Davis’ views.
In fact, it appears the Pope may not have fully understood who Davis is or her current legal battles regarding her failure to follow the law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her county.
The statement, issued by the Rev. Federico Lomdbardi, Vatican spokesman, specified that the encounter with Davis was part of a series of meetings with dozens of guests, not a wholly private appointment.
It’s worth noting that the Vatican rarely comments on the Pope’s private meetings, so it speaks volumes that this statement has been issued.
Earlier reports seemed to indicate that the Pope himself requested to meet Ms. Davis, but now the Vatican says all of the Pope’s greetings in Washington were arranged by Archbishop Viganò.
As a matter of fact, as we had heard earlier this week, the only true “audience” the Pope granted was to a former student and his family. That former student is an openly gay man, and the family involved was his partner of 19 years.
From the New York Times:
Contacted by phone, a former student of Francis’, Yayo Grassi, said he had been granted an audience with the pope. Mr. Grassi is an openly gay man living in Washington, and he said he had been accompanied by his partner of 19 years, Iwan Bagus, as well as four friends.
Mr. Grassi, a 67-year-old caterer, said that his group met with Francis at the Vatican Embassy on Sept. 23 — a day before Ms. Davis met the pope. In the 1960s, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the future pope was called, taught Argentine literature and psychology to Mr. Grassi at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepción, a Jesuit high school in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Mr. Grassi said that he had resumed contact with the future pope years later, when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. He also visited the pope at the Vatican in September 2013, and later called him by telephone to ask for an audience.
Mr. Grassi said that Francis had told him to directly arrange the visit through the office of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the papal nuncio, or envoy, in Washington.
“It was a private meeting, for about 15 to 20 minutes, in which I brought my boyfriend of 19 years,” Mr. Grassi said. His boyfriend, Mr. Bagus, posted a video of the meeting on his Facebook page showing Francis hugging Mr. Grassi and the others.
Mr. Grassi said the meeting was purely personal. “I don’t think he was trying to say anything in particular,” Mr. Grassi said. “He was just meeting with his ex-student and a very close friend of his.”
“Pope Francis met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the Nunciature to greet him as he prepared to leave Washington for New York City,” Father Lombardi said. “Such brief greetings occur on all papal visits and are due to the pope’s characteristic kindness and availability.”
At the Vatican on Friday, a spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, said the invitation had been extended by the office of not from Rome.
“Who brought her in? The nuncio,” said Father Rosica, who is working with the Vatican’s media office in advance of a major meeting of bishops that begins this weekend. “The Nunciature was able to bring in donors, benefactors.”
Father Rosica said of the controversy: “I would simply say: Her case is a very complex case. It’s got all kinds of intricacies. Was there an opportunity to brief the pope on this beforehand? I don’t think so. A list is given — these are the people you are going to meet.”
The Rev. James Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, had cautioned in an article this week that the pope meets many well-wishers on his trips, and that news of the meeting with Ms. Davis had been manipulated.
“I was very disappointed to see the pope having been used that way, and that his willingness to be friendly to someone was turned against him,” Father Martin wrote. “What may originally have prevented them from issuing a statement was the desire not to give this story too much air. But what they eventually came to realize was that they needed to correct some gross misrepresentations of what had happened. It shows that Pope Francis met with many people on the trip, and that she was simply another person who he tried to be kind to.”
Father Rosica’s statement seemed to square with that account.
Asked on Friday if the Vatican press office had been unaware that Ms. Davis had met the pope, Father Rosica said: “No, but I think we may not have been aware of the full impact of the meeting. It is very difficult sometimes when you are looking at things in America from here.”
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| Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee |
Currently in 9th place among GOP White House hopefuls, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee took to his Facebook to crow a bit about the alleged Kim Davis/Pope Francis meeting.
He also seemed to suggest that the meeting would be the spark that will finally launch a massive push back to “judicial tyranny.”
While the media elites were slobbering all over themselves because Pope Francis commented on climate change, the Pope was having a quiet and powerful meeting with a humble Apostolic county clerk from Kentucky.
The Pope recognized something that the chattering class in Washington and Wall Street will never understand—that Kim Davis followed her conscience and convictions. The Pope thanked Kim for doing so and congratulated her for her stand.
The media mocked and derided millions of Americans who supported Kim’s constitutional right to religious liberty. It may just be a visit from the Pope that pushes the out of touch political class in Washington to finally stand up to judicial tyranny and for religious liberty.
Some news stories you may have missed:
• Two minutes of smile – Feel good video about a typical day with woofy dads, Corey and Rocco, and their adorable son Forge.
• Regarding the “Kim Davis meeting Pope Francis” story – does it help to know he also met Mark Wahlberg? I’m guessing that doesn’t mean the Pope endorses the TED movies or the Funky Bunch.
• Rising star in the Indiana Republican Party, Rep. Jud McMillin, resigned from office after sexually explicit video was texted from his phone. McMillin was one of the co-sponsors of the state’s ill-received Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
• Donald Trump released his proposed revisal of the tax code which The Tax Foundation says would cost the U.S. $12 Trillion over ten years. No surprise – the wealthy would gain a LOT.
• Check out this most excellent mega-mix mashup of Madonna videos set to her new album Rebel Heart.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement regarding news reports that allege Pope Francis met privately last week with Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., county clerk who continues to violate the law by refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
From the Human Rights Campaign:
“We hope that this is just a troubling mistake, but if these reports are true, this is a disappointing end to a historic trip,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “It would come as a shock to all those who were inspired by Pope Francis’s call for greater tolerance and inclusion if he were to lend support to a public employee who has become synonymous with discrimination against LGBT people. And, it would be most disappointing to the dozens of LGBT faithful who gathered to welcome Pope Francis to Washington, D.C., and whose request for a meeting was declined.”
HRC invited Pope Francis to meet with LGBT Catholics during his recent visit to Washington, DC. The Pope, who participated in a prayer service across the street from the organization’s headquarters last Wednesday, was asked to join more than 100 LGBT Catholics and staff who gathered to welcome him to the city. HRC also hung a banner on the side of its building asking Pope Francis to embrace LGBT Catholics and put a stop to Archdioceses and Bishops in the United States that have fired capable, faithful LGBT employees.
The story of the morning seems to be that Kim Davis, rogue County Clerk of Kentucky who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, met with Pope Francis in a secret meeting arranged by the Vatican.
According to ABC News, the Vatican allegedly reached out to Davis weeks ago in advance of his visit to the U.S.
“Just knowing the pope is on track with what we’re doing, and agreeing, you know, kind of validates everything,” Davis told ABC News this morning.
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis says a private meeting with Pope Francis has inspired her -– and given her a renewed sense of purpose.
“I was crying. I had tears coming out of my eyes,” Davis said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “I’m just a nobody, so it was really humbling to think he would want to meet or know me.”
Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, says the private meeting occurred during the pope’s historic trip to the United States. After receiving a surprise phone call from a church official, the Kentucky county clerk says she traveled to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband Joe met the pope Sept. 24 at the Vatican Embassy.
“I put my hand out and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him and he hugged me,” Davis said. “And he said, ‘thank you for your courage.’”
Father Benedettini from the Vatican Press office released a statement after reports emerged that Davis and the pope had met.
“The Holy See is aware of the reports of Kim Davis meeting with the Holy Father. The Vatican does not confirm the meeting, nor does it deny the meeting. There will be no further information given,“ the statement reads.
Hours later, Father Benedettini said, in another statement, “I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I will not comment on it further.”
It seems odd that Pope Francis, who showed no restraint is expressing his thoughts on a multitude of controversial topics, would go to such lengths in terms of secrecy.
But then, as we’ve seen with Pope Francis, he does go out of his way to touch as many sick people as he can.