Florida Agenda

By Cliff Dunn

CORAL SPRINGS – Tara Tuttle, 35, may be a day older, but it’s hard to say if she’s deeper in debt. The Coral Springs woman, who told state officials that she had carried an unscratched lottery ticket with her for more than a month, is the winner of $10 million in the Florida Lottery Billion Dollar Blockbuster scratch-off game, the largest lottery prize awarded so far this year in Broward or Palm Beach counties.

Tuttle, who purchased her winning ticket at a Publix supermarket on North University Drive in Coral Springs, told officials that she purchased the ticket after learning that her partner of seven years, Cary Tullos, of Cooper City, had tested negative for breast cancer.

“I had a feeling that it was a lucky ticket but I didn’t want to find out quite yet,” she told lottery officials.

After the shock of winning wore off, Tuttle and Tullos took their two children to Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee to claim the winnings. With her total ticket investment at $20, Tuttle told officials that she would opt for the lump-sum payment of $6.5 million, rather than having the $10 million doled out over ten years.

Tuttle told reporters she plans to use part of the winnings to donate to fighting cancer. According to state lottery officials, although most casual players are familiar with Powerball and the Florida Lotto, scratch-off games account for about 57 percent of statewide ticket sales, and that the “payback” on scratch-off games is approximately 70 percent (compared to 50 percent for “draw” games).

Before Tuttle, the largest prize this year was a $6 million Florida Lotto win in January. No Floridian has won the top Powerball prize this year. In addition, five $10 million and 74 $1 million prizes still remain in the scratch-off game.

“Faith and science have at least one thing in common: Both are lifelong searches for the truth.
But while faith is an unshakable belief in the unseen, science is the study of testable, observable
phenomena. The two coexist, and may at times complement each other. But neither should be
asked to validate the other. Scientists have no more business questioning the existence of God
than theologians had telling Galileo the Earth was the center of the universe.” – Bill Allen

By Cliff Dunn

I always enjoy explaining the difference between what’s “natural” versus what’s “normal.” For something to be considered normal, it just needs the behavioral approval of the thundering herd. What defines the “norm” explains what is normal. (Example: Culturally, it is “normal” for many African-American males to disdain the homosexual lifestyle.

This, of course, fails to account for the large number of brothers who are living on the “down-low.”) What’s “natural” is informed by one’s “nature” (duh). This isn’t to say that all things that are natural are necessarily good (Ted Bundy, for instance, found it perfectly natural to kidnap, sexually assault, and murder young women). This is where a strong moral compass (and a liberal application of impulse control) comes in handy, but I suspect that all of us deal with personal demons (or at least imps) as we marry behavior that is socially-acceptable with that which is secretly-desired, and live productively as members of the greater mass of humankind. This isn’t the point I want to make, however.

I was secretly pulling for the chop-logic coalition of libertarians, establishment stalwarts, Ron Paul mavericks, and gay conservatives who banded together in Tampa last month in an effort to drag the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and Eisenhower into the 21st Century (and the company of the rest of the civilized world) and modulate the anti-gay flame that has burned so brightly since the late-1980s in the party’s ideological cauldron. (The thinly-disguised veneer of soft homophobia that was ushered in by Pat Robertson lived long past the political career of his protégé, some time-hottie Ralph Reed, and of the bullhorn they wielded— the now-discredited Christian Coalition. Clearly, dreams can come true.)

Unfortunately, when the dust settled, the Republican National Committee adopted language that calls court decisions supporting marriage equality “an assault on the foundations of our society,” and adds that “we believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman, must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.” Take that, child-corrupters in GOProud and Log Cabin Republicans.

This lurch to the extreme would have drawn consternation from even Ronald Reagan. You scoff? Consider: When “Dutch” accepted his party’s nomination in 1980, the Republican platform acknowledged the national debate over reproductive freedom, introducing its abortion plank by saying that “we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general—and in our own party.” Consider that conciliatory prose in light of this year’s authoritarian “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” (The 2012 GOP platform also calls for public display of the Ten Commandments.)

As a small “d” democrat (and a small “l” libertarian), I believe that religious and socially conservative folks should have a voice in our great democratic republic, and representation in our halls of legislation. I have had many close friends from my childhood to the present who were Jehovah’s Witnesses, Southern Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Evangelical Christians, and orthodox Jews, and they have each had a way of believing how the world/cosmos/ existence works, as seen through the prism of their individual faiths, as well as a humane way of treating and dealing with those who their beliefs might consider “different.”

That’s perfectly well and good. Score one for tolerance. (Or in the words of Tony Soprano, “They don’t want my son with their daughters, and I don’t want their sons with mine.”)

Every one is entitled to their own beliefs—but no one is entitled to their own facts (a word that comes from the Latin factum, or “deeds”), and when all is said and done, in a nation of laws, every citizen is entitled to engage in the same “deeds” as every other citizen, including that most desperate deed of all—getting married to the consent adults of their choosing.

Gay Republicans are certainly free to vote how they like, selecting the candidates and ideologies that most closely calibrate to their beliefs, values, morals, principles, and ethics. But they must know that they are doing so as second tier technocrats, who have been granted only the most grudging of nods in their party’s platform. (“We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity.”)

From my vantage point, that just encourages the bad behavior, perpetuating the “Jim Queer” mindset in many on the far right with the tacit endorsement of those who should instead be calling for the full measure of their civil rights the loudest. A dirty deed, indeed.

By Cliff Dunn

SUNRISE – A Sunrise man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder for having sex with a 15-year-old boy whom he infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). According to the arrest documents, Keith “Keyoko” Sumlin met the victim through a “mobile phone app,” and invited him to his home, where they had sex.

The arrest documents note that, prior to their sexual encounter, Sumlin asked the victim, “Are you really 18 years old?” The teen told him that he was “younger” than 17. The affidavit graphically describes the encounter, including several instances of “sexual intercourse (no condom used),” and Sumlin’s alleged references to the teen as “my little slut.”

Sumlin—who is 30 years old, but claimed to be 21 during his alleged encounter with the victim—was arrested on September 5 by Pembroke Pines Police, after they were alerted by the victim’s mother that the man may have sexually assaulted her son. The teen confirmed the story of the encounter, and the alleged sex, to police.

Sumlin, who was held on $280,000 bond, faces seven counts, including attempted second-degree murder, lewd and lascivious molestation, and criminal transmission of the HIV virus. The teen learned of his exposure to HIV after revealing the encounter to a friend who had also been sexually intimate with Sumlin, and who later tested positive for HIV. The minor was taken by his mother to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he tested HIV-positive. His mother notified authorities.

According to the arrest affidavit, Sumlin posted on a “social networking” site, “I ****ed this little boy, videotaped it, and then added it to the online group,” adding, “I don’t use condoms when I have sex and you can call me sick, don’t worry about me, worry about who gave it to them.” The affidavit adds, “Additional videos of the [defendant] were viewed of him engaged in what appears to be unprotected sexual activity with other unknown males.”

Broward County Judge John Hurley cited concern about the defendant’s “intentional behavior.” “It seems like there was a high degree of recklessness, at a minimum, based on your alleged behavior,” said Hurley.

Authorities say that anyone who may have had sexual interaction with Sumlin should contact Pembroke Pines Police at (954) 431-2200.

By Cliff Dunn

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – A Virginia same-sex couple is suing Houston-based United/Continental Airlines for an incident in which baggage handlers removed a sex toy from one of their checked bags, and then smeared lubricant all over it, finally taping it to the bag before placing it upon the baggage claim belt.

According to court documents in the case—Bridgeman, et al v. United Continental Holdings, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc., which was filed on Friday, August 24—Christopher Bridgeman and Martin Borger claim that after they arrived in Houston on a flight from Costa Rica, they retrieved their checked luggage and “discovered, to their horror, that a private sex toy had been removed from one of their bags, covered in a greasy foul-smelling substance, and taped prominently to the top of their bag.”

The suit continues, “Plaintiffs experienced extreme shock and horror when they observed the above described bag, and when observing the surprised and/or laughing faces of numerous onlookers in the baggage claim area.”

The men say that the baggage handlers—who were employed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston—were motivated by “the fact that the sex toy was contained in the bag of a male, and because the employee(s) responsible knew that the bag belonged to a male due to the name tag attached to the bag and the male clothing contained in the bag.”

It adds that “these egregious actions were directed towards Plaintiffs because they are homosexual and because they are males.”

According to the lawsuit, Bridgeman and Borger “seek punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and negligence.”

CLIFF DUNN

I was at a barbecue over the weekend at my boyfriend’s family’s place, and before the corn on the cob had even been thrown onto the gas grill, someone asked me for whom I was voting in November’s presidential election. After good-naturedly breaking his balls about the sacro-sanctity of my vote and its very personal nature, I told him which of the candidates was more in line with my political views, circa-2012, and was immediately assailed with comments, pro and con, about my “guy.”

I honestly don’t have a lot of patience for this kind of ‘polite conversation,’ because I was a radio and television talk show host for ten years, and it doesn’t take much to set my gorge to rising, especially during the quadrennial presidential election cycle. There is very little in the current political climate (that’s watchable for more than three minutes, anyway) that smacks of intelligent, articulated, sober, and rational conversation about the most important issues that matter to us, as a community and as a nation.

The talking heads are spewing the talking points, and talk radio is so Agenda-driven (pardon the pun), that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have become the equivalent of World Wrestling Entertainment “stars:” Loudmouthed, opinionated regurgitators of a canned message that won’t brook (or invite) any debate. (There’s plenty of this to go around on the Left, too, but my homo-animus is momentarily directed towards the ’tards of the Right, thank you.)

I know when I watch one of the tights-clad personae created by promoter Vince McMahon that I am being treated to Theatre of the Grotesque, with larger-than-life depictions of dime-novel villains (or for a more recent, pop-culture relevant specie, Tom Hardy’s Bane in the latest “Batman” film is a perfect example), little more than caricatures to tease some Jungian archetypal yearning of the psyche.

That’s all well on TV—but it has no place in a grownup political conversation, and certainly shouldn’t inform a citizen’s voting choice.

(You can stop laughing now.) Unfortunately, there’s no such “mental warning label” accompanying the likes of Rush Limbaugh as when you are watching the antics of say, Hulk Hogan. But Limbaugh is no less a clown for all that he advocates policies and positions which are oh-so-less-than funny.

But at least I personally know that the pill-popping hypocrite is a clown—what excuse do his legions of Ditto-heads have to offer? Are they so starved for guidance and a firm hand (“paging Dr. Freud”) that they are willing to overlook the dishonesty, fact-twisting, and blatant lies that spew from his nicotinestained lips? They obviously don’t mind that Limbaugh never cast a vote for Ronald Reagan (because he didn’t register to vote until he was 35). Telling other people how they should think is easier, I guess, than making up your own mind.

There’s nothing wrong with being a Democrat, or a Republican, or a Libertarian (small or large “l”), or a progressive, traditionalist, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. What’s wrong is refusing to be an HONEST one of those things. The modern political party system, as practiced in the U.S., is two major corporations competing for sponsorship dollars.

Period. To say it a different way, the DNC and the RNC are like Ford or General Motors, competing for you as a consumer of their product, which is one of ideas. Brand loyalty is fine when it comes to soft drinks, sports teams, and clothing. It’s okay to be a “Chevy man,” or a “Binaca boy,” but to call oneself a “Yellow Dog Democrat” in the context of a modern information age is being willfully ignorant, something which, sadly doesn’t un-qualify a person to vote. My respect and admiration for FDR isn’t about to cloud my worldview concerning the gross and corrupt Vito Lopez of Brooklyn, just as my reverence of Lincoln and my appreciation for Reagan won’t blind me to the disappointment of George W. Bush, or the embarrassment of Sarah Palin and Todd Akin. Nor should they you.

Because I choose—when it comes to my voting franchise, anyway—to be willfully informed, I refuse to allow “brand loyalty” to inform my choice for president any more than it will impact my choice for dinner.

I “enjoy” (in the broadest definition of the word) listening to Limbaugh barn-burn his way to the fringe, because I “get” that he is, on some level, playing a part (as hatefully as did Father Coughlin in the 1930s), just as I get a kick out of the acerbic barbs of the more rational (to my mind) Rachel Maddow. But I understand it to be info-tainment, and I am more likely to make a voting choice based on something that the Economist said about the euro than something Kathy Griffin said about Romney.

The stakes for marriage equality, as well as ongoing efforts like the repeal of the bigoted and un- American Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the passage of ENDA (which even Paul Ryan— although not Mitt Romney— supported), and lingering concerns like the final vestiges of DADT, are too high to do otherwise.

By Cliff Dunn

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – During a Labor Day weekend performance, country singer Hank Williams Jr. launched into a lengthy tirade against President Barack Obama which included critical comments about the chief executive ’ s support for marriage equality and LGBT civil right.

On Sunday, while headlining at the Stockyards Music Festival, Williams, 63, paused to say, “We’ve got a Muslim for a President who hates cowboys, hates cowgirls, hates fishing, hates farming, loves gays, and we hate him!”

Earlier, Williams had complained about “queer guitar pickers” during a performance of his song “All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down.” The singer also enjoined progressive and pro immigrant lawmakers to “move to Mexico” after he performed “We Don’t Apologize for America.”

Williams has melded the message of his country music with extreme populist rhetoric in the past.

During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” in October 2011, the singer referred to the golf summit between the president and Speaker of the House John Boehner as “one of the biggest political mistakes ever,” likening it to “Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu, OK?”

Co-anchor Brian Kilmeade complained, “I don’t understand that analogy, actually,” and a petulant Williams responded, “Well, I’m glad you don’t, brother, because a lot of people do. You know, they’re the enemy. They’re the enemy.” When a confused Kilmeade asked, “Who’s the enemy?” Williams shouted, “Obama!”

Fox co-host Gretchen Carlson quickly distanced herself from Williams’ remarks. “I just want to say that we disavow any of those comments or analogies that he’s made, at least I’m going to say that, disavow the analogy between Hitler and the president,” she offered.

After his Fox appearance , ESPN pulled W i l l i a m s signature single, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” as the anthem for Monday Night Football, which had been used in some form since 1989. During Sunday’s Fort Worth performance, Williams added new lyrics to his single, “Keep the Change,” in which he complains about the ESPN firing: “So Fox ‘n Friends wanna put me down/ Ask for my opinion/Twist it all around/Well, two can play that gotcha game you’ll see.”

By CLIFF DUNN

You might not know that Keith Blackburn, President and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (GFLGLCC), is a local business and community leader by all the time he spends out of the country—until you realize that his travels directly benefit and impact local businesses and allied trades in the place he calls home.

“Nearly 28 percent of travel in South Florida has been related to the LGBT community—that’s huge,” Blackburn told the Agenda earlier this year. He wants to see more of that market spend its tourism dollars in Greater Fort Lauderdale, but Blackburn has a deeper dream for the Gayborhood and its surrounding communities.

Long-term, he and his chamber partners want to see the area become an international hub for global commerce, to make it a commercial center as well as a tourist destination.

To help accomplish that, the GFLGLCC has teamed up with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) to help facilitate the first U.S. Government-backed trade mission to Bogotá, Colombia.

The trip (which will be held from September 11 through 15) marks the first U.S. government-certified LGBT trade mission, which was made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed last year between officials of the NGLCC and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Blackburn sees this as an opportunity for local business owners to take part as credentialed delegates to the inaugural LGBT Summit of the Americas, which will be held in conjunction with the trade mission.

The summit will bring LGBT business leaders from the U.S. face to face with their counterparts in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Uruguay. Among the speakers who have been invited to attend are the Honorable Angelino Garzón, Vice President of Colombia, and the Honorable Peter McKinley, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia.

The trade mission, says Blackburn, is an opportunity for South Floridabased LGBT-certified businesses to meet buyers and business leaders, and to personally meet officials in Bogotá (including the U.S. Embassy’s commerce attaché) and build valuable connections that are crucial to international export and import trading.

Blackburn, a native of Washington, D.C., has spent much of 2012 building the kinds of alliances he hopes to foster in Bogotá, traveling this spring to the ITB-Berlin show, the world’s largest travel trade expo. GFLGLCC, which was formed in 2011, is a 501 (c) (6) non-profit, with a mission to “promote business and economic opportunities for the LGBT and LGBTfriendly community, and to serve as “an advocate and resource for all member businesses that promote equality.” For more information on the GFLGLCC trade mission and summit, or to become a GFLGLCC member, visit gogayfortlauderdale.com

CLIFF DUNN

It Gives New Meaning to the Phrase “Political Blowhard”

An anticipated 50,000 party stalwarts are descending upon Tampa this week for the Republican National Convention, and—according to the comedy Web site Funny Or Die—some of them will be taking full advantage of the city’s “gaiety”—from the vantage point of the Big Tent’s closet. A comedy sketch by Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi (the brains behind the site’s “Michele and Marcus Bachmann” clips), purportedly depicts a GOP bigwig bragging that gobs of money has been spent to ensure that closeted Republicans have access to their Grindr apps inside the convention center. “You know, Grindr isn’t just for gay men,” intones the “organizer. “It’s also for hypocritical, closeted gay men.” (In a related story, the Ybor Resort and Spa—which bills itself as Tampa’s “largest, all-gay, private men’s club, resort, and bathhouse”—is offering free admission this week to RNC delegates.)

Land of the Free; Homo the Brave.

Turns Out People Really Don’t Like Perez Hilton

Poor Perez Hilton: He was OH!- for-four this week, as Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Demi Lovato all unfollowed (which we didn’t even realize was a word until now) the celeb gossipmonger on Twitter, in response, rumor suggests, for his unkind remarks about One Direction member Zayn Malik.

You may have read that Hilton posted a video of Malik in which the singer asks a woman (who isn’t his girlfriend) for a little hotel R&R. Before PH had the chance to post the video, Malik deleted his Twitter account, posting: “The reason i don’t tweet as much as i use to, is because I’m sick of all the useless opinions and hate that i get daily goodbye twitter.”

With poor timing (and even more poor taste) Hilton posted “One Direction’s Zayn Malik DELETES His Twitter! perez.ly/QXFc4j Called it! I said he’d be the first to leave 1D! This is the beginning!” The Mouth That Roared got in another jab at Malik’s fans, adding “THANK YOU for all the laughs @ OneDirection fans! Muah!!!!!!!”

A diplomatic Cyrus offered an explanation for her side of the buzz. “i don’t know why everyone’s saying I unfollowed Perez I never followed in the 1st place,” Miley tweeted. “I have no hard feelings just don’t care 2 gossip.”

Tight Ends and Wide Receivers Against Bullies

The San Francisco 49ers have become the first NFL franchise to record a video condemning anti-gay bullying and violence. The minute long commercial features players Ahmad Brooks, Ricky Jean Francois, Isaac Sopoaga, and Donte Whitner as part of the “It Gets Better” campaign, which began in 2010 in response to a string of suicides by students bullied over their sexual orientation. In the spot, Brooks informs kids, “Something you should never experience is being bullied, intimidated, or pressured into being someone or something you are not.” The team was encouraged by 49er fan Sean Chapin, who collected more than 16,000 signatures on Change.org.

CLIFF DUNN

“It is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the President or anyone else.” – Theodore Roosevelt

I used to love the national political conventions, but no longer. Over the next two weeks, politically active Americans will “drink the Kool Aid” and engage in saber-rattling diatribes and unleash the most unpleasant hyperbole concerning their fellow countrymen since Republicans questioned the bravery, honor, and military awards of John Kerry in 2004 (unless you count their 2008 vilification of Obama’s putative “Muslim religion” and their calling into question his citizenship). Democrats don’t get a pass here, with 30-year-old irrelevancies about Ronald Reagan’s senility, the 1988 “wimp” bombs they threw at George H.W. Bush, accusations in 2004 that his son, George W. Bush, was somehow complicit in the September 11 attacks, ad nauseum. More galling to me than that sort of nonstarter is the quasi-tribal, siege mindset that overtakes the most partisan among us, and the accompanying notion that members of the opposing party are the ENEMY (as if Osama bin Laden gave a rat’s toenail what the political party affiliations were of the World Trade Center’s honored dead).

Each year, the Democrats and Republicans host annual fundraising dinner events which bring local, state, and national brass to the trenches (in this case, ones filled with rubber chicken and contribution envelopes) in an effort to rally the—moneyed—troops and preach the Gospel of Talking Points to the chewing choir. The Democrats’ Jefferson- Jackson and the Republicans’ Lincoln- Reagan dinners are ideological red meat for “starved” political operatives and wannabes, and it never ceases to amuse me that most of the party stalwarts have no clue just who— or what—they are honoring.

Thomas Jefferson was a “small government” progressive who envisioned America as an agrarian society, where laws and regulations would be minimal, allowing the “good sense” of the people to reign as well as rule. In this, he was opposed by Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists, who resemble Mitt Romney and the modern GOP in that they favored the moneyed classes and capital, but they also supported a centralized Federal government to facilitate the growth and stability of the new nation.X

Although many Republicans claim that in today’s political climate, Jefferson would be a member of the Grand Old Party, this doesn’t take into account the 18th Century realities: In the 1700s, America WAS an agricultural nation, and didn’t require the degree of government regulation that a modern, industrialized society demands.X

In fact, it was two bona fide Republican Presidents who set into motion the very “Era of Big Government” that a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, proclaimed to be “over” in the 1990s. Abraham Lincoln’s calls for a national military draft during the American Civil War was the first of its kind—and made northerners hate the Great Emancipator as much as did slaveholders in the then-solidly Democratic south.

Legal scholars of the 1860s were as divided as the nation was in their opinions over whether Lincoln had the constitutional power to prevent southern secession and dissolution of the Union. And his suspension of habeas corpus foreshadowed the modern debate over the Patriot Act’s encroachment into civil liberties (a law, incidentally, that was championed by a “small government” conservative President, Bush-43).

Possibly America’s “biggest government” President, Theodore Roosevelt gave nightmares to bosses of his day’s GOP for his support of progressive causes. (When he was chosen as running mate for the incumbent president, Republican William McKinley, an exasperated machine boss, Mark Hanna of New York, shouted, “Don’t any of you realize that there’s only one life between that madman and the Presidency? What…will he do as President if McKinley should die?” As if on cue, McKinley was assassinated 15 months later.)

The Republican Teddy spoke of a “Square Deal,” a progressive outline for equal opportunity for all Americans—with special emphasis on the importance of fair government regulations over corporate “special interests.” (Read about the Triangle Shirt Factory fire and tell me that employees need LESS workplace protections.) Does that mean that he—or Obama—stand for harm to small business? Uh—no.

Roosevelt made America’s natural resources a national issue. He favored using them wisely, and opposed wasteful consumption. He leaves a legacy of five national parks, 18 national monuments, and 150 National Forests, among other works. Does that make the Rough Rider— or Obama—a tree-hugging nature lover? Is this even actually a bad thing?

In his 1908 Annual Message to Congress, T.R. spoke of the need for the federal government to regulate interstate corporations (under the constitution’s Interstate Commerce Clause), and cited big business’ battle against federal regulations, by appealing to the importance of states’ rights (which was as much a canard in 1912 as it is in 2012).

Child labor laws, workplace safety requirements, an eight-hour work day, and the Republic itself—we owe all these to liberal Republicans. Enjoy Tampa, members of the Grand Old Party.

By Cliff Dunn

TAMPA – Last week, a draft of the Republican Party platform was posted on the Republican National Committee Web site, then quickly taken down—but not before at least one copy was downloaded.

In its foreign policy section—titled “American Exceptionalism”—the draft includes language that reads, “The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the cultural agenda of the [Obama] Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries, especially the peoples of Africa, legalized abortion and the homosexual rights agenda.”

It added, “We will reverse this tragic course, encourage more involvement by the most effective aid organizations, and trust developing peoples to build their future from the ground up.”

Although the section on international human rights addressed, “the work of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, established by Congressional Republicans to advance the rights of persecuted peoples everywhere,” and notes that a “Republican Administration will return the advocacy of religious liberty to a central place in our diplomacy,” no mention was given to the violence and murder against LGBT persons, or the activism against such brutality, which is reported in Europe, Asia, and Africa on an almost-weekly basis. It also fails to address Uganda’s 2009 legislation (still in Parliament) which calls for the death penalty for those found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality.” It was response to acts of violence abroad that moved Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011 to tell UN delegates that “gay rights are human rights.” When President Obama ordered “all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons,” Texas Governor Rick Perry—who was then seeking the Republican presidential nomination— objected that “promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests, and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money.”

The 2012 Republican platform supports “traditional marriage,” which it defines as between a man and a woman. A draft last week calls for a constitutional amendment that recognizes that definition, which would ban gay men and women from marrying. It condemns judges—including Bush-43 appointees—who have ruled in favor of marriage equality, calling it “an assault on the foundations of our society, challenging the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”

It likewise calls President Obama’s decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court “a mockery of the President’s inaugural oath,” and “commend[s] the United States House of Representatives” for taking up the legal slack. Although at press time the platform draft does not call for reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which was repealed by President Obama, it rejects “the use of the military as a platform for social experimentation.”

A cadre of platform committee members consists of former Ron Paul delegates, who reportedly joined with Log Cabin Republicans and other libertarian-leaning members to include the conciliatory statement, “We embrace the principle that all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity.”