Tonight, the St. Louis County Council will vote on whether to add disability, sexual orientation, gender identity to the county’s nondiscrimination protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations, as well as to the characteristics that might be considered in prosecution of a hate crime. The bill does not create any new laws, but simply updates what identity categories the 13-year-old protections include. Still, that did not prevent the National Rifle Association from lobbying against the bill, citing the law’s restrictions on firearms:

Today, November 27, at 6:00 p.m. CST, the St. Louis County Council will decide whether to pass County Bill 279, an ordinance that would limit your inherent right to self-defense.  While the most of this ordinance focuses on anti-discrimination policy, there are several anti-Second Amendment provisions.

You can review a copy of this proposed ordinance here. (Page 9, Sections 11-14)

Sections 11-14 would prohibit discharge of a firearm in any vehicle, boat or building in St. Louis County.  As you can see, this would greatly hinder your right to self-defense.  Not only is this a blatant disregard for your right to defend yourself, but this ordinance violates state law by prohibiting you from carrying a firearm for self-defense in certain locations outlined in Section 13.

Please attend tonight’s County Council meeting and voice your opposition to the anti-Second Amendment provisions in County Bill 279.  This meeting will be held tonight, November 27, at 6:00 p.m., at the St. Louis County Council Chamber, Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, Clayton, Missouri 63105.  Also ask your family and friends in St. Louis County to join you in contacting members of the St. Louis County Council and respectfully urging them to vote “NO” on County Bill 279.

The NRA is mistaken that tonight’s vote impacts their 2nd Amendment Rights in any way. Those restrictions are already law regardless of whether LGBT people are specifically protected under them or not. In effect, the NRA is simply encouraging supporters to vote against protections for LGBT citizens with no actual stake in the outcome.

ThinkProgress contacted the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action to inquire about the peculiar position statement, but no comment was provided. The notice encouraging supporters to oppose the bill remains live as quoted above as of this post’s publishing.

When Salvation Army Major George Hood told Current TV host that the Salvation Army is not anti-gay, she didn’t challenge him on it. He claimed it was all just one big internet rumor:

HOOD: Well it’s a great misunderstanding that’s spread across the country, and we’re doing everything we can to re-educate and help people understand that the very mission of the Salvation Army calls for meeting the needs of humans without discrimination…. So discrimination is not something that we would gladly carry the banner or pride over, we want to dispel the notion that we do discriminate when the fact is we’re working very hard not discriminating and it is a part of our mission.

MILLER: You know, Chris, you can help me with some of the things, you know, again, you’re right, Major, once things get out there, you know…

HOOD: Many of those things start fueling through blog sites and postings on the Internet and it’s really really tough to shut them down when they get out there.

Watch it:

Unfortunately for Miller, Hood himself is on record expressing concern about hiring gay employees, telling the Washington Post in 2001 that “it really begins to chew away at he theological fabric of who we are.” John Aravosis compiled a significant record documenting the Army’s opposition to LGBT people. In its position statement on homosexuality, the Salvation Army demands that gay people be celibate because “scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex.” (Incidentally, this position statement is currently unavailable on the Army’s website, as it is supposedly “Under review.” The screencap above is what was previously found at the site.)

If Hood’s comments were accurate or represented a change toward inclusion, that would be laudable. Unfortunately, Miller seems to have simply been caught unaware and allowed Hood’s dubious claims to go unchallenged.

After reports that passengers on a cruise featuring performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race would not be allowed to dress in drag themselves, Carnival Cruise Lines has apologized and reversed its policy. Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill is sending the following letter to passengers explaining the apparent miscommunication:

The group, “Drag Stars at Sea,” includes several performances by stars from Logo TV as part of a series of private events onboard.  When the group was presented to us we were advised that only the performers would be dressed in drag during the private events. However, we are now aware that this was not clearly communicated to members of the group and therefore anyone who wishes to dress in drag may do so.  Please keep in mind that our safety and security procedures require guests to present government-issued ID, and to be recognizably that person.

At Carnival, we are proud to carry more than 4.5 million guests every year and we welcome them all aboard.  We do not practice any form of discrimination against the LGBT or any other community.  We sincerely apologize for the miscommunication and for any unintended offense we have caused.

Given this misunderstanding, anyone on this cruise who wishes to cancel for any reason may do so and will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, as well as reimbursement for any non-refundable travel related expenses.

Carnival has provided a swift and commendable remedy to the situation. A cruise designed to cater to a specific community will now truly be inclusive for all passengers. One of RuPaul’s many inspiring quotes is, “When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do,” and the same proves true for equality in society.

Winston McKenzie

A member of the conservative UK Independence Party (UKIP) railed against the gay community in a recent interview, calling same-sex adoption “child abuse.” Winston McKenzie is running in an election in Croydon North and shared these ill-informed beliefs about same-sex couples and gay people in general with the Croydon Advertiser:

MCKENZIE: If you couldn’t look after your child and you had to put them up for adoption would you honestly want your child to be adopted by a gay couple? Would you seriously want that or a heterosexual family? Which would be more healthy for the child? A caring loving home is a heterosexual or single family. I don’t believe (a gay couple) is healthy for a child.

There are people out there who bring up their kids encouraging them to believe they are gay themselves. If the child is properly heterosexual and they are put in foster homes without any thought or consideration of who they are or what their identity is, that’s not right. A child might be vehemently against being housed with a gay couple but you wouldn’t know until they were older. Placing them with that couple deceives the child. If there’s no alternative then maybe. If it’s a case of being adopted by a gay couple or deportation then what can do you? But if you ask me, I’m not for heterosexual children being adopted by gay couples.

McKenzie also said that he will fly the Union Flag outside his house at half mast “if homosexual marriage becomes law.” Marriage equality is causing a sharp political divide in Britain’s Parliament.

David Coburn, chairman of UKIP London, rebuked McKenzie’s remarks that gay couples could bring their children up to be gay: “He said that? That’s a mistake.”

The Human Rights Campaign has produced a new Municipal Equality Index, designed to rate cities’ LGBT policies in a parallel way to its well-known Corporate Equality Index. For its first publication, the index features 137 cities, including the country’s 50 largest cities, the 50 state capitals, and 75 municipalities with a high proportion of same-sex couples.

The index measured cities according to non-discrimination policies and partnership recognition, as well as LGBT inclusion in civil services and law enforcement. Eleven of the cities scored a 100 percent rating, while 25 percent had at least 80 points. Here are the cities with the perfect scores:

• Long Beach, California
• Los Angeles, California
• San Diego, California
• San Francisco, California
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• St. Louis, Missouri
• New York, New York
• Portland, Oregon
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Seattle, Washington

HRC points out that scores are not a direct reflection of whether the cities have a welcoming climate for LGBT people living there. Still, cities should consider aiming for higher scores because inclusiveness is good for business, increasing a city’s ability to attract top talent and innovative business. HRC hopes to double the number of municipalities included by next year.

Chaim Levin, ex-gay survivor and plaintiff.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ex-gay group JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), accusing it of consumer fraud for peddling a “cure” for homosexuality. The complaint features four young men and two of their parents as plaintiffs, including Chaim Levin, who has been very vocal about how the Orthodox Jewish community has mistreated him for being gay. The men and their families argue that JONAH lured them into paying for counseling with deceptive practices. JONAH relies on ex-gay professional group NARTH, specifically the repudiated techniques of Joseph Nicolosi.

The complaint outlines some of the bizarre treatment the men were subjected to in sessions with JONAH counselor Alan Downing and others:

• remove all clothing during both individual and group therapy sessions including an instruction to Levin to hold his penis in front of Defendant Downing,
• cuddle and intimately hold others of the same-sex including between young clients and older counselors,
• violently beat an effigy of the client’s mother with a tennis racket,
• go to the gym more as well as bath houses in order to be nude with father figures, and
• be subjected to ridicule as “faggots” and “homos” in mock locker room and gym class scenarios.

The men were also encouraged to replicate personal trauma, such as reenacting scenes of childhood sexual abuse. Another JONAH counselor instructed one of the men to snap himself on the wrist with a rubber band every time he felt attracted to a man. JONAH claimed that “gay people are all generally lonely, suicidal, and have or will contract HIV/AIDS.”

The suit seeks a revocation of JONAH’s business license and a permanent injunction against all JONAH staff from further offering ex-gay therapy through a trial by jury. In addition to achieving justice for these young men, this suit will hopefully help other ex-gay survivors step forward to challenge the harmful ministries plaguing young people across the country.

LOGO TV has been hyping a fabulous LGBT-friendly cruise that will feature many performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race. “Drag Stars At Sea: Caribbean Adventure – Revenge of the Wench“ has been organized by Al and Chuck Travel and received such demand that it had to be updated to a Carnival cruise line to accommodate all the passengers. But those passengers received a troubling email from Carnival about what they can hope to experience on the cruise:

Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason; we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere. It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise. Although we realize this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognize that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas.

Arrangements have been made for drag performances in the main theater featuring stars from LOGO TV. These functions will be private and only the performers are permitted to dress in drag while in the theater. Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.

It’s unclear how a group that consists “solely of adults” would even still have minors onboard.  Al and Chuck Travel offered a response defending Carnival as an ally that did little to address the situation:

Carnival’s “no costumes rule” is NOT meant to be an insult to the gay community. As a gay business, we would not have organized this cruise if they were prejudiced against gay people. This rule goes for both GAY and STRAIGHT passengers that travel on all Carnival cruises. It is in response to the post-911 world we live in. It is meant to protect passengers and guests – NOT to marginalize a few.

Additionally, we know that transgendered members of our community will be aboard with us during this event. Please do not worry, Carnivals rule is not meant towards you. Your right to live your identity is always supported.

Finally, Drag Stars At Sea is a cruise venue for you to meet the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. Just as you would not go in costume (other than on Halloween) to a club to see them perform, neither should you on the GLORY.

The whole point of such a cruise should be to create an inclusive space for drag culture, as many of those interested enough in a cruise featuring drag stars are likely to participate in drag themselves. Anybody who believes that drag shows never have queens in the audience has possibly never been to a drag show.

It’s unclear how exactly the “post-911 world” impacts wearing costumes on a cruise. It also doesn’t explain Carnival’s Halloween cruises, featuring costume contests. John Aravosis notes that on Carnival’s own web page, it encourages guests to wear Halloween costumes, offering that the only limit on what can be included is toy or imitation weapons. Apparently, costumes are not a problem for Halloween, but when it comes to a boat full of drag aficionados, they are suddenly a security concern.