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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
February 13, 2009
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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com
Will Obama's faith-based office still allow gay bias?
by Eric Resnick
Washington, D.C.-During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama did not say if LGBT people would be protected from discrimination by churches receiving federal faith-based initiative money.
As president, he's still not saying. Obama signed an executive order February 5 creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This was in keeping with a campaign promise he made July 1 in Zanesville, Ohio to increase the social services provided through churches and faith-based organizations.
Though faith-based organizations have long been able to get federal grants for programs, the Bush Administration promoted them. Bush signed Executive Order 13,279 which changed the rules, allowing churches to hire and serve only those who agreed with their religious beliefs. This allowed anti-gay churches to discriminate, even with federal funds.
When he spoke in Zanesville, Obama was vague on how he proposed to protect LGBT people in this area. They are not covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Obama's campaign did say that federal funds would not fund "ex-gay" ministries, but other than putting out a statement saying grant recipients "must comply with federal anti discrimination laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the campaign stopped short of saying how protecting LGBT people would happen under the present law.
When pressed, the campaign answered that "Senator Obama has been working to pass a fully-inclusive Employment NonDiscrimination Act, so that employment discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation or gender identity is not permitted. He will continue to fight for ENDA's passage as president."
With the faith-based program getting off the ground and ENDA's passage possibly years down the road, the administration is being as evasive as the campaign was.
The campaign ignored 11 written questions submitted by the Gay People's Chronicle last year seeking clarification.
This year, the White House also asked for written questions and got four, including if Bush's order 13,279 would be canceled.
Again, there has been no response.
Fred Davie
STONE-
GRAPHIC
DESIGN
Other reporters have had similar experi-
ences.
Another concern is that since money is fungible, federal money that churches receive for soup kitchens or other social services could free up other money to be used for proselytizing or ex-gay ministries.
In his book Tempting Faith, David Kuo observed that the churches most likely to apply for money are the most conservative.
Kuo was deputy director of Bush's the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Kuo also says that those are the churches most likely to believe in the supremacy of
Ouch
God's law, to the detriment of observing federal laws.
It is not clear how Obama would address that issue, either.
Obama appointed Josh DuBois, a 26year-old Pentecostal minister from Massachusetts to direct the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The office will be advised by a newly formed council, which includes Fred Davie, an openly gay man from New York, and the Rev. Otis Moss, Jr. of Cleveland.
Davie is the president of Public/Private Ventures, which does community organizing and advocacy for families in poverty.
Moss is Pastor Emeritus of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.
Neither Moss nor Davie returned calls for comment by press time.
The council has a total of 25 members, including some who are anti-gay.
What remains to be seen is whether or not the council advises Obama to prioritize non-discrimination with the federal funds, or to consider it a church's religious right to deny LGBT people equality in employment and service if it wants to, and what Obama does with the recommendation.
ANTHONY GLASSMAN
Det. Deirdre Jones of the Cleveland Police Department's domestic violence unit illustrates the horrors of same-sex intimate partner abuse during the State of Black Gay America Symposium on February 7.
The event, held at the Mather mansion on Cleveland State University's campus, brought out nearly 100 people over the course of the afternoon, one of the best levels of attendance in the event's history.
Traditionally, the symposium was held as part of Black, Gay and Proud at the beginning of August, but scheduling issues moved the event to February.
The symposium covered four tracks: HIV and other STDs, transgender issues, homophobia in the black church, and domestic violence. Speakers each gave a short presentation on their topic, then after a break for lunch, the event reconvened with a panel discussion and question and answer
session.
Speakers included Dr. Vera Paul-Jarrett, the director of the John T. Carey Center for Immunology, nurse Tamila Campbell, trans man Ever Bolden, Mental Health Services director Dr. Cynthia Vrabel, Rev. Hattie Alexander of New Birth Church in Detroit, Cathy Alexander, the former director of the Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and Det. Jones.
The organization behind the symposium reorganized itself into Cleveland Black Pride, Inc. and has a full slate of events coming up in the months leading to the Black Pride Weekend, which this year will fall on August 7 to 9.
On March 14, the first of three casino trips will be held, this one going to Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania. On April 4, the destination will be the Greektown Casino in Detroit, followed on May 9 by the Motor City Casino.
In between, a '70s and '80 Soul Train Extravaganza will be held on April 10, with a costume contest highlighting the dance party. For more information, go to www.bgpcleveland.com.
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