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"Spike It" Fund Raiser
For Volleyball New Orleans

MRB's Goddess and Krewe of Petronius' Green Goddess (aka Captain Mickey) are organizing a fund raiser for Volley Ball New Orleans at the MRB, 515 St. Philip St., Sun., June 14, 5pm.

The event, sponsored by the krewe and MRB, will include entertainment by the creme de la creme of the drag community. A silent auction and raffle are also on the agenda.

All proceeds go toward helping to defray travel expenses for Volley Ball New Orleans' participation in the Gay Games Amsterdam where they will be representing the Crescent City.

For more information, call Mickey (504.525.4498) or Goddess (504.525.2558).

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks At "Gays & God"

On May 31, the first part of an Atlanta Journal-Constitution three-part series on "Gays & God" featured two articles on Lesbians and Gay men of faith struggling to reconcile their beliefs with religious institutions. The first story, by Journal-Constitution staff writer Gayle White, begins, "Across the country, Gay and Lesbian Christians are searching for a way to worship.... Some hide their sexual orientation and stay in churches that claim to love the sinner while hating the sin. Some go to congregations founded specifically by and for homosexuals. Some stay home. And some find acceptance in the pews of some traditional churches." White looks at various churches and their stances, from acceptance to "don't ask, don't tell," to complete denunciation, and writes, "Churches that have intentionally opened themselves to Gays and Lesbians have lost some members because of their stand.... [But] open Gays and Lesbians worship alongside their heterosexual brethren in some Atlanta churches. They serve on committees, lead liturgies [and] volunteer in children's nurseries. Their names are listed in church directories with those of the same-sex partners with whom they sit comfortable in services, sharing hymnals and occasionally holding hands."

The second article, by staff writer John Blake, focuses on the unique struggle of black churches regarding the issue of homosexuality. Blake begins by profiling Rev. Antonio Jones, a preacher who used to condemn homosexuality and "unmask Gay people from the pulpit," but is now openly Gay, leading "a predominantly black congregation open to the Gay community." Blake continues, "While predominantly white denominations vigorously debate the inclusion of homosexuals, black churches refuse even to talk about the issue. Not one major black denomination in Atlanta or the nation has formally considered the inclusion of homosexuals." He also interviews a number of African-American religious leaders and openly Gay black Christians. "Many in the black church are reluctant to discuss homosexuality because there is a widespread belief that it is a sickness blacks learned from white people," Blake writes. "And many black women scorn homosexuality because they say it diminishes a short supply of desirable black men.... [But] AIDS has forced the black church to confront its hostility toward homosexuality [and] a new generation of pastors is becoming better educated, being taught to take a more critical look at traditional iblical beliefs."

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TX Methodists Won't Split

The Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church at its annual meeting June 2 rejected an attempt to separate itself from supporters of same-gender weddings and Gay and Lesbian ordinations. About 1,000 people meeting in Ft. Worth, representing the churches of a 28-county area, voted down a resolution which would have urged members to "have no more union" with Gay-affirming leaders, and adopted instead one which called for unity despite diverse interpretations of the Bible. Both measures covered a variety of topics under the heading of "Authority of Scripture," with the resolution adopted by the conference essentially affirming the church's current statement under that title. That resolution also called for dialogue in the coming year among those whose Biblical interpretations differ.

The sponsor of the rejected resolution, First United Methodist Church of Bedford pastor Dean Posey, while not one of those threatening to leave the church over the Gay issues, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram that he felt a need "to stand up for the orthodox Christian faith." He was in fact responding to the church trial earlier this year of Reverend Jimmy Creech, then pastor of Omaha, Nebraska's First United Methodist Church, who presided at a ritual celebrating the relationship of a Lesbian couple. (Creech's contract is now ending without being renewed.) That trial fell one vote short of convicting Creech of disobedience because some of the jury of Nebraska pastors believed the rule he violated was not actually the law of the church. To Posey, this represented the way the church's vague statements on "Authority of Scripture" have allowed non-Biblical practices. His rejected resolution included the statement, "We call one last time for repentance by those who continue to practice these errors, and if no repentance, then we recommend that the General Conference... take immediate steps to have no more union with them."

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No Indictment
Against Schwacke

A grand jury declined on June 2 to indict open Gay David Schwacke, the Solicitor for South Carolina's 9th Circuit (which includes Charleston and Berkeley Counties). Leaders of the state Republican Party had complained to the state Attorney General that Schwacke, himself a Republican, used his office computer to download pornographic material from the Internet and to arrange sexual liaisons, and that he failed to move out of his office the prosecution for sex with male teenage minors against a male acquaintance. In the wake of those accusations some seven months ago, Schwacke publicly identified himself as a Gay man for the first time, although Charleston County Republican Party chair Mark Hartley insists that he would have made the complaint regardless of Schwacke's sexual orientation. Barney Giese, the Solicitor for the Columbia area who made the presentation against Schwacke to the grand jury, said, "I think the grand jury felt, by not going forward with it [the indictment], that it [Schwacke's actions] was not a criminal act."

Schwacke never doubted that he had acted within the law, but expressed relief at the grand jury's decision. He said, "Having sought the forgiveness of the Lord, I now apologize to the citizens of the 9th Judicial Circuit for the mistakes in my personal life and their unwitting participation as observers in this sordid tale." However, he had no such apology for his accusers, instead expressing pity for "the extremely small component of the Republican Party who brought these accusations" and denouncing them as "people who claim the singular right to speak on behalf of the welfare of families, yet never, ever considered the welfare of my family ... before undertaking their political agenda based on prejudice and fear." Schwacke insisted that he would never tolerate Favoritism in his office, adding that, "anyone assuming otherwise has fallen prey to the prejudice and hate prodding the narrow-minded persons who were intent on driving me from office."

To his constituency, Schwacke said,"I am what I am: a human being born of the many imperfections God has given me and, indeed, to all of us. I just happen to be Gay. I have worked very hard at doing a great job for the citizens of the 9th Circuit. Now that this is all said and done, aren't those really the only things that should have ever mattered?"

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