Official photograph of Representative Barney Frank, 2008.
Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, one of the first openly gay congressmen and a champion of gay rights, died yesterday at his home in Ogunquit, Maine. He was 86 and had been receiving hospice care. A mainstay of the Democratic Party for many years, he brought his considerable intelligence, shrewd pragmatism, and outspoken personality to bear on many important issues during his thirty years in the House, and was the co-sponsor of the landmark Dodd-Frank reform bill in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Frank is survived by his husband, Jim Ready, two sisters, and a brother. He was a hero of our community who will be much missed and long remembered. Here are some videos recounting his life and accomplishments:
Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, shared in frank terms his very moving coming-out story in a speech at the LGBTQ Victory Fund in Washington, D.C., last Sunday, a story that your Head Trucker can relate to:
Your Head Trucker has not quite given up hope that the American ship of state will right itself instead of capsizing under the howling, shifting gales of fanaticism coming from both right and left; but he is very nearly there. The oh-so-pure, oh-so-righteous snowflake generation of young Democrats now coming to power in the party (the mirror image of their Trumpista equivalents in Bizarro world) makes me feel rather seasick, to tell you the truth.
It is, however, heartening to see an openly gay politician throwing his hat into the presidential ring for the first time ever in our history. But is he gay enough? And if not, just who is? Is it RuPaul or nothing? What bar must we clear now to be really and truly gay?
And will the new Kweer Kommissariat take away my pink card?
Frank Bruni has something to say about these matters in his New York Times column this week. Excerpt:
It’s nonnegotiable that Democrats hold their presidential aspirants to high standards on issues of racial justice, gender equality and more. It’s crucial that the party nominate someone who can credibly represent its proudly diverse ranks. But it’s also important that the party not demand a degree of purity that nobody attains.
I’m not recommending the Republicans’ course in accepting and protecting Donald Trump, which was to bury principles so deep that they may never be exhumed. I’m saying that to turn the Democratic primary into a nonstop apology tour when the nominee will be going up against a president never expected to apologize for anything is a risky strategy. It obsesses over the flaws in candidates who have many strengths, defining them in terms of what they seek forgiveness for. It blurs the line between job interview and inquisition. Taken too far, it rips contenders to shreds before Trump even takes out his scissors.
As for the mini-debate about Buttigieg’s gayness, it arose principally from this column in Slate, which included the following paragraph:
“A marginalized sexual orientation can remain unspoken and unnoticed for as long as a queer person desires. A gay man who conforms to a critical mass of gendered expectations can move through life without his sexuality attending every interaction, even after he comes out. Buttigieg, for instance, would register on only the most finely tuned gaydar. Most people who are aware of his candidacy probably know he’s gay, but his every appearance doesn’t activate the ‘Hey, that’s that homosexual gentleman’ response in the average brain. That doesn’t mean he’s not gay enough — there’s really no such measure. It just means that he might not be up against quite the same hurdles that a gay candidate without such sturdy ties to straight culture would be.”
The author is asserting that Buttigieg, 37, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., doesn’t come across as particularly gay, meaning . . . what? That he lacks stereotypical mannerisms? That his voice isn’t high-pitched? I’m kind of floored, because I and other gay people around my age (54) or older spent most of our lives educating people about the bigotry and inaccuracy of those very stereotypes and trumpeting the message — the truth! — that gay people can be every bit as buttoned-down and strait-laced as, well, Pete Buttigieg! Now his divergence from those stereotypes is deemed remarkable and in need of dissection? Strange days indeed.
Also, I guarantee you that Buttigieg’s adherence to “a critical mass of gendered expectations” and failure to “activate” the homosexual-alert siren don’t mean that being gay has been incidental to his life and is incidental to his perspective. That he didn’t come out until he was 33 is all the proof you need that he wrestled privately with his sexual orientation and with fears about how the world would respond to it and to him.
I like what little I have seen of Pete Buttigieg so far - his Oxford degree and Navy service are big plusses in my book. But I think he needs some experience in national politics before trying out for President; he's a big fish in a little pond right now, but that's just a starting point for any candidate.
And I will say this about good old Joe Biden - a great guy with a big heart and a fine political record, but simply too old. If by some twist of fate he did win the 2020 election, he would be 78 on election day, which would be worrisome for several very good reasons that should be obvious to anyone.
I thought it very curious during the election campaign of 2016 that both of the major contenders - and a couple of minor ones - were right at 70 years old. Why was that?
Why is there no Democratic figure of statesmanlike character between the ages of 40 and 70? I ask you.
Matt Baume of the American Foundation for Equal Rights reports:
In other marriage news, Congressman Sean Maloney (D-NY), married longtime partner Randy Florke this weekend in their home state, in the presence of their three children. Congratulations to the happy couple.
Some of my truckbuddies may remember the story I posted here on the Blue Truck in 2009, about San Angelo, Texas, mayor J. W. Lown, who just days after winning re-election packed his bags one morning and without stopping to say goodbye, left home and country to be with the man he loved.
Since that dramatic, widely-reported moment, they've been living quietly and prospering in Mexico, as well as shunning publicity. But now J. W. has given an interview to the San Antonio Express-News about their love and life together. While J. W., son of an American father and Mexican mother, is entitled to live in Mexico indefinitely, his partner could not do the same in the United States, if they were to return to San Angelo - due to the effect of DOMA on the immigration law. One member of a straight couple can easily sponsor his or her spouse for a green card, but not so if they are gay.
J. W. remains popular among the citizenry of San Angelo, who wish he would return and be mayor again, having done an outstanding job during his time in office. He hopes by sharing his story to have a little influence over public opinion here, as Congress debates a new immigration bill - which still excludes the gays from consideration.
“It's painful to think about — leaving behind my family, leaving behind eight years of building a stellar reputation within my community,” he said in an interview from his new home, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he and his partner have settled. “I'm hopeful the country has come to a point that we can have this discussion. . . . There's no other place than San Angelo I'd rather be,” he said. “But I have no plans to return again, unless (my partner) can come with me.”
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced that more openly LGBT candidates won election to public office in the U.S. in 2010 than in any year in America’s history. At least 106 of the group’s record-breaking 164 endorsed candidates were winners [including:]
– David Cicilline’s election to Congress. The Providence, R.I. mayor will be the fourth openly gay member of the U.S. House of Representatives, joining Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank and Jared Polis, who each won reelection.
– Jim Gray’s election as mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, the state’s second-largest city.
– Nickie Antonio’s election to the Ohio House. Antonio will be the first openly LGBT person to serve in the state legislature.
– Marcus Brandon’s election to the North Carolina House. Brandon will be the state’s only openly gay state legislator and one of just five out African Americans to serve as state lawmakers.
– Victoria Kolakowski’s election as a Superior Court judge in Alameda County. Kolakowski becomes the first openly transgender judge in America.
– Kevin Lembo’s election as Connecticut State Comptroller. Lembo joins just a handful of openly LGBT candidates to have been elected to statewide positions.
– Laurie Jinkins’ election to the Washington State House. Jinkins is Washington’s first openly lesbian state legislator, and could help her gay colleagues pass a marriage equality bill in the next legislative session.
– Maryland’s and California’s expanded LGBT state legislative caucuses. Each will include seven openly gay and lesbian lawmakers. In Maryland, the caucus is poised to help pass marriage equality legislation, which the reelected Gov. Martin O’Malley has vowed to sign.
Republican women seem to be getting it; you remember John McCain's wife took part in a photo shoot supporting equal marriage a few months ago. Now this from Laura Bush:
Where the women go, the men always follow. Eventually. It's a straight thing.
People who say Laura should have spoken up while her husband was in the White House are simply immature, juvenile in judgment - and probably have never been married. It wasn't her job to pick a public fight with her husband over any political issue, was it?
You know guys, we need to take our allies wherever and whenever we find them, and not be overrighteous, ungrateful, bitchy queens about it. You want to have a friend, you have to be a friend, my mama always said.
And across the water, this startling fact from Andrew Sullivan: 11 members of the now-governing Conservative party are gay and out. Here we have only 3 openly gay congresspeeps, all Dems. Wonder when we will ever see the first out gay Republican in national office?
It seems the United Kingdom is alive and well and operating in the 21st century. So why aren't we?
This weekend, two high-profile civil partnerships were celebrated in that right little, tight little island. Labour MP Chris Bryant, 48, currently Minister of State for Europe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, tied the knot with his sweetheart Jared Cranney, a company secretary, in the first-ever gay union held in the Houses of Parliament. Because it is still forbidden to hold gay weddings in British churches, the Parliamentary chapel of St. Mary - where straight MP's have been getting married since forever - was not used; instead, the ceremony took place in the House of Commons dining room, overlooking the Thames.
Bryant, who represents a district in South Wales, came in for a lot of criticism when a picture of him - posing in what some fashionistas deemed very unfashionable underpants - was discovered on Gaydar back in '03. Nevertheless, his political career has continued very successfully. Imagine that happening over here.
Also this weekend, as reported by The Independent:
One groom wore ceremonial uniform with his Iraq medal, the other morning dress with an orchid. Surrounded by silverware and paintings commemorating great battles, Lance Corporal James Wharton, 23, and his new husband enjoyed their first dance to Tina Turner in the warrant officers' mess of the most prestigious regiment in the land.
The Household Cavalry, famed for escorting the Queen during state occasions and the fact that it counts both her grandsons among its officers, celebrated its first gay wedding in style. L/Cpl Wharton was joined in a civil partnership with his boyfriend, the Virgin air steward Thom McCaffrey, 21, surrounded by members of L/Cpl Wharton's regiment, the Blues and Royals.
"The entire regiment has been really supportive," he said. "When I went to ask the Squadron Leader, Major Nana Twumasi-Ankrah, for permission to get married, he just said 'This is fantastic, congratulations'."
"The lads joked it was the gay event of the year. Everyone was excited. It was the talk of the barracks. This generation of soldiers is completely liberal," added the junior non-commissioned officer, whose only regret was that some of his friends would not be back from Afghanistan in time to enjoy the nuptials.
Just over 10 years ago, before a ban on homosexuality was lifted, gay soldiers faced interrogation and expulsion from the Army if discovered. But, in a very visible sign of the changing times, L/Cpl Wharton was given permission to host his wedding reception at the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment's Knightsbridge barracks.
Wharton was featured on the cover of the British Army's magazine Soldier last year. The British military has been around for a millennium longer than the American army, and seems to be thriving - surely ours will too, when DADT is kicked into the dustbin of history.
It's a new day and a new decade, even here in Texas, yessir it is. Your Head Trucker can hardly take it all in, but it sure feels good. Annise Parker was sworn in Monday as the first lesbian mayor of Houston, with her longtime partner by her side - right in front of God and everybody at a packed convention center:
Parker said, "I spoke on election night of this being an historic election, and my election made news around the world. Now, Houstonians weren’t very surprised that a gay woman was elected. We have a tradition of electing mayors not for who they are but for what they believe we can do as a city."
And speaking to the LGBT community, "I understand how much this day means to you," she said. "I can feel your excitement and your joy, but I can also feel your apprehension and longing for acceptance. I will gladly carry you forward, but today is simply one step toward a tomorrow of greater justice. . . . Your bravery in the face of threat, your grace in the face of insult, sustains me. We will support each other. Do not fear to dream big dreams. Bring your whole self to everything you do. Face the world with dignity and integrity. I promise you, the pain is worth the reward."
Joel Osteen, megachurch pastor who recently told Joy Behar on The View that gays are "not God's best," gave the invocation at the ceremony, thanking God for "raising up" Annise Parker to be Houston's new mayor.
Which raises the question of who really are our friends?
Timothy Kincaid in Box Turtle Bulletin wrote a very good piece on this point, that you should go read. Excerpt:
Most of us are capable of seeing our coworkers, family, and neighbors as possessing varying degrees of rejection or support. . . . Somehow we are able to accept Uncle Fred and Cousin Susan and their limitations without denouncing them as vile people. But too often our community views religious leaders through a dichotomous lens; either the minister is a fully supportive political ally, or a hate-filled anti-gay bigot. But truthfully, most are neither.
I think it would be useful for our community to adopt a more nuanced view of religious leaders. By doing so, we might find ourselves with unexpected allies. Joel Osteen does not agree with my understanding of Scripture; but his disagreement does not make him a hater or a bigot. And I recognize the value in having a lesbian politician – elected despite her opponent’s religion-based homophobic campaign – being given blessing by the pastor of the largest congregation in the nation.
I agree. We gays should be seeking friends and alliances, not only searching for haters. That doesn't mean we should ignore complicity in anti-gay violence, as the Ugandan example shows. But when evangelicals or Mormons or Catholics or Muslims show respect, we should always reciprocate.
What I Say: Now fellas, there's a lot of wisdom in those remarks, and your Head Trucker wishes you would think it over some. I myself feel the strong temptation, too - to brand everybody not 100 percent on our side as bigots and haters.
Which reminds me of Bush's infamous dumbshit statement, going into the Iraq War: "If you're not for us, you're against us." But guys, you know from your own experience and your own families that's not the case. Uncle Fred is just naturally more concerned about the cows in the south pasture than he will ever be about anybody's civil rights, which is something too abstract for him to get his mind around completely.
And Cousin Susan, bless her heart, is a flibbertygibbet who wouldn't hurt a fly and always remembers your birthday, but is much too busy planning the next gossip session with the ladies at the lunch counter to stop and think seriously for five minutes about either politics or religion.
A great many people just naturally resist being forced to take a stand; and the more you push them and revile them, the more they will dig in their heels - and they may jump off the fence onto the other side, just to show you that you're not the boss of them.
But like my mama always said, you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Those who are not for us are not necessarily against us, either. Let's be clear in our thinking, and not divide the whole world into black and white, Us versus Them - as the fundamentalists and the teabaggers do.
It's that's Us versus Them thing that is the cause of all the wars and all the conflicts in the world, down through the ages. Hard as it may be to keep a balanced view when we are feeling the sting of attacks and defeats from the true haters, it's much better, as Sullivan says, to be open to potential friends and allies.
In other words, stand up for your gay self and stick to your guns - but don't be a jackass about it. There's a very fine line between proper pride and overweening pride, which we all would do well to pay attention to.
An historic win: the Houston Chronicle is calling today's mayoral runoff election for Annise Parker, with a lead of 52.7 percent to opponent Jim Locke's 47.3 percent out of 145,000 votes cast, with 89 percent of precincts reported at this time.
Throughout the campaign, Ms. Parker tried to avoid making an issue of her sexual orientation and emphasized her experience in overseeing the city’s finances. But she began her career as an advocate for gay rights in the 1980s, and it was lost on no one in Houston, a city of 2.2 million people, that her election would mark a milestone for gay men and lesbians around the country.
Several smaller cities in other regions have chosen openly gay mayors, among them Providence, R.I., Portland, Ore., and Cambridge, Mass. But Ms. Parker’s success came in a conservative state where voters have outlawed gay marriage and a city where a referendum on granting benefits to same-sex partners of city employees was soundly defeated. . . .
Ms. Parker’s sexual orientation did not become an issue in the race until after the general election produced no winner and led to a run-off between her and Mr. Locke, who is black and enjoys strong support among African-American voters. . . .
But the ugliest attacks came from a group of black pastors who spoke out against Ms. Parker for what they called her gay agenda and two separate anti-gay advocates who send out fliers in the mail calling attention to her support from gay groups and to her relationship with her longtime partner. (They have been together 19 years and have two adopted children.)
Mr. Locke denied having anything to do with the attacks, but two members of his finance committee gave $40,000 to help finance one of the mailings.
A gay mayor in Texas. You guys who live in the blue state wonderland have no idea how incredible that sounds. Wow. Congrats, Annise - you done us proud, girl.
FYI: for the benefit of all you furriners who may not know this stuff, Houston proper is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in Texas. Population of the metro area is 5.7 million, although the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is larger, with 6.3 million. They are the sixth- and fourth-largest metro areas in the country, respectively. Total population of Texas: about 22.8 million as of 2005.
And since I mentioned Alaska in a post yesterday, I'll tell you this too: total population, 2008: 686,293.
Hell, we got several counties with more people in 'em than that whole big state. And Sarah couldn't manage to handle the job up there?
When I write about Texas attitudes, it's from my perspective stuck out here in Bumfuck County, where if you squint and overlook the tatoo parlors, meth labs, and cell phones, it could easily seem nothing has changed since Eisenhower was president. But in the big cities, I reckon things are loosening up when it comes to the gays . . . and about damn time. I just don't get to see it happening - as I have to remind myself.
Several good news items today. As I mentioned yesterday, City Controller Annise Parker may just be the next mayor of Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city; she'll face former City Attorney Gene Locke Parker in a runoff on December 12th:
More Texas gay news from Austin, Fort Worth, and Denton below the jump.
I am out of my mind happy to report that your Head Trucker has his broadband connection back. All praise to geekmeister Albert in tech support at AT&T who walked this old man through the setup of the new modem, plus about a million passwords, code numbers, and other necessary mumbo-jumbo.
And glancing over the election night returns, it appears we have cause to celebrate in most of the nation: the Washington State referendum on domestic partnerships passed with 51.1% of the vote - just barely passed, but we'll take it; the gay and transgender non-discrimination ordinance in Kalamazoo, Mich., passed with 60-something percent. Down here in Texas, openly lesbian Annise Parker got the most votes in the Houston mayoral race, which will go to a runoff.
Oh but then there's Maine: as of 1:04 a.m. in Maine, the Bangor Daily Newselection site reports our side losing 52.75 to 47.25 percent, with 87 percent of counties reporting. But apparently our guys and gals up there are refusing to concede, hoping to pull a miracle out of the yet-to-be counted absentee ballots and counties not yet tallied.
Doesn't look good, though: about the same percentage as defeated marriage equality in California last year. Still, as Andrew Sullivan says in a late-night post, he's heartbroken over the Maine results, but the fact that the vote is so very close is a huge encouragement when you consider what it would have been just 10 years ago - when no state offered even civil unions, much less marriage for their gay citizens.
We've come a long way, brother. Whatever the final result in Maine, Onward! must be our motto until the last vestiges of discrimination and inequality are wiped out of the law books and into the dusty pages of history, as they were for all the other groups who had to fight for their civil rights.
We have to work for our liberty and justice. Nobody's going to hand it to us - and as is all too clear by now, certainly not the President who promised to be our fierce advocate. It's not him, boys - We are the ones we've been waiting for. Remember?
But that's okay. It makes us better people to suffer injustice and struggle for what is right, like so many others have done before us, showing us the way. For the same reason it makes you a better person to pay your dues and earn your own living, instead of living off somebody else's toil. And the victory, when it dawns all across this land, will be that much sweeter when we finally taste it.
J.W. has discovered that love is a flame he can't put out
West Texas shocker: weighing what he calls "a choice between a promising political career and my humanity," San Angelo mayor J. W. Lown has come down - and come out - on the side of love.
The 32-year-old, three-term mayor was re-elected to a fourth term earlier this month by a landslide, with 89 percent of the vote; he was to have been sworn in at the city council meeting on Tuesday this week. Instead, via a phone call and a FedEx'd letter, he notified council members that he was resigning his office.
Lown has pulled up stakes and gone to live at an undisclosed location in Mexico with the man he fell in love with a couple of months ago, a student at Angelo State University who has been living in the United States illegally for the last five years.
The now former mayor's background, from his campaign website, reveals a solid small-town upbringing with a global attitude:
Born and raised in San Angelo, J.W. has deep roots in the city. As a child he spent a lot of time in his father's workshop on Upton Street. Born and raised in Mexico, his mother, Alicia instilled in her son the importance of faith, family, and community. J.W. attended Angelo State and graduated from Principia College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business. After completing a congressional internship with U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, he served two and a half years in the Peace Corps. As a volunteer assigned to Bolivia he showed the same entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving that he would later put to use as mayor by training impoverished women and young adults in small business development.
Lown, who has dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship, said he did not want to take the oath of office as mayor, knowing he was “aiding and assisting” someone who was not a citizen. He hopes to be able to get a visa for his partner while in Mexico, so that they can return to the United States.
According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, much of the local reaction there beyond the initial surprise has been supportive and appreciative of Lown's six years of service to the community.
Commentator Rick Casey, writing in the Houston Chronicle, compares Lown's resignation to the abdication of King Edward VIII (later the Duke of Windsor) "for the woman I love" in 1936, and then makes this observation:
For some this will be a story of sinful deviance.
Some will sigh at the power of love.
As someone who has closely observed politicians for many years, what I see is the rare integrity of a politician who couldn’t rationalize his way to swearing to uphold the laws of his state and nation while breaking them.
When it comes to sex, we’ve seen the president of the United States lie under oath, the governor of New Jersey provide a high-level job for his unqualified secret gay lover, the governor of New York frequent a high-priced prostitute.
The mayor of San Angelo chose not only love, but also honesty.
Who says nothing ever happens in West Texas? There's a reason they call this state the land of steers and queers. Sure sounds like a movie script in the making to me - what do you think, fellas?
Washington, D.C., is gayer than San Francisco? Oh Mary, don't ask.
A CNN discussion of the new documentary Outrage, with filmmaker Kirby Dick, Charles Moran of Log Cabin Republicans, and radio talk show host Michaelangelo Signorile:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, harmony; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
.
We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
and welcome to the Blue Truck, a blog for mature gay men with news and views on gay rights, history, art, humor, and whatever comes to mind. Plus a few hot men. The truck's all washed and gassed up, so hop in buddy, let's go.
CAUTION: For mature gay men only beyond this point. Some posts and links may not be suitable for children or the unco guid. You have been warned.
Insert valid picture ID with date of birth now, or click here.
My Story
click photograph to read
Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?
It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
.jpg/363px-Pete_Buttigieg_-_33249197628_(cropped).jpg)
