SAN DIEGO: Active Duty Military To March In Gay Pride Parade For First Time

Some real American history will be made at San Diego Pride.

"To my knowledge [it is] the first time in the history of Pride in the United States, ever, that we have said, 'Active duty, you are welcome,'" organizer Sean Sala said. "We want you to be there without fear of repercussions, because we love you." Sala, an active-duty sailor, said he was bothered to see that police and firefighters were represented in the Pride parade, but not the people who serve this country. "I thought it was weird because San Diego has the biggest military installation in the United States, and military are public servants as well," he said.

About 200 service members have reportedly signed up to march. They will not wear their uniforms, as per military regulations.

Quote Of The Day - Rick Tyler

"It’s time to think out of the box, and we can succeed. Just this past year, we notched a huge victory in Iowa against the three judges that superseded the will of the people by imposing their own agenda upon the Constitution. Christians have a warrior in Bob Vander Plaats, who led the fight that resulted in sending three judges home after they grossly overreached their constitutional role in redefining marriage. We must show other judges who have forgotten the constitutional constraints that there are consequences for their actions. Make your voice heard. Watch your email for our ReAL Action Alert. We’re going to tell the Ninth Circuit that their services are no longer required." -Rick Tyler, chairman of Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership, saying his group will somehow eliminate the entire Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Christianist blogosphere is roiling with anger this week over the Ninth Circuit Court's ruling that San Diego's Mt. Soledad Cross violates the separation of church and state. The status of the cross has been the subject of lawsuits for decades. In 2007, the California Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional for the city to transfer the land under the cross to the federal government. This week the Ninth Circuit overturned that decision.

CORRECTION: In the first version of this post, I wrongly attributed the above quote to Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, who is part of Gingrich's group. In fact, Garlow will be leading the planned protest against the Ninth Circuit Court's decision. My apologies.

SAN DIEGO: Publisher Of Defunct LGBT Newspaper Dead Of Apparent Suicide

The body of Michael Portantino, the publisher of San Diego's recently defunct Gay & Lesbian Times, has been found outside a local gay hotel. The San Diego County coroner is calling it an apparent suicide.

The decedent was a 52 year old single White male who resided in a home in San Diego. On 12/08/10, he apparently jumped from a building and landed on the cement walkway before his body was discovered by passersby. 9-1-1 was called and medics arrived and confirmed the death without intervention due to the obvious signs of trauma. The examination is being conducted today 12/09/10.

The hotel has only six floors. Prior to his paper's closure, Portantino's competitors had publicly accused the title of inflating its circulation numbers to advertisers.

UPDATE: San Diego's "ex-gay" loon and multiple felon James Hartline is celebrating Portantino's death on Twitter and has posted the below 2008 clip of a group of Hartline-led Christianists protesting a proposed declaration of Gay & Lesbian Times Day by the San Diego city council.


(Via - Rex Wockner)

PhoboQuotable - Jimmy Akin

"Will you be forced to participate in homosexual pride celebrations? Or will your children or grandchildren? Before you scoff at the possibility, recognize that it has already been happening to people. The homosexual lobby is relentless and is not seeking tolerance. It is seeking coerced social approval of homosexual behavior. That includes forcing non-homosexuals to participate in homosexual “pride” celebrations. It happened right here in San Diego, where four firemen were ordered to participated in the local 'San Diego Pride Parade.' [snip]

"And don’t think that just because these men were in California and that they worked for the government was what caused the problem. Private companies also often have pro-homosexual policies, and they also can put pressure on their employees to participate in activities that violate their moral principles—often with less legal accountability than is available when the government is the employer. Public employees also are at risk. Consider the delicate position public school teachers are now in—and which will continue to get worse—regarding the treatment of homosexuality in public schools. Things are already bad in our own time, folks, and it will be worse in the times of our children and grand children." - Jimmy Akin, writing for the National Catholic Register.

RELATED: Last week an appeals court upheld a settlement for the San Diego firemen, who claimed sexual harassment during the pride parade. Their actual motivation for filing the suit is revealed by the below 2008 legal fundraising appeal.

SAN DIEGO: Court Upholds Settlement For Firemen "Forced" Into Gay Pride Parade

An appeals court has upheld a settlement ordered to be paid to four San Diego firemen who sued the city because they'd been told they must ride in the 2007 gay pride parade. The delicate snowflakes claimed sexual harassment because some parade attendees allegedly made obscene comments as they passed and because they witnessed men in Speedos making out. The anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund represented the firemen.

The 2009 jury found the firefighters were sexually harassed by some parade participants and spectators and awarded them a total of $34,300 plus more than a half-million dollars in legal fees. The firefighters, John Ghiotto, Chad Allison, Jason Hewitt and Alexander Kane, had always maintained money was not the issue and that they had sued because they felt it was wrong to have been forced by their superiors to take part in the parade. By 2008 the fire department had changed its policy saying parades should be staffed only by volunteers. “I’m happy with the ruling,” Ghiotto said Friday. “The amount of money the city has spent on this is amazing — I’ll bet it’s in the millions by now. This whole thing could have been solved in a day. They knew two or three days before that we didn’t want to be in that parade.” Ghiotto said all four firefighters are still with the department.

According to the court: "The record contains substantial evidence to support a finding that the sexual harassment experienced by the Firefighters during the Pride Parade was severe and pervasive, thus altering the conditions of employment and creating a hostile or abusive work environment." The city says it may further appeal the case to a higher court.

Tweet Of The Day - James Hartline

"Ex-gay" whackadoodle and multiple felon James Hartline is claiming credit for this week's shuttering of the San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times. Of course, the paper's closure had absolutely nothing to do with James Hartline, but facts and lying matter little to San Diego's "leading warrior for Christ" (his self-awarded title.) We're still waiting on Hartline's promised Broadway musical The Chronicles Of Sodom, BTW.

SAN DIEGO: 12 Activists Arrested In Marriage Protest At County Clerk's Office

A dozen activists were arrested today at a San Diego county clerk's office when they refused to leave without being issued marriage licenses.

On the day hundreds of gay and lesbian couples statewide planned to obtain their long-awaited marriage licenses, a crowd of about 50 people gathered at the county clerk's office Thursday to protest a federal judge's stay of a federal ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Three people were taken away in plastic handcuffs by sheriff's deputies early in the demonstration and an additional nine people were removed later. A deputy said they were detained for blocking access to a county office. Tony and Tyler Dylan-Hyde and at least one other couple came to the county clerk's office this morning at 8 a.m. asking to receive their marriage license. "We believe that county officials and the Attorney General have the authority and the obligation to allow marriage licenses to proceed based on both federal court findings and that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional and the governor's filings in Prop. 8 cases," Tyler Dylan-Hyde said. "We are asking you to do what's right."

According to the linked news story, those arrested had blocked the entrance of heterosexual couples with appointments to get licenses.

"Ex-Gay" Nutter James Hartline Speaks To Iranian Christian TV Network

In this clip titled Dark Past & Homosexuality, San Diego's "ex-gay" loon James Hartline tells Farsi-language Mohabat TV about how his mean mother turned him into a drug-addicted multiple-felon homosexual. Complete with sepia-tinged dramatic reenactments! Any Farsi speakers care to translate?

San Diego Is Taking Appointments

"The ARCC has started taking appointments for issuing licenses and performing ceremonies for same-sex couples starting August 19, 2010. Demand for marriage license services may increase as a result of the ruling. We encourage couples to plan ahead in order to obtain an appointment on their desired day and time. To schedule an appointment for a marriage license and/or ceremony please call (619) 237-0502."

Thousands Celebrate In San Diego

More great videos from Rex Wockner's coverage in San Diego are here. The chant in the bottom clip got me a little teary.

Your Daily Minute Of Crazy

James Hartline has been anointed by God to end gay pride in San Diego. That there's a pretty specific assignment! You go, Lady James!

Your Daily Minute Of Crazy

According to "ex-gay" loon James Hartline, God has sent a swarm of bees to punish San Diego for gay pride! Tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes and now, KILLER BEES. Thanks for keeping it fresh, Miss Hartline!

Tweet Of The Day - James Hartline

"Ex-gay" mental patient James Hartline is calling on his "followers" to join him in a 24-hour fast today so that Jeebus will prevent the San Diego City Council from issuing its annual gay pride proclamation.

Miss Ladyfingers USA To Get Opposite Married In Gay-Boycotted Hotel

Tomorrow Carrie Ladyfingers Prejean will opposite marry NFL quarterback Kyle Boller in San Diego. And in a deliberate final "fuck you" to the gays, she's booked the wedding at Doug Manchester's Grand Del Mar Hotel. Manchester's hotels have been boycotted and picketed by gays and gay-friendly organizations ever since it was revealed that he contributed more than $125,000 to Protect Marriage. Manchester has tried to end the boycott, which has cost him millions in convention business, by offering free rooms and meeting space to LGBT groups, all of whom have refused. Last August, Doug "Sanctity of Marriage" Manchester ditched his wife of 43 years in an ugly divorce that included accusations that he forged her endorsement on an $8.2M tax refund check.

SAN DIEGO: Christian Group Seeks To Unseat Four "Activist" Judges

Saying that judges should be accountable to the legislature and not make law themselves, a San Diego-based Christian group called Better Judges Now is fielding candidates to unseat four "activist" judges.

In separate interviews, each of the candidates declined to specify why he is running against the particular judge he challenged. Each cited a section of the judicial canon of ethics that discourages disparaging remarks about judges or the bench from lawyers. Instead, all say they’re running in large part to give voters a voice on who sits on the bench. They say judges should be held accountable and adopt a platform that emphasizes judicial restraint, and they advocate that judges should uphold laws passed by elected legislatures and not “make the law.” The incumbent judges say they don’t know why they were challenged. Lewis, 65, a longtime judge in El Cajon, said he has never met Candelore. He speculated that the four were targeted for a particular reason — all are registered Democrats. Candelore denied that. “Political affiliation never came into consideration,” he said, a comment that was echoed by the other candidates. Lewis said Better Courts Now adds both a partisan and “values issue” to the race for judge. He said it bothered him not to know what it was about his performance that merits the label of being an “activist” judge or not following the law. He declined to speak about Candelore but said it appeared to him that he “doesn’t have an ax to grind with me, but it appears he has an ax to grind with the court as a whole.”

Better Judges Now was founded by a network of pastors and churches that oppose same-sex marriage and abortion.

Midweek Mix - DJ Shane Stiel

Pump up the jam with this circuit house mix from San Diego's hot DJ Shane Stiel. Setlist. Website. Podcasts. Facebook.

Upcoming Gigs
May 22nd, Pornstar @ Club 8, San Francisco
May 30th, Climax @ Club Vinyl, Denver
June 12th, Main Stage @ LA Pride, Los Angeles.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: DJ Paul Goodyear. DJ Susan Morabito. DJ Seymour Butz. DJ RuBot. DJ Rotten Robbie. DJ Ted Eiel. DJ Herbie James. DJ David Knapp. DJ Dave Huge. DJ Corey Craig.

Supreme Court: The Boy Scouts Are A Religious Organization

The Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a lower court's ruling that the Boy Scouts of America are a religious organization. The earlier ruling came over a dispute about the Scouts renting city-owned land in San Diego.

U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. ruled in 2003 that San Diego acted improperly when it leased 18 acres of camp space to the Scouts because the group is a religious organization. The judge said the lease violated federal law that prohibits the government promotion of religion. The Boy Scouts say they have no theology and only hold the position that children should "do duty to God" to become productive citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union had sued San Diego and the Boy Scouts in August 2000 on behalf of a lesbian couple and an agnostic couple, each with scouting-age sons. They filed the lawsuit after the City Council voted to extend the group's 50-year lease for another 25 years. The Boys Scouts have been the target of preferential treatment lawsuits since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2000 that the group has a constitutional right to exclude openly gay men from serving as troop leaders and because it compels members to swear an oath of duty to God.

The leadership of the Boy Scouts of America has been infiltrated over the last two decades by highly-placed members of the Mormon Church. Virtually all of its board of directors are LDS officials.

UPDATE: I want to roll back that "virtually all" bit from the last sentence above until I can find the proper substantiating link. The best info I can find at the moment is a 2001 claim that 24 of the 72 BSA National Council members are Mormons, but I'm quite sure that I read very recently that that number is now over 50. Does anybody recall where that came from?

RELATED: Last week the BSA was ordered to pay $18.5M in punitive damages to man who was molested by a Scout leader known by his superiors to be a pedophile.