Racist vandalism in Franklin

WSMV is reporting on racist words painted on an electric box in a Franklin neighborhood named after KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. The words are likely directed at the two African American families who live in the neighborhood.

"Oh, it's so hurtful; so hurtful. I cannot even let my kids go outside due to this. They cannot go outside until something is done," said Audrey Burks.

People in the neighborhood feel powerless to do anything about it and the police to have few options.

"I know at this point, there's really nothing you can do except to make it known to the rest of the community that this is something that's not acceptable," [the Rev. Anthony] Hendricks said. Police in Franklin took a report on the graffiti but said they believe it's an isolated incident. Police have not received any similar reports.

That's probably because they don't have adequate resources to deal with hate crimes. But if Congress had passed and the President had signed the Matthew Shepard Act last year, then they might be able to access the resources they need. On this blog, we've mostly talked about Shepard in terms of its addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to hate crimes laws. And most of the opposition has focused on the fear of making thought a crime, which the Act doesn't do at all.

However, the reason local law enforcement agents and communities in Tennessee should get behind Shepard is that it would provide more resources to fight all hate crimes regardless of their classification, including crimes of racial bias. Not only would money be available but other valuable forms of assistance as well. Consider section 4 of the act:

(a) Assistance Other Than Financial Assistance-

(1) IN GENERAL- At the request of State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney General may provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that--

(A) constitutes a crime of violence;

(B) constitutes a felony under the State, local, or Tribal laws; and

(C) is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation of the State, local, or Tribal hate crime laws.

(2) PRIORITY- In providing assistance under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give priority to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one State and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary expenses relating to the investigation or prosecution of the crime.

Notice the priority for rural jurisdictions. It's time to pass this legislation. Let's hope that Senators Alexander and Corker can find a way to get on board when it comes up again and let's hope that House and Senate Democrats can stop wrangling over attaching it to a defense bill.

Otherwise, we're going to be left with solutions like this:

The homeowners association is going to look into how to remove the paint.

Calpernia's activism taking a new turn

This profile of one-time Tennessean Calpernia Addams appeared today.

Addams first drew national attention in the summer of 1999 when her boyfriend, Pfc. Barry Winchell, was murdered in a vicious homophobic attack. Pvt. Calvin Glover bashed Winchell's head with a baseball bat while he slept, crushing his skull. A second soldier, Justin Fisher, had taunted Glover into the killing and later would clean Winchell's blood off the bat. Glover was sentenced to life in prison and Fisher received 12 years. The incident occurred while Calpernia Addams celebrated her biggest pageant win, Tennessee Entertainer of the Year Contest – and America freedom – on the fourth of July at Fort Campbell Army Base near Nashville, TN.

Winchell's murder, a blatant failure of President Clinton's Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass policy, made national headlines. And Addams reluctantly stepped into the national spotlight.

We're coming up on the 9th anniverary of Winchell's murder, which is still a painful topic for Tennessee's GLBT community, especially since Addams and Winchell met at Nashville's now defunct club Connection. The story of his murder and the movie Soldier's Girl as well as her recent reality series Transamerican Love Story have made Calpernia Addams one of the most well known transgender people in the United States.

Addams has decided to use her celebrity in the service of the GLBT community and highlight awareness of transgender issues.

Pro-gay group Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is set to feature Calpernia Addams in a new national campaign titled This Is Our Love Story. The campaign will first appear during GLBT Pride season (June-July) this summer. A PFLAG website, titled Transform The Movement, will come online later this summer. The site will highlight PFLAG's work in the transgender community and showcase the stories of transgender people who have worked with the organization on equality issues.

Some people inside and outside the GLBT community are nervous about the effort to "push" gender identity issues when it looks as if the country is finally getting closer to accepting gays and lesbians. But the matter can be stated simply. If people are disproportionally discriminated against or the victims of hate crimes based on their gender identity, then they are clearly deserving of the protections that guarantee them equal opportunity and safety. Why on earth would we make people wait for equality in the workplace and protection from hate crimes?

Calpernia's work will help bring awareness to millions with her compelling story. Congratulations and thanks to her and to PFLAG for launching their new campaign!

Legal action against the City of Memphis is almost certain

The funding cuts approved by the City Council on Tuesday are likely to move the battle into court. From the Daily News:

Noticeably absent from this week’s discussion, however, was a focus on the ramifications of the unprecedented political move to reduce the city’s funding of the city schools system.

Those specifics include complex legal scenarios as well as the long-understood presumption of state and county officials that the city of Memphis has a legal obligation to fund the city school system.

Going into Tuesday’s vote, council members had been told a fund reduction of any amount could trigger a variety of unpleasant scenarios. City officials have been told that state funding to the city school system could be in jeopardy if the city cuts its school funding.

A 2005 opinion from former Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers states that the city has a legal obligation to fund the city schools system.

It is the council’s disagreement over that perceived obligation that soon will be put to the test in court.

Given the proven inability of the MCS Board and Administration to manage its resources, educate children, and provide for the safety of children in schools, these cuts may force management decisions that may finally improve the school system.

The Commerical Appeal is already reporting that MCS is freezing hiring in response to the budget cuts. The administration has issued a statement saying that "the superintendent wants to review how the district can better manage its resources."

Crafton's Reconquista of Nashville

Councilman Eric Crafton has decided to start a drive to amend the Metro Charter and make English the official language of Nashville. He needs to get just over 10,000 signatures by August in order to put the measure on the November ballot. Here's the text:

Crafton’s charter amendment proposal says, “No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law.”

As the City Paper points out, former Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed Crafton's attempt to do the same thing by ordinance because it could violate state and federal law. If it would, indeed, violate state and federal law, how exactly does Crafton's charter amendment have any guts left in it? He seems to acknowledge as much with the last sentence of the text.

Here's a challenge to our local media. Please, let's have more than man-on-the-street quotations of people's feelings about immigrants. I hope that as the coverage of Crafton's effort unfolds we'll be reading information about what is really happening on the ground. The coverage should address issues like access to health services, help for crime victims, translators in the public defender's office, and food inspection for restaurants. Do we really want people who don't speak English finding more reasons to avoid dealing with government, especially when it comes to issues of public health and public safety?

For opponents, snarky comments about Crafton's motives will be tempting, almost too tempting to avoid. But if you oppose this amendment, then knock it relentlessly on the dangers it poses.

Since the proposal is a ballot measure, I assume that religious communities can take a side and get involved. Perhaps they can help keep the moral aspect of the debate in the public view and minimize the nastiness that a campaign like this is bound to bring.

Congressional equality caucus launched; no TN members...yet

The Advocate is reporting that Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) have launched a Congressional equality caucus focused on GLBT issues.

The members will focus on issues such as hate crimes, the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA), HIV/AIDS issues, and international concerns such as partner immigration.

Here are the members of the bi-partisan group so far:

Beyond co-chairs Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) members of the new caucus include: Reps. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Xavier Becerra (D-CA) Lois Capps (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Mike Honda (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT), Howard Berman (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Robert Brady (D-PA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Phil Hare (D-IL), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Doris Matsui (D-CA), James Moran (D-VA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), José Serrano (D-NY), Chris Shays (R-CT), Pete Stark (D-CA), Betty Sutton (D-OH), Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

Memphis City Council votes for property tax reduction

In a 10 to 3 vote, the City Council approved a budget that will reduce property taxes. The council boldly voted for Bill Morrison's proposal to reduce the city's contribution to the Memphis City Schools from $93.5 million to $20.2 million. Key points from the Commercial Appeal:

Morrison's first idea was to give the school system $7.1 million. Under his new proposal, 19 cents of the city tax rate will go to the schools, down from roughly 83 cents. Morrison said a similar cut would be made to the school system next year.

Morrison's proposal, which passed on a 10-3 vote, also includes $15 million in debt forgiveness for the state's largest school system, which the city started funding in 1937.

Morrison, in a refrain echoed by several other council members, said city residents are being taxed twice for Memphis City Schools -- once as city residents and again as county dwellers -- and that taxpayers deserved a break.

"We simply want to phase this out," he said. "This is about equalization of the tax base."

... Council members cited a series of ongoing investigations at the school system involving waste and accused school board members of not doing enough to trim the school system's budget.

"It is time for the school system to be held accountable," said Councilwoman Wanda Halbert, a former school board member.

"We cannot ignore that there are problems," she said. "It's high time for parents to come out and require more accountability not just from the city government but from the school system."

Morrison described his budget as a "realistic" plan that would not require any tax increases over the next four years. His plan, which cut Mayor Willie Herenton's proposed budget by roughly 5 percent, includes raises for city employees, funds for 125 new police officers a year and "living wage" and health care cost increases.

Morrison's budget also includes funding for the five libraries and four community centers Herenton proposed closing.

I am pleased to see this majority-new City Council thinking creatively and using the financial levers at its disposal to reform the bloated and corrupt Memphis City schools bureaucracy.

Did McCain say anything new or definitive on marriage?

A few of the GLBT blogs are picking up Sen. John McCain's remarks about marriage while he was in Nashville. Not many are noting the context and I haven't seen much analysis of the policy implications of his remarks.

First, the context. Sen. McCain didn't bring up the subject. He was responding to a question. And even the question was interesting because the woman posing it was really more interested in the discussion of marriage in the context of fidelity, which she saw as the real crisis. She also noted her support of civil unions. Don't get me wrong. I believe in marriage equality. Plain. Simple. And I think Sen. McCain (like the Democratic candidates) comes up short on that issue. But my strong position doesn't make me deaf to the shifts in the rhetoric on the Right side of the spectrum. It remains to be seen in future speeches whether Sen. McCain will lead with marriage rather than wait to be asked about it. But I think the distinction is significant given the marriage wars we've endured over the last few years. I think it's also interesting that a woman stood up in a room full of Tennessee Republicans and said without giving it a second thought that she supports civil unions. I don't take that to mean that even half the room agreed with her, but she did it. Furthermore, she all but demanded that marriage issues be addressed in their fullness without wishing to single out the GLBT community. Is her position satisfactory? Absolutely not. But it's an example of the way the marriage debate is shifting.

Second, the policy implications of what Sen. McCain said. Status quo.

Appearing at a campaign rally in Tennessee, John McCain was met with sustained cheers after stating that he believes "in the sanctity and unique status of marriage between man and woman."

As the cheers began, McCain added "That's what I believe, that's what I support, and that's what I will fight for."

I believe that's what the courts call puffery in advertising. Do I like it? No. But I note that he didn't commit to a Federal Marriage Amendment. There's one brewing in the House of Representatives, but not a word about it. I hope it stays that way, but I'm not holding my breath. He will face immense pressure in some quarters to go whole hog on family values issues. But the realities of the war and the economy won't let him go there for long.

KY Gov restores protections for GLBT state employees

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear restored protections to GLBT state employees yesterday. His executive order adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected classes in state employment. His predecessor Governor Ernie Fletcher had stripped the protections in 2006.

Beshear, a Democrat, said in a statement yesterday that the [Fletcher] policy meant that "a gay person could be fired simply for being gay. A person should be hired or dismissed on the basis of whether they can do the job. Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter." The order says that the protection includes matters relating to "hiring, promotion, termination, tenure, recruitment and compensation."

Well, how about it, Governor Bredesen? Are you ready for Tennessee to join 27 other states and make sure state employees are hired and rewarded according to their merit without fear of discrimination?

Don't Ask, Don't Tell's Knoxville connection

Sociologist of military servicemembers' attitudes Charles Moskos has died. Well known for his advice that contributed to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military (if they remain closeted!), Moskos's brother is Harry Moskos, retired editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Moskos himself conceded that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a highly flawed policy, though perhaps the best available option at the time of passage. However, he continued to defend the policy, arguing that gays and lesbians serving openly would "hurt the morale of the military rank-and-file and make many recruits uncomfortable." I'd say at this point, several other items are higher on the discomfort scale for our troops.

What always struck me about such arguments is that they are supposed to be irrelevant in a military context of command and control. Discipline means following the chain of command. As Moskos himself said in rejoinder to those who were urging the Pentagon to loosen up its restrictions:

"Any change in the status of homosexuals in the military requires congressional action," he wrote in a letter to the editor of The New York Times in 2005. "Your editorial implies that the military should disobey the law. Who is hiding from reality?"

Well said, Professor Moskos. It is up to Congress. And I hope they will remove the restriction on open service altogether. Otherwise, we will continue either to lose talened young men and women who want to serve our country like this former military translator or we will put them in the untenable situation of lying to everyone around them about who they are.

Classes suspect and immutable: Christianity Today responds to CA ruling

I've been watching for it and it appeared today--Christianity Today's response to the California marriage ruling. They took their time and decided to focus on the issue of sexual orientation as a protected class.

The California Court of Appeals had previously ruled that sexual orientation was not a suspect classification, because it is not an immutable characteristic. John Witte Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, agrees with the prior ruling of the appeals court.

"In a 121-page opinion," Witte told CT, "the [California Supreme] Court does not offer a single shred of scientific evidence to prove its assertion that sexual orientation is a natural trait or immutable characteristic like race and gender."

However, Chief Justice Ronald George, who penned the majority opinion for the court, argued that immutability is not "required in order for a characteristic to be considered a suspect classification," citing previous California cases that treated religious affiliation—also not immutable—as a suspect classification.

I found their discussion disappointing. Of all people, they should know that "immutable" has a long history in Western discourse as a divine attribute that is tough to apply to humans, and the word "natural" would seem to connect not so much with science as to a preoccupation with natural law. In both cases, we are talking about the essence of being human. Western philosophy and theology have historically argued that the essence of the human being is rationality or the imago Dei or some other exceptionally general quality. How can race qualify in that respect? What do we say of people who are biracial or multiracial or whose color makes them appear to be a race other than that of their parents? What is their immutable race? Appearance doesn't always give away someone's genetic heritage or gender, for that matter.

The argument for suspect classes finds its strength not in science or in natural philosophy but in history and identity. The identity of groups is formed both by their own self-identification and the identity others put on them. Race is a protected class because racial identity has historically been used as a reason to discriminate and the amendments to our Constitution recognize that it can continue to be. We've learned that the full force of the law should protect people from such discrimination. And I don't think we learned that lesson from some idea of the immutability of race.

Whether sexual orientation is a hard-wired attraction to the same-sex or the opposite sex or both or something else altogether--well, that's irrelevant to the question of discrimination. If calling oneself gay, lesbian, or bisexual or being called that by others becomes the basis for discrimination, then those who wish to discriminate ought to have a pretty good reason (meaning publicly defensible reason) for discriminating.

People don't have research-based science on their minds when they're engaged in discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. Stereotypes and unexamined prejudice about these identities are shaping their decisions in such moments. So Professor Witte of Emory is making a ridiculous argument in complaining about the lack of scientific documentation for an immutable sexual orientation. The burden is on the one discriminating to defend his or her action, not on the one being denied the right, accommodation, or service.

Flying TN priest to participate in marriage of two CA men

According to the Los Angeles Times, the cost of flying one of the men's priest from Tennessee to California is part of the bill.

Mike Standifer and Marc Hammer were already planning a commitment ceremony for October, but when the court ruling came out, they decided to throw an even bigger bash and get married.

They plan on spending about $25,000, which includes renovations on their Hollywood home so they can have the party in their backyard. The new price tag includes rings, their suits and those of their wedding party, and the cost of flying in Standifer's priest from Tennessee -- all costs they wouldn't have incurred if they were just having a party.

It's not clear whether we're talking about an Orthodox, a Catholic, or an Episcopal priest. My bet is on the third option. It's also not clear what role the priest will have--to officiate, to bless the union, or simply to be a groomsman or guest. Regardless, it shows that despite the framing of the issue as one of civil vs. religious marriage, some gays and lesbians also want to acknowledge the sacred character of marriage.

So far, this is the most direct impact of the California marriage ruling I've found on someone from Tennessee--a gay man with roots in the state and a member of the clergy still ministering here.

Congratulations, Mike and Marc!

Another Pride winding down

The Tennessean ran this piece about Saturday's Family Day event, which is part of the Nashville Pride celebration. Several of those in attendance were interviewed about their reactions to California Supreme Court's decision to recognize marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The main celebration took place in Centennial Park today where several organizations and businesses had set up booths. I was pleased to see Dell represented there. It's always a good opportunity to sign up new members for your group. TEP recruited several new members, surveyed over 250 on hate crimes incidents, and even registered about 40 voters. The overwhelming majority of people who stopped by our booth had already taken care of their registration or change of address prior to the Tennessee presidential primary and are eager to vote in November.

Mike Stewart, Democratic candidate for State House District 52, stopped by the TEP booth to talk for a few minutes. He had been campaigning door-to-door yesterday in the Green Hills portion of his district. I didn't happen to see any other candidates out in the park, but I wasn't exactly looking too hard.

The best part of Pride is seeing people you haven't seen in about a year. It's like a family reunion. The mood was upbeat as people from all over Middle Tennessee got reconnected.

Change brewing among younger Evangelicals

The New York Times profiles the Journey, a St. Louis area Southern Baptist mega-Church full of younger Evangelicals who seem ready to move beyond the culture wars. They even have gatherings in brew pubs.

They say they are tired of the culture wars. They say they do not want the test of their faith to be the fight against gay rights. They say they want to broaden the traditional evangelical anti-abortion agenda to include care for the poor, the environment, immigrants and people with H.I.V., according to experts on younger evangelicals and the young people themselves.

But...

None of that means younger evangelicals have abandoned the core tenets of their faith, including a belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus and the literal truth of the Bible. They think abortion and homosexuality are sins.

Very much akin to the position outlined in An Evangelical Manifesto, these younger Evangelicals really haven't abandoned their sense of the truth. They have importantly changed the emphasis, though.

But this comment was the most provocative in the piece:

“The easy thing is to fight, but the hard thing is to put your gloves down and work together towards a common cause,” said the Rev. Scott Thomas, director of the Acts 29 Network, which helps pastors start churches. “Our generation would like to put our gloves down. We don’t want to be out there picketing. We want to be out there serving.”

Evangelicals, by virtue of a long history and a textual tradition that emphasizes being for others rather than for self have the tools to make this transition. Whether the will is there is another question. That made me wonder whether the GLBT community can do the same. Until we are safe from hate crimes and until we have fundamental rights like marriage, we will continue to fight. But how can we at the same time show that we are for others and not merely for ourselves? Of course, as individuals, millions of members of our community are and have been involved in all kinds of movements that do not directly benefit us in terms of our sexual orientation and gender identity. But I don't think that is the image of our movement. The overwhelming image of our movement is that we are out for number one. I don't apologize for that because we can't expect anyone else to take our rights seriously if we don't do stand up for ourselves. But we will erode our basic humanness if we can't make the transition to a movement that both is and is perceived to be in the service of others.

Part 2 of Where are they now?-- Pure Life Revolution

Since we're coming up on the anniversary of those famous blindfolded protests at Hustler Hollywood in Nashville, I thought I'd check up on the Pure Life Revolution. Here's how they describe themselves:

Pure Life Revolution is a prayer and repentance movement combined with holy activism and gut level honesty. These revolutionaries are tenacious for true revival and to capture the heart of their King; they are willing and able to lay down their lives in being a catalyst to see this fulfilled. Our marching orders are to fuel and advance this movement of justice and righteousness in our nation and to be a spearhead in the “greatest awakening” of our time. Through this passion and desire has come forth Pure Life Revolution.

In June of 2007 for a few days a group of young people stood blindfolded near the Hustler Hollywood Store on Church Street apparently in a "see no evil" demonstration. Nashville bloggers were critical of their action at the time. If you want "speak no evil," you can go here and see that this ministry uses red tape to cover the mouths of its followers instead of blue blindfolds over the eyes; yes, they really are called Bound 4 Life. I'm not sure if there is a ministry somewhere in Alaska that uses yellow ear muffs for "hear no evil."

Apparently the members of Pure Life Revolution were working with the Family Action Council of Tennessee and other groups in November of 2007 for the First Annual Tennessee Porn-NO Prayer Summit. Most of the events on their own site seem to have taken place in 2007. But they do link to The Call, whose site is updated regularly. Inspired by the Promise Keepers, they are another purity movement and are busy planning a march on the Mall in DC in August.

The Pure Life Revolution site links to an article by Scott MacLeod, one of their "overseers," titled Living in an 'Amoral' Society. While there is much on their site for privacy and liberty advocates to be concerned about, these lines in MacLeod's article made the point clear for me:

We can certainly see the results of this modern way of thinking in Massachusetts, where gay marriage and homosexuality are presently flourishing. Gays and lesbians are flocking there from all over America to get married. This is nothing less than an abomination in the region that was once the cradle of puritan values, revival, and great awakening in our nation.

The way in which they employ the word "pure" is no accident. They truly see themselves as inheritors of the Puritan vision of America that at once combines American exceptionalism and a religious zeal to reform culture. It didn't take Puritanism long to run out of steam in England and Americans eventually grew weary of it as well, despite some strong revivals in movements like Prohibition. Perhaps the fact that we haven't heard anything out of them in a few months means that Nashvillians aren't that interested in their message. But if these modern Roundheads become active again, the Cavaliers among us will be watching.

Tuke in the scrum

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Bob Tuke was spotted at a yard sale held by the Nashville Grizzlies Rugby Football Club today. One of TEP's board members, who also happens to be a Grizzly, reports that he even bought something.

The Grizzlies are raising funds for their June trip to Dublin, Ireland where they will participate in their first Bingham Cup, a tournament that takes place every two years for rugby teams made up primarily of gay men. It is named for Mark Bingham, who died defending the crew of United Airlines flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Bingham was a member of the San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club, another predominantly gay team.

TEP's lobbyist, Jenny Ford, who has become quite a rugby groupie, says she may be blogging from Dublin next month. Stay tuned.

Freshman hazing

The Chattanooga Times Free Press chronicles the learning curve of first-time members of the Tennessee General Assembly.

Weeks after his arrival in Nashville, Sen. [Andy] Berke [D-Chattanooga] found himself on “NBC Nightly News,” Fox News and quoted in several national publications because of Georgia lawmakers’ efforts to move Georgia’s state line a mile north into Tennessee. The intent was to gain access to the water in Nickajack Lake, which is in Sen. Berke’s district.

“I was in the (media) ‘feeding frenzy’ and that was certainly an unusual situation to find yourself in your first weeks of your first session,” said Sen. Berke, who shepherded through the Senate a resolution rejecting Georgia’s call for a boundary commission to revisit the long-disputed border.

Reader takes issue with Fowler

Sara Tarpley questions Family Action Council of Tennessee's David Fowler for predicating marriage rights on fertility.

David Fowler believes that the primary importance of marriage is "its natural procreative potential and the unique roles each sex adds to the nurturing of the children they may raise."

If that is the case, we should automatically deny a marriage license when either the bride or groom is known to be infertile. Perhaps we should go further and dissolve those marriages that have not produced children after a reasonable period.

Thomas Nelson VP makes case for universal health coverage

Nashville-based Thomas Nelson Vice President of Human Resources Jim Thomason says that universal health coverage is the issue moving him in this year's presidential election.

In this election year, for the first time in my adult life, I'm listening seriously to any candidate proposing universal healthcare. It is both a basic human right, and the one societal development with the potential to radically democratize corporate workplaces. It would free corporations of a huge and growing benefits predicament in the form of spiraling benefits costs, and the only losers would be insurance carriers. Having worked with these companies for several years as corporate health plan sponsors, I can tell you that alongside Big Oil and Big Tobacco, if there is an industry that deserves regulation its Big Insurance. Since the most expensive 2% of real estate worldwide is owned by the same companies that cap your kids braces at $1,500 per set or force your wife out of the hospital 24 hours after labor and delivery, if "The People in the Pyramid" become "The People in the Nice Office Park on the Outskirts of Town" so that everyone has access to healthcare, that'll do in my book.

Constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage introduced

Southern Voice is reporting that members of the U.S. House of Representatives have reintroduced the Federal Marriage Amendment or the "Marriage Protection Amendment." There are almost 30 cosponsors, but no one from Tennessee yet. The text reads:

`Section 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment'.

`Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.'.

Same-sex marriage in the South?

The Associated Press is reporting that 10 states are asking California to hold off on implementing marriage rights for same-sex couples. One of them is South Carolina and one is Florida. The others are Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Utah.

The attorneys general say in court documents filed Thursday that they have an interest in the case because they would have to determine if their states would recognize the marriage of gay residents who wed in California.

A number of questions come up. Wouldn't same-sex marriages in Massachusetts already have triggered this if a couple married in Mass. moved to one of these other states? Maybe no one who has pushed it in the courts.

And the bigger question is what will it would mean for the other Southern states if South Carolina and/or Florida recognizes same-sex marriages. I occasionally hear people argue about whether Florida is part of the South or not. Certainly the culture of Northern Florida could still lay claim to Southern heritage. But no one questions whether aspects of the old South live on in South Carolina. If these two states granted marriage rights to same-sex couples, then even in those Southern states with constitutional amendments we would see more movement on partnership recognition and even the beginnings of civil union legislation.

Almost everyone agrees that the long-term goal is full marriage equality, but other forms of relationship protection would make a huge difference to couples living in the old Confederacy today.