August 27, 2012 – 8:00 am
Jerry Haas writes in the Athens Banner-Herald:
"...There has been a backlash among traditional Democratic supporters. The Rev. William Owens, president and founder of the Coalition of African American Pastors, with a membership of 3,742 black pastors, has stated that it is time for African Americans to rethink their support for Obama based on the president’s stance on same-sex marriage. Owens has, in fact, mounted a national campaign aimed at that goal.
“The time has come for a broad-based assault against the powers that be who want to change our culture to one of men marrying men and women marrying women ... they have chosen to cater to the homosexual community, they have chosen to cater to Hollywood, to cater to big money and ignore the people who put the president where he is,” Williams said.
The recent reports on the Democratic Party platform are certain to stoke the CAAP fires, and give Owens a reason to lead more African Americans away from the Democratic Party.
Likewise, it may give other evangelical Christians who have doggedly continued to support Democratic candidates a reason to reflect on how the party’s stands on social issues speak toward a biblical worldview."
Adina Solomon writing for the independent student newspaper of the University of Georgia Red and Black:
Not everyone wants to stop off at Starbucks for a morning latte.
In January, Starbucks issued a statement from Kalen Holmes, executive vice president of the Seattle-based company, supporting Washington state legislation recognizing same-sex marriage.
“This important legislation is aligned with Starbucks business practices and upholds our belief in the equal treatment of partners,” Holmes wrote. “It is core to who we are and what we value as a company.”
More than 25,000 people have signed a petition boycotting Starbucks on DumpStarbucks.com, according to the website.
... The Red & Black received multiple emails from DumpStarbucks.com on behalf of people across Georgia protesting Starbucks’ stance.
... Individual locations of Starbucks do not comment to the media. But a Starbucks company spokesman wrote in an email that Starbucks’ stance has not affected its business.
“Starbucks has many constituents and from time to time we will make decisions that are consistent with our values and heritage but may be inconsistent with the views of a particular group,” the spokesman wrote.
Jim Galloway of Political Insider on two GOP candidates jockeying over whose pro-marriage conservative credentials are more solid:
You can tell we’re reaching the end of the 2012 session of the Legislature – election-year attacks have already resumed.
The 9th District congressional campaign of Doug Collins, a state lawmaker from Gainesville, has signaled that gay marriage will have its traditional place in the Republican primary – by passing along statements made by Collins’ chief rival, north Georgia radio talk show host Martha Zoller.
Why is this an issue? Because Georgian conservatives care about marriage!
December 20, 2011 – 1:30 pm
The Eleventh Circuit has just rejected a counseling student’s effort to prevent Augusta State University in Georgia from requiring her to participate in a special “remediation plan” to get her to separate her religious beliefs about sexuality from her work as a counselor.
The school made the requirement a condition of her ability to participate in its Masters program for school counselors because faculty objected to comments she made in class discussions and assignments in which she expressed that “she believes GLBTQ ‘lifestyles’ to be "identity confusion” and because of “unsolicited reports from another student that she related her interest in conversion therapy for GLBTQ populations, and she has tried to convince other students to support and believe her views.”
The student has sued to prevent being forced out of the program if she does not complete the plan and sought to have a federal court issue a preliminary injunction to keep the school from enforcing the requirement immediately. In deciding whether the injunction should be issued, the court assessed the constitutional claims and decided that the student would likely lose since the school’s requirement did not, the court held, single her out for unfair treatment because of her religious beliefs but because of her desire to act on those beliefs in her work.
Since she is not likely to prevail on the constitutional claim, the court did not think an injunction should be issued. Unless the 11th Circuit panel’s decision is reversed or the school changes its requirement, the student will be forced to fulfill the special requirement or be kicked out of the Masters program. Her discrimination claim against the school can proceed even if she is forced out but will have to do so despite the 11th Circuit panel’s announcement that she is not likely to win on her constitutional claims unless she can show new evidence or provide new arguments.
The Eleventh Circuit decision can be found here (PDF).
November 30, 2011 – 2:00 pm
The Associated Press reports on Jennifer Keeton's story:
An attorney for a graduate school counseling student told federal judges in Atlanta on Tuesday that the student's First Amendment rights were violated when professors at a Georgia university sought to punish her for her biblical views on gay rights.
Augusta State University put Jennifer Keeton on academic probation for saying it would be hard for her to work with gay clients, and threatened to expel her unless she attended events like Augusta's gay pride parade, Keeton's attorney Jeff Shafer told the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"She was told, `You don't have to believe it. You just have to say you do,'" Shafer said.
... She was asked in May 2010 to agree to a remediation plan that would require her to attend sensitivity training, read counseling journals and mix with gays at events like the city's gay pride parade.
Keeton refused to comply with the plan, which she said in court papers would require her to "tell clients wanting to hear it that homosexual sex is moral."
She filed a federal lawsuit claiming the school wanted to expel her because she "holds Christian ethical convictions" on human sexuality and gender identity. A judge rejected her challenge, leading to Tuesday's court arguments.
