Deb’s House Concerts …………

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1. dhconcerts - April 12, 2007

I think what I want to do is to speak to the tragedy that this story represents for those directly involved in this specific situation and for anyone affected by the “pray the gay away” mentality. In spite of the media circus surrounding these recent events, this is a very sad story.

For every public scandal, and shaming and humiliation of high profile individuals and their families, there are a multitude of others who are trying unsuccessfully to be the way their pastors, teachers and parents, their relatives, politicians and society at large, have told them they must be.

The fact that there are people who are not “completely heterosexual” is not what is sad. The intolerance shown to those who are different, and the complete lack of love, masquerading as ‘hate the sin, love the sinner’, are what make life intolerable for people who are not “completely heterosexual” who also believe the things Mr. Haggard preached about sexuality. For those people, there is no satisfactory solution (according to preachers like Mr. Haggard and his ‘counselors’).

I appreciate the way that Mr. Zimmerman has used humor to present a situation (where intolerance, bigotry and deception of self and others led to a very public crisis) in a way that makes the sadness of the situation bearable. He touched on every point in this very public story, including the Bible verses used to attack homosexual people and what Jesus said about being homosexual (nothing at all).

For people on the inside of churches that condemn them for who they are, people who desperately need to know there is a safe place for them in this world, there are resources available. Soulforce and Heartstrong were both founded by men who spent years as conservative Christians in conservative Christian organizations. They believed that their own homosexuality was “an abomination to God”. They tried unsuccessfully to be the people their pastors and religious friends said they should be.

As of this writing, Mel White (Soulforce) is Christian and Marc Adams (Heartstrong) is Unitarian Universalist. Both have left behind “the gospel of intolerance and self loathing.” They now both have organizations which address the attacks by some religious organizations on people who are not ‘completely heterosexual’. They present information you will never hear in places where you are told you are “an abomination to God.”

Mr. Haggard’s public humiliation serves as a reminder that ‘pray the gay away’ does not work. God loves you just the way you are. You do not need to pray yourself away. I saw a button that said, “If God didn’t make gay people, there wouldn’t be any.” If you believe we (humans) are created by God, and are made in the image of God, it’s certainly something to think about. “If God didn’t make gay people, there wouldn’t be any.” .

For more information and support, visit these sites:
http://soulforce.org/ nonviolent direct action to bring about change in hearts and minds
http://heartstrong.org/ support for students in religious schools who are abused for who they are
http://pflag.org/ Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays offering education and support

2. dhconcerts - April 17, 2007

TOPIC: Ted Haggard’s Hell on Earth
http://www.alternet.org/story/49229/ about his father and time at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Ted Haggard’s Hell on Earth
By Sarah Posner, AlterNet
Posted on March 23, 2007, Printed on April 17, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/49229/

According to Bishop Carlton Pearson, Ted Haggard isn’t going to hell. He’s already in hell.

Pearson, 53, was a leading light of the contemporary Pentecostal — or charismatic — movement until he rejected the concept of hell a few years ago. Hell, Pearson says, does not exist. Salvation by Jesus, he maintains, is not required for eternal grace. Everyone is saved. The only hell is right here on earth, a creation of fundamentalism, scriptural literalism and the terror that fills the hearts of fundamentalists at each impure thought, each shameful moment of sexual longing. “I’m not trying to convert anybody,” Pearson told me recently. “I’m just trying to convince everybody that they’re loved. Ultimately redeemed, whoever they are.” Pearson calls the notion that a supposedly merciful God would torture people in an eternal hell “absurd and vulgar.” It’s no wonder then, that Pearson was roundly condemned by his peers, including the pre-scandal Haggard, for his radical views. Haggard, Pearson said, “denounced me and said, ‘hell is a physical place.’ … Well, he’s right, and he’s in that hell right now.”

Pearson has known Haggard since they were classmates at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa in the 1970s. ORU, founded in 1963 by the televangelist and faith healer Oral Roberts, demanded “holiness” and required students to sign an honor code pledging not to drink, smoke, dance, party, have sex, or even think about sex. Engaging in any of these activities was evidence of bodily and spiritual occupation by demons that had to be cast out. “If you didn’t cast them out, you bound them, ‘we bind you in the name of Jesus, we bind that spirit, I rebuke and bind that spirit,’” says Pearson. “So we were always rebuking and binding the things we could exorcise from us. If we wanted to smoke or we wanted to have sex outside of covenant, but we weren’t, but the desire never left us, we would just rebuke and bind it. ‘I bind it in the name of Jesus.’ That’s what Ted was trying to do with his life, probably came to the conclusion that he couldn’t handle it.”

Haggard’s father, said Pearson, was an intimidating 400-pound Pentecostal preacher who cast out devils. If he had known his son was gay, Pearson maintains, he “would’ve cast the devil out of him. … And Ted would have spit and rolled and frothed. And he might have gyrated. Usually they vomit or they scream, or something like that.” Haggard came to ORU “scarred somewhat by his encounters with his father.”

Homosexuality, of course, was not tolerated at ORU. Pearson sang with Roberts’ traveling musical group, the World Action Singers, from which Roberts expelled two members because they were gay. Roberts’ own oldest son, Ronald, committed suicide in 1982 at the age of 37. Pearson says that Ronald, too, was gay.

Roberts’ younger son Richard is now at the helm of ORU, where recently he welcomed the lollapalooza of the evangelical world, Teen Mania’s Acquire the Fire. There, entertained by Christian rock bands and “dramas” — multimedia presentations blending videos with live acting — middle and high school kids were relentlessly reminded how to resist “deception,” temptations like sex and secularism and MTV and Aeropostale. They registered their own holiness when they gave Roberts his enthusiastic applause line for denouncing the Discovery Channel documentary that reported evidence that Jesus had a family: Any suggestion that Jesus himself experienced sexual desire was expelled from the arena, where 7,000 kids from four states paid upwards of $60 apiece to get “branded by God.”
To much hooting and hollering, Roberts declared: “You’d have to be a sucker to believe some lie that some Hollywood producer put up in order to make some money.” That didn’t stop Teen Mania personnel from peddling their own merchandise all day, including a “T-shirt for the ladies” that bore the slogan “Citizen of Heaven.”

But despite the denunciations of carnality, the featured band, Unhindered, played and replayed a song — well known to all the kids around me — calling for Jesus to “consume me from the inside out.” It was like an anthem to the puppy love of adolescence, with a strange homoeroticism to the band’s front man pledging “my heart and my soul/I give you control/to consume me from the inside out, Lord.” (I imagined kids doodling “Jesus + me 4ever” in the margins of their notebooks in school on Monday). But it reflected a fundamentalist displacement theory of sorts: if Jesus occupies you, consumes you, there’s no room for the devil. Until those pesky hormones get in the way.

While the kids may have been unhindered in their embrace of Jesus, unmentioned was Pastor Ted’s own thumbprint on Teen Mania. Before his fall, Haggard was a partner in Teen Mania’s “Battle Cry for a Generation” campaign and a frequent speaker at its events. But his ghost was still hanging over Tulsa, from the enforced purity of the Acquire the Fire concert to the bookstore at the brand new Victory Bible Church across the street, where an entire section was devoted to the evils of homosexuality and how to “convert” to heterosexuality. The pastor, Billy Joe Daugherty, who hosted the Acquire the Fire event, was raising money for the still-unfinished children’s wing of the church. There, they hope to build a hands-on creationism museum for the kids. Because it’s never too early to start grooming another generation to be consumed by Jesus.

Sarah Posner has covered the religious right for the American Prospect, The Gadflyer, and AlterNet. She is at work on a book about televangelists in politics.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/49229/

3. dhconcerts - April 17, 2007

TOPIC: Pierre Seel dies; bore witness to Nazi torture of gays

I just found this article in the archives at Julien’s List - http://educatedeclectic.blogspot.com

this post is from this link:
http://educatedeclectic.blogspot.com/2005/12/pierre-seel-dies-bore-witness-to-nazi.html

Pierre Seel dies; bore witness to Nazi torture of gays
“By Matt Schudel / The Washington Post
December 3, 2005

WASHINGTON — Pierre Seel, who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II for homosexuality and later broke decades of silence to speak out about the horrors he endured, died of cancer Nov.25 at his home in Toulouse, France. He was 82.

Arrested on suspicion of being a homosexual, Seel served six months in a prison camp before he was released and, improbably enough, drafted into the German army. After the war, he married and had a family and revealed nothing of his ordeal. When a French bishop railed against homosexuals in the 1980s, Seel reasserted his identity as a gay man and wrote a searing autobiography as one of the few surviving victims of a little-known chapter of wartime atrocity.

“He was born in the Alsace-Lorraine region of northern France near the German border and grew up in the city of Mulhouse, where his family ran a pastry shop. By his late teens, Seel was part of the city’s gay subculture.

After German forces overran France in 1940, the Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by Germany and adopted German laws, including Paragraph 175, which prohibited sexual acts between men. Heinrich Himmler, director of Nazi Germany’s secret police and network of concentration camps, declared that homosexuals should be eradicated.

On May 3, 1941, when Seel was 17, he was arrested by the Gestapo and tortured for 10 days. In his 1994 memoir, “I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual,” he described how he and other suspected homosexuals were beaten, had their fingernails pulled out and were raped with broken rulers.

Seel was sent to Schirmeck-Vorbruck, the only German concentration camp on French soil, where he said he was “tortured, beaten, sodomized and raped.” He was forced to build crematoriums and to stand as the camp staff tossed syringes at him as if he were a dartboard.

The worst experience, he wrote, came when German troops marched a prisoner into the center of the yard, stripped him naked and placed a bucket over the man’s head. Seel recognized him as his 18-year-old friend and lover.

According to Seel’s book, German shepherd dogs were unleashed on his friend, tearing him apart and devouring him before hundreds of witnesses.

“Since then I sometimes wake up howling in the middle of the night,” Seel wrote. “For fifty years now that scene has kept ceaselessly passing and repassing through my mind.”

After six months, he was released and conscripted against his will into the German army. He was sent to the Russian front and later was wounded in battle in Yugoslavia.
Seel returned to Mulhouse after the war and worked at a fabric warehouse. He later owned a fabric store near Paris, and in 1968 settled in Toulouse as the manager of a chain of department stores.

In 1950, he married, and eventually had two sons and a daughter. He and his wife separated in 1978, and he fought a drinking problem and ailments caused by his captivity. In 1982, when the bishop of Strasbourg, France, denounced homosexuality as a sickness, Seel decided to come forward.

“As for myself,” he wrote in his memoir, “after decades of silence I have made up my mind to speak, to accuse, to bear witness.”

With the support of his wife and children, he told his story for the first time, finding a second career — and a measure of personal satisfaction — as a living witness to what had been an almost forgotten episode of persecution.

During the 1930s and 1940s, more than 100,000 men were arrested by Nazi authorities for presumed homosexuality, and many were forced to wear pink triangles, which a later generation adopted as a defiant symbol of gay pride. (In Seel’s case, his prison uniform was marked with a blue bar.) Between 5,000 and 15,000 were interned in concentration camps, where more than 60percent of them died.

By publishing his memoirs in 1994 — an English version appeared the following year — Seel brought new recognition to the homosexual victims of the Nazi regime. Yet after he appeared on French television, the frail and aging Seel was attacked and beaten by young men shouting anti-gay epithets.

Five years ago, he recounted his story once more in an American-made documentary, “Paragraph 175,” about the Nazi campaign against gay men.
“It was very difficult for him to revisit,” Rob Epstein, the film’s co-director, said in a telephone interview. “He was both incredibly gentle and incredibly tough.”
Returning to Germany for the first time since the war, Seel received a five-minute standing ovation at the documentary’s premiere at the Berlin film festival.
Survivors include his companion, Eric Feliu of Toulouse; his wife; and three children.

With Seel’s death, researchers believe there are fewer than 10 homosexual survivors of Nazi internment camps still alive.”

4. dhconcerts - April 19, 2007

TOPIC: What Angie Paccione (2006 Colorado congressional candidate) said about marriage equality (see the video on YouTube, the link is below)

Listen to what 2006 Colorado congressional candidate Angie Paccione said about marriage equality:

“The Declaration of Independence says, ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all are created equal’, equal. I stand for equality for all American citizens. Equality … Every American should have equality under the law.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8shLBjHBCU&eurl=

“You know what’s a threat to marriage? Divorce is a threat to marriage. You know what else is a threat to marriage? Infidelity is a threat to marriage. Domestic violence is a threat to marriage. Losing your job is a threat to marriage. Marriage is not a threat to marriage. I support equality.”

5. dhconcerts - May 5, 2007

TOPIC: “A Lily Among the Thorns: Imagining a New Christian Sexuality” by Miguel A. De La Torre

This man was the keynote speaker at an event sponsored, in part, by PFLAG. He gave an excellent presentation. I asked afterwards where I could get a print copy of his words. He said he had read, almost entirely, from one of the chapters in his new book.

http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-078798146X.html

Series in Spirituality & Religion
The Practices of Faith Series
Leadership Network Publications
Jossey-Bass > Spirituality & Religion > Christian Living > A Lily Among the Thorns: Imagining a New Christian Sexuality
josseybass.com

A Lily Among the Thorns: Imagining a New Christian Sexuality
Miguel A. De La Torre

ISBN: 978-0-7879-8146-4
Hardcover
224 pages
April 2007
US $21.95

Description -

A Lily Among the Thorns gives Christians a new way of thinking about sexuality. Author Miguel De La Torre, a well-respected ethicist and professor known for his innovative readings of Christian doctrine, rejects both the liberal and conservative prejudices about sex. He instead develops an ethic that is liberative yet grounded soundly in the Bible; a sexuality that celebrates God’s gift of great sex by fostering intimacy, vulnerability and openness between loving partners.

In A Lily Among the Thorns, De La Torre examines the Bible, current events, history and our culture-at-large to show how and why racism, sexism, and classism have distorted Christianity’s central teachings about sexuality. The author shows how the church’s traditionally negative attitudes toward sex in general—and toward women, people of color, and gays in particular—have made it difficult, if not impossible, to create a biblically based and just sexual ethic. But when the Bible is read from the viewpoint of those who have been marginalized in our society, preconceived notions about Christianity and sex get turned on their heads. Taking on hot-button topics such as pornography, homosexuality, prostitution, and celibacy, the author examines how “reading from the margins” provides a liberating approach to dealing with issues of sexuality.

6. dhconcerts - May 15, 2007

TOPIC: “Death of a Salesman/How Jerry Falwell Inspired Me to Found HeartStrong” by Marc Adams, HeartStrong.org posted with permission of the author (Marc Adams of HeartStrong.org)

Subject: [HeartStrongList] Death of a Salesman/How Jerry Falwell Inspired Me to Found HeartStrong

Date: 5/15/2007 7:12:29 PM Central Daylight Time

DEATH OF A SALESMAN (or, Thanks Jerry Falwell for Helping Me To Found HeartStrong and Become a Unitarian Universalist)

by Marc Adams, co-founder & volunteer executive director, HeartStrong, Inc.

Twenty years after I watched friend after friend outed and expelled from
Liberty University for being gay or lesbian, I feel hope. Twenty-two years
after watching my friend Denise doubled over and dissolved in tears after
being kicked out of Liberty University for getting pregnant, I feel peace.
Twenty-three years after watching my Old Testament Survey professor
committing adultery with his sister-in-law on more than one occasion and
virtually getting away with it, I feel honest.

Most people knew Jerry Falwell only by what they saw of him in the media.
Most thinking people viewed him as a radical fundamentalist Baptist who
spewed biblical venom for anything he perceived his god perceived as sin.
Including, but of course, not limited to, women’s rights, women’s role in
the church, homosexuality, gambling, drug abuse, alcohol consumption,
secular pop/rock music, homosexuality and a horde of other no-no’s.

First, he wasn’t that radical. While many people identifying as Christians
don’t see things the way he did, millions more do. In fact, the basis of
his religious beliefs and theology are embraced by the majority of people
who identify as Christian. (i.e., the Virgin birth, the Trinity, the
physical resurrection of Jesus, his imminent return and the inerrancy of
scripture)

Second, he wasn’t a fundamentalist, he was a neo-evangelical. Which is why
people like my parents and true fundamentalists like Fred Phelps viewed
him and people like him as left wing liberals.

I spent three and a half years as a student and employee at Jerry’s
university. I left during the middle of my senior year, not necessarily
because I was gay, but mostly because I had begun my personal journey to
wholeness and peace by challenging my fundamentalist Baptist Christian
beliefs.

Over and over again, I found myself in pain for my friends. So many people
that I knew struggled to survive in an environment that taught women they
were to be submissive to men and gay and lesbian people that they were
giving the devil pleasure by thinking about self-acceptance instead of
self-hatred.

Bisexual and transgender issues were never discussed since most
evangelicals do not see them as actual issues. This is mostly because they
see the Bible from a male/female point of view. However, this certainly
doesn’t mean that bisexual and transgender people are not attending these
schools.

After a few years of seeing friends and others devastated by the theology
of Jerry’s Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University, I began to
question the things that I was taught as truth. Too many tears, broken
spirits and lives forced me to choose my path. I could choose to continue
the legacy of hatred, intimidation and shame laid out for me or I could
choose to break the chains. In doing so, I could help provide healing to
those devastated not just by Jerry Falwell, but by the millions who
perpetrate the same physical and emotional life-ending message of
self-hatred.

I chose the latter.

And my life has never been the same.

For the first time in my life, I found personal peace which gave me the
courage, in 1996, to begin the work of HeartStrong. Out of respect for my
friends who committed physical and emotional suicide and out of hope for
my friends still stuck in restorative therapy, I founded HeartStrong
(http://www.heartstrong.org) as a way to provide hope and help to the
countless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students persecuted at
religious educational institutions in the United States and around the
world.

Jerry acknowledged that in a room full of people, a homosexual can pick
out the other homosexual in the room. I had never heard of gaydar before
but as soon as he said that, I knew I had always had it. It was one of the
things that eventually helped me in my self-acceptance process.

Had I not grown up in the ridiculous home I grew up in and had I not
attended Jerry’s university and worked for him, I doubt I would care at
all about my GLBT brothers and sisters struggling to survive in these
schools. Jerry’s hatred for what he calls the sin of homosexuality
provided me with the inspiration and the ongoing energy needed to continue
to provide hope and help to those injured by his former belief system
through my work with HeartStrong.

His evangelical university and church was also a stepping stone for me to
escape my self-hatred brought on by my fundamentalist Baptist Christian
beliefs and eventually find true personal peace as a Unitarian.

Jerry Falwell taught me that the greatest thing a Christian could do to
show god how much you loved him, was to die for what you believe. (Where
else do we hear this theology?) Well, now that Jerry has died, perhaps
others can learn how unimportant the things are that he thought were so
important and how important the things are that he never was able to
experience.

So, thanks Jerry, for the inspiration. It was your persecution of me,
people like me and every girl I ever knew at your schools that empowers
HeartStrong to help heal the scars from the wounds you inflicted.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

In honor of Jerry Falwell’s legacy of being the ultimate anti-GLBT
fundraiser, please consider what you can do to help HeartStrong provide
hope and help to our students. Your donation helps HeartStrong continue
this important work and helps heal some of the damage caused by the
message of self-hatred. Http://www.heartstrong.org

HEARTSTRONG MISSION STATEMENT
HeartStrong is a non sectarian organization established to provide
outreach to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and other persons
adversely affected by the influence of all denominations of religious
educational institutions.

HeartStrong is also committed to educating the public about the
persecution of GLBT’s and others at religious educational institutions.

_______________________________________________
HeartStrongList mailing list
HeartStrongList@heartstrong.org
http://heartstrong.org/mailman/listinfo/heartstronglist_heartstrong.org

7. dhconcerts - June 10, 2007

TOPIC: Anti-gay bias, in the form of DADT, continues to jeopardize our national security by discharging thousands of highly qualified, highly trained military personnel. This article about presidential candidate Mike Gravel tells why he is opposed to the DADT policy in the United States Military. It is clear that repealing DADT is the right thing to do. When will the rest of our politicians step up and do the right thing?

http://www.queerty.com/news/exclusive-gravel-on-the-gays-20070608/

Exclusive: Gravel on The Gays
The Personal History Behind His Politics
June 8th, 2007

gravelmikesenator.jpg

Our regularly scheduled Queerty ReBUTTal will not be posted today. Instead, we’d like to open the floor to democratic presidential candidate, Mike Gravel.

As we’ve mentioned before, the former Senator from Alaska’s made Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell the cornerstone of his campaign.

In this Queerty exclusive, Senator Gravel writes on the very personal origins of his queer-friendly policy. Read all about it, after the jump…

I first met a gay person at army intelligence school in the 1950s. One of my teachers was a brilliant First Lieutenant who looked like Victor Mature, the strapping, dark haired actor who played Sampson. I can’t use his real name, because he might still be in the military, so I’ll just refer to him as ‘Vic’.

Vic taught us a lot about the art of spying and information gathering. All of us spies-in-training admired him. At the end of the program I was assigned to counterintelligence in Germany and later Paris, where I was surprised to find Vic. My wavy haired teacher was now a fellow agent in the Paris office!

He and I struck up a friendship and would frequently hit the Paris bar scene after spending our afternoons trailing suspected spies. I didn’t like the work we were doing, I was uncomfortable prying into people’s private lives and I hated the rules and regimen of army life. Vic, on the other hand, was extremely dedicated and efficient. He was a great soldier and I suppose he still is.

One night in a bar, Vic said to me “Mike, I have to tell you something… I’m gay.” I played it cool and told him I didn’t care. I must admit, however, I almost fell off my barstool.

All my life I had been told that all gays were effeminate, silly creeps – but here was Vic- a big, tough, true-blue military type. How could he be gay? In that one moment I experienced a total reeducation. I thought about how horrible it must be for Vic to live in a society that constantly told him he was sick. I thought about the stupid jokes that we all made in the office. As I sat next to Vic in that bar, I pretended like nothing had changed, but in reality I felt a deep shame.

Vic and I continued to hang out and both of us, along with a couple of other officers, rented a chateau together in the Paris suburbs. We all knew Vic was gay, but we also knew that if the commanding officer found out, Vic’s stellar military career would be ruined.

I often think about Vic when I talk about the injustice of Don’t Ask. Here’s a guy who was much more dedicated to the army than I was, but because he liked men, his life long military career has been in constant jeopardy. This is an outrage that the government has perpetrated for far too long on highly trained, committed gay and lesbian service people. We should be proud of their service and thankful for their sacrifice.

When I am president I promise that I will immediately end the Don’t Ask policy and I will issue an apology on behalf of the federal government to each of the 100,000 service people who have been discharged because of their sexual orientation over the past several decades. I challenge all of my fellow candidates to pledge themselves that if elected, they will also issue a formal apology. I hope that we can all join together in sending an important message to the American public that the days of second-class citizenship for Vic and all other lesbian and gay Americans must come to an end.

When that day comes, I hope my old friend will be proud.

-Senator Mike Gravel-

hat tip to Pam of Pam’s House Blend. http://pamshouseblend.com/

8. dhconcerts - June 15, 2007

TOPIC: I wrote this song in 2006. ‘Socially Acceptable’ c.2006 Deborah L. Hord

Socially Acceptable - c.2006 Deborah L. Hord

There was a guy in corporate life who did not want to take a wife.
The photos in his cubicle were of his dog and best friend Bill.
The work he did was good, but people talked behind his back.
And, everywhere he went he felt the force of their attacks.

You gotta be socially acceptable. Learn how to conform. Deny your own reality. Stay inside the norm. You gotta be socially acceptable in order to go far, socially acceptable, don’t be the way you are.

There is a woman, good and kind, who speaks against injustice.
She isn’t very hard to find. Just look for where the dust is.
She spoke about the truth she saw, and truth was all around.
They did not like the things she said and ran her out of town.

You gotta be socially acceptable. Learn how to conform. You gotta deny your own reality. Stay inside the norm. You gotta be socially acceptable in order to go far, socially acceptable, don’t be the way you are.

Remember when you were a child you heard a children’s story about the Emperor’s new clothes. They had a grand parade. And, everyone could see the truth, but none of them would say it, because they doubted what they knew, and they were all afraid.

They tried to be socially acceptable. They learned how to conform. They denied their own reality. They stayed inside the norm. They tried to be socially acceptable. They wanted to go far, socially acceptable, they couldn’t be the way they were.

Some people do not play the game or wear a false persona.
They try to live authentically. They are not well received.
The rules say that you must conform, and truth is not for telling.
Don’t let them break your spirit down. They want you to believe,

You gotta be socially acceptable. Learn how to conform. You gotta deny your own reality. Stay inside the norm. You gotta be socially acceptable in order to go far, socially acceptable, you can’t be the way you are.

Socially acceptable. Learn how to conform. Deny your own reality. Stay inside the norm. You gotta be socially acceptable in order to go far, socially acceptable, don’t be the way you are.

Socially acceptable, don’t be the way you are.

9. dhconcerts - June 17, 2007

TOPIC: Emma’s Revolution

Check out my post about Emma’s Revolution. They work for peace, justice and equality. They do it though their music (folk, folk rock, acoustic duo, two guitars, two voices, harmonies). Their music is very, very good.

If you can’t decide where to spend your next $15 for music, choose Emma’s Revolution. You’ll be glad you did.

10. dhconcerts - October 9, 2007

TOPIC: Larry Craig and the Village People YMCA spoof “I am not gay!”

Here’s a spoof on Larry Craig’s toe tapping with a “duet with the Village People”. http://crackle.com/c/Moving_Targets/Sen._Craigs_New_Music_Video/2048231/
I’ve added this, because this is yet another example of a very public figure who is vocally and politically opposed to equal rights for non-heterosexual people while living a double life.

Why does this happen? How many politicians and preachers work to oppose equal rights under the law for LGBT persons while living double lives? Would this happen if LGBT persons were fully accepted in this world?

I heard a PFLAG parent say once that the minds of older adults will probably not be changed, but change will occur as younger generations grow up accepting those around them. Change and acceptance will eventually come when those who are young are in a position to influence policies and change laws.

11. dhconcerts - October 10, 2007

TOPIC: ‘Dear Abby’ Says She’s for Gay Marriage

Dear Abby’ Says She’s for Gay Marriage
By LISA LEFF,
AP
Posted: 2007-10-10 07:53:53

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For years, rumblings have surfaced on the Internet, conjecture about her casual references to “sexual orientation” and “respect.”

Now, Dear Abby is ready to say it flatly: She supports same-sex marriage.

“I believe if two people want to commit to each other, God bless ‘em,” the syndicated advice columnist told The Associated Press. “That is the highest form of commitment, for heaven’s sake.”

What Jeanne Phillips, aka Abigail Van Buren, finds offensive and misguided are homophobic jokes, phrases like “That’s so gay,” and parents who reject or try to reform their children when they come out of the closet.

Her views are the reason she’s being honored this week by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a national advocacy group that provides support for gay people and their families. The original Abby, Phillips’ 89-year-old mother, Pauline, helped put PFLAG on the map in 1984 when she first referred a distraught parent to the organization.

Jeanne Phillips, who formally took over the column when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease five years ago, has continued plugging the group, as well as its affiliate for parents with children who identify as transgender, and a suicide hot line aimed at gay teenagers.

“I’m trying to tell kids if they are gay, it’s OK to be gay. I’ve tried to tell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love them as they always have,” she said Friday.

PFLAG director Jody Huckaby said Abby is the perfect choice for the first “Straight for Equality” award, part of the group’s new campaign to engage more heterosexuals as allies.

“She is such a mainstream voice,” Huckaby said. “If Dear Abby is talking about it, it gives other people permission to talk about it.”

Alert “Dear Abby” readers may have noticed that the youthful attitude Phillips promised to bring to the column includes a decidedly gay-friendly take on most matters.

In a March 2005 column that touched a nerve with some readers, for instance, Phillips came down unequivocally on the side of scientists who say sexual orientation is a matter of genetics, not personal choice. She advised a mother who had cautioned her 14-year-old daughter to keep her feelings for other girls secret to “come to terms with your own feelings about homosexuality.”

Last year, addressing a groom whose gay brother refused to serve as best man or even attend the wedding because he did not have the right to marry, she made it clear her sympathies lay with the boycotting brother.

“Accepting the status quo is not always the best thing to do,” she wrote. “Women were once considered chattel, and slavery was regarded as sanctioned in the Bible. However, western society grew to recognize that neither was just. Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have recognized gay marriage, and one day, perhaps, our country will, too.”

Phillips, who lives in Los Angeles, said she isn’t worried that aligning herself with gay rights advocates will cause newspapers to censor or cancel the column, which appears in about 1,400 newspapers.

Her outspokenness on gay rights issues has never caused a strong backlash, said Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes the column. It’s possible some editors choose not to run the segments dealing with homosexuality, but if so they have not complained to the syndicate, Kerr said.

“We get brouhahas all the time, and they haven’t been about Dear Abby,” Kerr said.

Phillips realizes not everyone agrees with her on gay rights; she and her husband “argue about this continually,” she said. He thinks civil unions and domestic partnerships “would be less threatening to people who feel marriage is just a religious rite.” She thinks anything less than full marriage amounts to second-class citizenship.

“If gay Americans are not allowed to get married and have all the benefits that American citizens are entitled to by the Bill of Rights, they should get one hell of a tax break. That is my opinion,” said Phillips, who speaks with the no-nonsense tone of someone who is used to settling debates.

Right now, Abby, as Phillips prefers to be called, is working on a reply to a woman who wanted to know whether she should include childhood photographs of her transgender brother-in-law in a family album. The woman is worried what she will tell her children when they see pictures of their uncle as a little girl.

Phillips’ guidance to Worried Reader will be simple, she said: Include the photos, of course. Silence is the enemy. Answer any questions the kids have honestly - Uncle John was born with a body of the wrong sex, so even when he was called Jane he was really John inside.

Phillips said that while it might be tempting to devote an entire column to why she thinks jokes invoking homosexual slurs are in poor taste, she does not plan to spell out her views on gay marriage in print any more directly than she has already.

“If they are my readers, they know how I feel on the subject,” she said. “I don’t think I’m a flaming radical. I’m for civility in life. I’m for treating each other with respect, trying to do the best you can.”

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. 10/10/07 07:53 EDT

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLasfA2JW5S-lvsKnqYcb9_81_FQD8S5V52O0

12. dhconcerts - October 22, 2007

Even imagined-written-into-life-believed-in characters struggle with love and sexuality in a world they experience as not accepting of that love.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2196020,00.html

Dumbledore was gay, JK tells amazed fans

David Smith
Sunday October 21, 2007
The Observer

There could hardly have been a bigger sensation if Russell Crowe, Rod Stewart or Sven-Goran Eriksson had come out of the closet. Millions of fans around the world were yesterday digesting the news that one of the main characters in the Harry Potter novels, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.

The revelation came from author JK Rowling during a question-and-answer session at New York’s Carnegie Hall. It instantly hurtled around the internet and the world. News websites in China and Germany announced starkly: ‘JK Rowling: “Dumbledore is gay”.’ One blogger wrote on a fansite: ‘My head is spinning. Wow. One more reason to love gay men.’

After reading briefly from her mega-selling book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, on Friday night, Rowling took questions from an audience of 1,600 students. A 19-year-old from Colorado asked about the avuncular headmaster of Hogwarts School: ‘Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?’

The author replied: ‘My truthful answer to you…I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.’ The audience reportedly fell silent - then erupted into prolonged applause.

Rowling, 42, continued: ‘Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald [a bad wizard he defeated long ago], and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was. To an extent, do we say it excused Dumbledore a little more because falling in love can blind us to an extent, but he met someone as brilliant as he was and, rather like Bellatrix, he was very drawn to this brilliant person and horribly, terribly let down by him.’

She added: ‘Yeah, that’s how I always saw Dumbledore. In fact, recently I was in a script read-through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying, “I knew a girl once, whose hair…” I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, “Dumbledore’s gay!”‘

Amazed by the warm reaction of the audience, Rowling, on her first US tour in seven years, joked: ‘Just imagine the fan fiction now.’

13. Social Commentary « Deb’s House Concerts ………… - October 28, 2007

[...] related post - Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual [...]

14. dhconcerts - October 31, 2007

TOPIC: PFLAG, Obama, the Castro, Dumbledore - article on Huffington Post by Corinne Marshall.

15. dhconcerts - November 3, 2007

TOPIC: Being Out Rocks - 2002 music CD by 21 artists to benefit HRC

I found this by accident after reading about Janis Ian in Wikipedia (after posting a link to her song JOY). The cd has 21 songs. Here’s a list of artists and titles:

1. Sarah McLachlan – Angel (5:32)
2. k.d. lang – Summerfling (3:49)
3. Cyndi Lauper – Shine (3:46)
4. Rufus Wainwright – California (3:20)
5. Ani DiFranco – In or Out (3:06)
6. Janis Ian – Society’s Child (3:39)
7. Sam Harris – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (4:22)
8. SONiA – Me, Too (4:52)
9. Suede – Remember Who You Are (3:24)
10. Catie Curtis – Kiss That Counted (3:24)
11. The B-52’s – Topaz (4:22)
12. Bob Mould – Soundonsound (4:0
13. Queen – Is This the World We Created? (2:36)
14. Cris Williamson – Driving Wheel (3:22)
15. Dar Williams – Are You Out There? (3:04)
16. Matt Zarley – Say Goodbye (4:13)
17. The Butchies – IHate.com (2:22)
18. Jade Esteban Estrada – Bella Morena (4:37)
19. Taylor Dayne – How Many (4:09)
20. Kevin Aviance – Alive (3:49)
21. Harvey Fierstein – I Am What I Am (2:20)

16. dhconcerts - November 4, 2007

TOPIC: Response in The Crimson White (college newspaper) to an article written by a student who argued against including LGBT persons in anti-discrimination policies.

http://www.cw.ua.edu/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=8d0f7eb5-7d11-413f-9c6f-4705e2e9b8c9

The author (Corey Craft) wrote most of the article as if he made a choice to be heterosexual, and at the end of the article revealed his disdain for those who say sexual orientation is a choice.

Remembering the day I chose to be straight
By: Corey Craft
Stop the Hate
Posted: 11/2/07

Reading Greg Michaelson’s most recent column was a blast to the past for me, a nice flashback to my earlier, gayer days. It made me think of a simpler time, back before I had made my personal decision, which was made completely independent of genetic hardwiring or hormonal impulse or anything uncontrollable like that, to be straight.

I remember that fateful Saturday morn when my father sat me down, and we had that special chat. I was at the ripe old age of 14 and was, as most children of that age, still trying to figure out which team I’d join. I had posters of both men and women up in my room, but on this day, my dad finally told me it was time to make up my mind.

“Son,” he said, “the time has come to make the choice to be gay or to not be gay.”

“But father,” said I, “this is a difficult decision.”

“I know, son, but it is one every male must make,” spake my father. He then explained the horribly difficult choice: choose to have sex with women, which is not only accepted by society but would be rewarded with high-fives from my bros; or choose to have sex with men, which might make me happy but would be seen with derision by the Christian church, my entire family and like 90 percent of America. Not to mention, I would be wallowing in sin and degradation, which, as we all know, is the objective truth.

“However will I make this choice?” I asked my father.

“Lo,” said he, “it is not an easy choice. The choice of whether to be accepted fully by society or be considered a sinner and outcast has been the most difficult decision made by young men coming of age.”

He then explained that if chose to be gay, I would be met with opposition from the worst sort of hypocrite, the sort who says things like, “I will express my ambivalence toward your gayness and say it’s OK, I guess, while I deny you rights and make some tenuous and ridiculous parallel with body piercing. Then I will overlook the protection of ‘veterans’ in the nondiscrimination policy, which is sometimes forced but is as of late definitely a choice, and then ‘religion,’ which is a choice unless you are brainwashed (and that’s all too ironic).”

These people, he said, would of course be morally wrong to discriminate against gay folks if it was genetic, but since it was, always has been and always will be a choice, they’re free to condemn homosexuals as the horrible backsliding sinners they are. Otherwise they wouldn’t have much of an argument, as we as a society have moved past judging people and discriminating based on uncontrollable differences (for example, we all know racism effectively ended when that Coke commercial that showed everyone holding hands and drinking Coke came out).

After this long discussion, the choice was clear. Due to the fear of constant ostracization, I chose to be straight. My father shook my hand, and I never had to deal with being dragged behind a truck and murdered because of some choice that I made.

In retrospect, it does make one wonder; why would I have chosen to be gay, given all the horrible people that would judge me and the institutions of higher learning that would deny me protection?

Actually, now having done research - something Greg Michaelson prides himself on, I hear - I see that there aren’t very many institutions of higher learning that don’t protect homosexuals. Well, that would make things a little easier. God knows if I was gay or a progressive-thinking student - godless heathens, all - I wouldn’t want to attend one of those universities.

And upon further research - nothing too extensive, just typing “gay gene” into Google - I find several scientific studies saying that genetics may have something to do with it, but luckily a whole bunch of activist, non-scientific Web sites (including NARTH and, my favorite, http://www.queerbychoice.com, which is so wonderfully offensive that I can’t handle it) tell me it is a choice.

And that backs up the imaginary story I have been writing about throughout this entire column.

You know, I can’t even pretend to do this anymore; some of you are disgusting, and so is this so-called “debate” over the nondiscrimination policy. As far as I can tell, this debate consists of people who are doing the correct thing by protesting discrimination against other human beings - whether this has happened yet or not (the point is, let’s not allow it to happen) - versus people who are tacitly OK with discrimination. And I’m not even going to soften that blow - if you are in favor of excluding any group of people from the nondiscrimination policy, you are a bigot.

These bigots may also wonder just what the big deal was with Jim Crow - after all, it was separate but equal, right? But let us allow another columnist to deal with such pressing issues in another column. Of course, that wouldn’t be right - but still, no less right than Michaelson’s column.

Corey Craft is the entertainment editor of The Crimson White. © Copyright 2007 Crimson White

17. dhconcerts - November 4, 2007

TOPIC: This is the 1st Gay Bear Hip Hop music/video I have ever heard/seen.

It’s over on Homo Alabama. Bears On the Run, a gay male entertainment group, plays on stereotypes and bear sexuality with great humor.

Suggestion for those easily offended - Don’t Watch It. Just don’t go there. It’s explicitly sexually suggestive. Explicitly suggestive in a very bear-y kind of way.

18. dhconcerts - November 4, 2007

TOPIC: Four TRUTH WINS OUT Videos. “Ex-Gay Marriage Miracle Cure”, “Ex-Gay Groups Should Stop Bald Faced Lies”, “‘Two Mommmies’ Is Not the Whole Story,” and “Ex-Gay = Ex-Wife” — The Survivors Speak Out

“Ex-Gay Marriage Miracle Cure”

Lester Leavitt, believing what his Mormon Church taught him about overcoming his attraction to men, married Barbara in 1981. After 23 years together, they both now know the Truth about that advice. One couple’s story of love, grace and a friendship anchored in trust

“Ex-Gay Groups Should Stop Bald Faced Lies”-

Truth Wins Out is a non-profit think tank and educational organization that counters right wing disinformation campaigns, debunks the ex-gay myth and provides accurate information about the lives of GLBT people.

“Two Mommies” is not the whole story.

James Dobson’s assertion that “two mommies is one too many” doesn’t tell the whole story, according to one of the researchers Dobson quoted. Author and family relationships expert Dr. Kyle Pruett feels that Dobson “cherry picked” his research to support highly dicriminatory views.

“Ex-Gay = Ex-Wife” — The Survivors Speak Out

This Truth Wins Out video tells the story of four courageous women who married closeted gay men. They had no idea that their husbands were “ex-gay” and the experience was traumatizing.

Write to Wayne Besen at TruthWinsOut.org

19. dhconcerts - February 15, 2008

TOPIC: And, the Band Played On … Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2008 Posted by dhconcerts. Tags: About Life, Books, Health, International, Movies, Peace, Justice and Equality.
Deb’s House Concerts

.
I hope you are with someone you love. If you’re the only person in the room, I hope you’ll look in the mirror and offer some love to the one you’re with.
.
This afternoon, I saw the movie “And the Band Played On” based on the book (same title) by Randy Shilts. The book sat on my shelf for a decade, and I never read it. The movie has been out for at least that long, too, and I never saw it until today.
.
What I got from watching this movie was that a small number of hard-working, conscientious, dedicated people worked diligently for years to solve the puzzle of the “gay cancer”, but it was only after the CDC could prove a link to the blood supply and people other than gay men that the President of the United States publicly acknowledged that there was a problem and committed money to research (after 25,000 people in the USA died from the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, AIDS).
.
I don’t know why it was recommended that I watch the movie. The person who recommended it has repeatedly made comments suggesting that gay people are a protected class of citizens with a powerful lobbying organization. Maybe I was supposed to get that from the movie. I don’t know. What I saw in the movie was that there was minimal funding for research to discover the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as long as it was believed that this was a disease that only affected gay men.
.
It amazes me that some people still believe that gay people are protected in some special way. Most hate crimes legislation specifically excludes sexual orientation and gender identity. Opponents of including sexual orientation and gender identity in hate crimes legislation say that would give lgbt persons special rights. Would the right not to be killed just for existing, like Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena, be a special protection? And, even though more and more large businesses now offer partner benefits, most states in the USA do not legally recognize same-sex couples. And, it is not illegal to fire a person or refuse to rent to a person because of perceived sexual orientation or gender identification (two things which are not the same thing, by the way). How would it be ’special rights’ for people who live, work, pay taxes, have families, contribute to society (and the list goes on) to be recognized as equal by the government of this country and by fellow citizens?
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Why do we, as human beings, have to divide ourselves in to US and THEM in every possible way? Are we not all human? Should we not all be treated with dignity and respect? Do we not all owe basic kindness and courtesy to each other?
.
How can anyone believe that lgbt persons are somehow a powerful and protected group of people when things like this still happen: Openly gay student declared brain dead after being shot by classmate. This story was reported today, Valentine’s Day, the day of love.
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I hope I live to see the day when all people are treated with respect because they are human beings, not attacked because they are perceived to be different and somehow unworthy of life and equality.
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[Update: Here is a timely update from Good-As-You.]

Permanent link for this post:
http://dhconcerts.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/

20. dhconcerts - February 19, 2008

TOPIC: Read Good-As-You for daily responses to what’s in the news.

“Nobody is naturally “discontented” with who they are. Non-acceptance and self-loathing sentiment are cultivated by bias and prejudice.

21. dhconcerts - February 19, 2008

TOPIC: Compassion for Fred’s abused children. Accountability for the adults they have become.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

But first, let’s take a moment to reflect on the service and personal sacrifice of thousands of individuals over the years to protect our freedoms, including the freedom of speech this family uses to spread their message of hate.

Song for Military Spouses
The Star-Spangled Banner - USA National Anthem
National Anthem USA
United States Anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner)
Star-Spangled Banner Sing-Along
The Star-Spangled banner, with sing-along lyrics
Miley Cyrus singing The Star Spangled Banner at White House
“Star Spangled Banner” American National Anthem
Marvin Gaye sings American National Anthem
National Anthem Beyonce
Kelly Clarkson - National Anthem - NFL
Jessica Simpson - National Anthem - NFL Championship -2003
Carrie Underwood - NFL National Anthem
Faith Hill National Anthem

*******************************************************************

COMPASSION FOR FRED’S ABUSED CHILDREN

At first, I thought this was a documentary. It is a dramatization.
God Hates Fags - the Movie - Part I
God Hates Fags - the Movie - Part 2

This is a sympathetic view about the children of Fred Phelps. It says they were all terrorized by their father. Read it. You’ll feel some compassion for the children and grandchildren of Fred Phelps.
WBC — Fred Phelps Hated All Including His Children

Who will rescue Fred’s youngest grandchildren?
Westboro Baptist Church - Who Will Speak for Their Children?

“The Truth About Westboro Baptist Church”
The Truth About Westboro Baptist Church - Part I
The Truth About Westboro Baptist Church - Part II
The Truth About Westboro Baptist Church - Part III

“Addicted to Hate” - from the book based on interviews with one of Fred Phelp’s sons (one who got away)
Westboro Baptist Church - ADDICTED TO HATE - part 1
Westboro Baptist Church - ADDICTED TO HATE - part 2

Westboro Baptist Church - Fred, Jr & Debbie Valgos
Westboro Baptist Church - Fred, Jr & Debbie Valgos

Is this not child abuse?
Kids Say the Most Homophobic Things

*******************************************************************

ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE ADULTS THEY HAVE BECOME

“Are you going to hell because you had a son outside of wedlock?”
Shirley

This video makes a case for disbarring lawyers who are members of a documented hate group
WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH - DISMISS & DISBAR THEM

More about members of a hate group holding high positions in the criminal justice system in the state of Kansas in the USA
WBC - MAKE THIS YOUR BUSINESS

Tax-paying citizens of Kansas pay (without their consent) the salaries that fund the protests by the Phelps family
WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH MEMBERS — You Pay Their Salaries

This video calls them con artists and grifters, and it shows how well placed they are in state jobs in the Kansas Department of Corrections
Westboro Baptist Church - EXPOSING THE CON???

WBC Trivia Game
WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH Official Game Show

A national forum after the bill passed banning abusive behavior within 500 feet of a funeral
Fred Phelps’s daughter Shirley on Hannity & Colmes

They say God hates everyone except them
Keith Ablow confronts Shirley Phelps on 11 million $ award

They say they’re preaching the Word of God.
Westboro Baptist Church

This is interesting. This video shows the Phelps family saying they believe they are ‘the elect’ and that God hates everyone else.
God Hates Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church

This group pickets funerals and says the dead are in hell.
The Westboro Zombies

They Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center monitor recognize them as a hate group and monitor their actions
Westboro ‘Baptist Church’ - Ironic

Five part series of interviews with members of the Phelps family
Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church(part 1of 5)
Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church(part 2 of 5)
Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church(part 3 of 5)
Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church(part 4 of 5)
Keith Allen Vs Westboro Baptist Church(part 5 of 5)

Members of the Phelps clan on Jeremy Kyle
Jeremy confronts the most hated family in America (1 of 3)
Jeremy confronts the most hated family in America (2 of 3)
Jeremy confronts the most hated family in America (3 of 3)

Documentary
Louis Theroux: Most Hated Family in America

Australian News Show Commentary
Heath Ledger - Westboro Baptist Church of Hate

*******************************************************************

ATTEMPTS TO FIND HUMOR IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS HATE-SPEECH / PRESENTING ANOTHER VIEW

Australian comediens - Firth in the USA
Flirting with a Westboro Church man

Clips from many videos edited to bring a new message
The Westboro Confession

The Downfall Of Fred Phelps

Kids make a prank phone call
AA Prank - The Westboro Baptist Church

A band is singing about the Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church

Music and photos to make a point
Westboro Vs The Gays
Westboro Baptist Church Vs The Gay Community

22. dhconcerts - February 24, 2008

After all those dreadful Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church links, it’s about time for some good news

Ex-Microsoft Worker Gives Away Millions

AP Posted: 2008-02-24 20:32:46

SEATTLE, Washington (Feb. 24) - The estate of Ric Weiland, a high school classmate of Microsoft Corp. founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen and one of the first five people to work at the software giant, has left $65 million to gay rights and HIV/AIDS organizations.

The bequests were announced Sunday by the Pride Foundation of Seattle, where Weiland was a board member for several years. The foundation called it the largest single bequest ever given to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender causes.

Gates and Allen hired Weiland in 1975, the year they founded Microsoft. He worked as a project leader for the Microsoft Works word processing and spreadsheet software, and was a lead programmer and developer for the company’s BASIC and COBOL systems, two of the first personal computing interfaces. He left Microsoft in 1988.

Weiland donated tens of millions to various organizations — from gay rights groups to environmental and education organizations — before he died in 2006. He committed suicide at age 53 after a long battle with depression, and survivors include his partner, Mike Schaefer.

The $65 million is among bequests totaling about $160 million — the bulk of Weiland’s estate — to various charities and Stanford University, his undergraduate alma mater, according to an estimate provided by the Pride Foundation.

In the latest bequest, the Pride Foundation said Weiland’s estate had established a fund at the foundation that would give $46 million over the next eight years to 10 national gay rights and HIV/AIDS groups, including Lambda Legal; the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; and amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

His estate also bequeathed $19 million directly to the Pride Foundation for scholarships and grants supporting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the Pacific Northwest.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-02-24 20:32:46