Posted on 12/18/2005 5:42:02 PM PST by tsipple
Barbara Kenny's eyes narrow as she cranks the faucet in a freshly painted bathroom of what will soon be her new home in Frederick. [....]
"This just makes me madder and madder," Barbara says, staring out the window at the bare February landscape. "I mean, this is a perfectly fine house, it's just not where we want to be."
Where they want to be is Virginia, in the little townhouse in downtown Fredericksburg they've owned for 17 years, in the community they've come to treasure. It took them three decades of isolation and living in the closet to find Fredericksburg, and come out as lesbians. [....]
[They] were watching television in their living room rocking chairs in the summer of 2004 when they heard the news they'd been dreading for months. A new law in Virginia had taken effect, called the Affirmation of Marriage Act. It declared that couples like them were not entitled to any of the benefits or protections that straight, married couples got. [....]
For Barbara and Tibby, the legal language it used was scary: A civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited and such an arrangement entered into in another state or jurisdiction is void in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby are void and unenforceable.
Tibby initially refused to believe that the legislation was aimed at Barbara and her. They were law-abiding, low-key Virginians, people who ran their neighborhood homeowners association, called bingo nights at the firehouse and served on their church's board of trustees. "That's not meant to include us. It means people who come from other states," Tibby said with her typically earnest tone to Barbara, who responded with a typically skeptical look.
[Continues....]
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Barf alert:
Some choose to leave - New documentary tells story of longtime lesbian couple who left Virginia
A Unitarian Universalist couple leaves Virginia to preserve their rights.
Unitarian Universalist - is a liberal religion and life. We believe that personal experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in religion, and that in the end religious authority lies not in a book or person or institution, but in ourselves. We are a "non-creedal" religion: we do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed.
http://www.uua.org/aboutuu/
Whadda surprise - not. I would also not have been surprised to see these ladies hooked up with the United Methodist church which has become amazingly liberal in recent years. As a result, I dropped out.
In a new documentary titled A Love Story - In the Face of Hate, lesbian couple Barbara Kenny (right) and Tibby Middleton, share their history and explain why they decided to leave Virginia. (Photo courtesy of SuMo Productions)
“I feel that Barbara and Tibby helped put a face on the law,” Moe says of Kenny and Middleton. “Once you get to know these women, you can put a human dimension on the consequences of [the] law.”
“A Love Story — In the Face of Hate,” starts off laden with emotion, due to the soulful singing of lesbian musician Gaye Adegbalola, a longtime member of Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women. In the 38-minute film, she sings: “They came for the black, they came for the Jew, they came after them, they might come after you.”
Moe, a graphic artist, and Adegbalola have been together for 14 years. Moe directed and produced the documentary, which focuses on two women who met in high school, parted ways and later got together again. Before moving to Maryland, they lived for years in Fredericksburg, Va.
Middleton married a man and became active in her Mormon church and had two children. Kenny, who has an interest in art and drag racing, became a psychotherapist.
One graceful moment occurs when Tibby, a former teacher in Fairfax County, says that upon the two women’s reunion, Barbara asked her if she was happy.
snip
Moe includes commentary in the film from Leila Kilgore, a Fredricksburg attorney who opposes the law and talks in the documentary about how it could affect gay couples’ wills, joint property and bank accounts (LIAR!).
“Virginia is not for lovers,” Kilgore says in the film. “It’s not about love.”
Tibby Middleton (left) and Barbara Kenny play their guitars together at home. They're leaving Virginia because of a law that may invalidate legal documents they have to protect each other.
Caption: Tibby and Barbara singing, "Kumbayah...."
Film will be used to educate
March 13, 2005 1:09 am
By LAURA L. HUTCHISON
Couple's story being shared
When Fredericksburg artist Suzanne Moe first picked up her video camera to make a documentary about her friends, she never could have imagined the paths it would take her down.
She wanted to tell the story of Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton, a lesbian couple who'd been a vital part of the Fredericksburg community for years. They were her friends, and a Virginia law that went into effect last year made them feel they had to leave the state they'd called home for decades.
The documentary was intended to explain to friends at the Unitarian Universalist fellowship, which Moe and the couple both attend, why they had to leave.
But the small documentary turned into a big project, and now Moe's film is being distributed around the state and the country.
"Inform, educate and activate," Moe said. "That is our mission."
http://tinyurl.com/bxv9a
GAY COUPLE MAKE FILM OF GAY COUPLE (did I mention they are all gay?)
Gaye Adegbalola, Moe’s partner and close friend of the couple
"A Love Story in the Face of Hate" provides an insightful, entertaining and educational glimpse into the often misunderstood “gay lifestyle.”
Study Guide:
A study guide is now available for download at: www.sumoe.com/lovestory/LoveStoryGuide.pdf
This 38 minute DVD can be used as a tool to educate, facilitate and promote informed discussions within a variety of group or classroom settings.*
Educate:
BRING IT! (to your school…)
by Candace Gingrich
Youth Outreach Manager
Human Rights Campaign
In 2004 the Virginia state legislature passed the most draconian measure in the country, prohibiting contracts which “purport to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage” between two individuals of the same gender. A Love Story in the Face of Hate is an inspiring and educational documentary that looks at this law’s impact through the eyes of one couple, forced to leave the state when the discriminatory legislation went into effect.
Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton, both in their 60s, aren’t activists; they are two people who have loved each other for nearly 40 years and simply wanted to live out the rest of their lives together, confident that legal steps they’d taken would enable them to always care for each other. After Barbara was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, these issues were of even greater importance. Unable to risk having their legal contracts invalidated by the new law, the couple made the difficult decision to leave Virginia.
Barbara and Tibby provide a very real glimpse into the misunderstood and often demonized "lifestyle" of GLBTQ America, and by doing so, they put a face on the law’s oppression and its far-reaching consequences. The battle against this specific legislation in Virginia, and similar legislation across the country, continues. Learn the policies of your state and promote informed discussions in your community.*
The documentary also features three songs by Gaye Adegbalola of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women.
http://www.sumoe.com/lovestory/support.html
* Educators: share this film with your students!
A Discussion & Study Guide is available for download at: www.sumoe.com/lovestory/LoveStoryGuide.pdf
From Fredericknewspost.com
Their Love Is Here To Stay
Opinion: Joe Volz
December 9, 2005
The couple first met as Utah high school students but lost touch when they graduated a half-century ago. A decade later, they got in touch again and fell in love. They will celebrate their 40th anniversary together next month. It will not be a wedding anniversary, however. Frederick’s Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton, both 67, are banned by Maryland law from getting married. Their crime? They are lesbians. The News-Post’s Katie Leslie wrote of their dilemma on page A-1 on Wednesday.
Ms. Kenny, a retired psychotherapist, and Ms. Middleton, who was a Fairfax County high school teacher, are not rabble rousers. No, they made the best of it living as second-class citizens for years in Virginia.
That is, until last year when the state legislature passed a law prohibiting any contracts “purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage” between those of the same sex.
http://tinyurl.com/9fe6h
Equality Maryland, the state’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization
"Teach the Facts - Just Say NOW to Comprehensive and Inclusive Health Education"
Equality Maryland co-sponsors the screening "Views of Justice Film Series: Cruel and Unusual"
"Queer Eye for the Bible" at Annapolis Church
(Annapolis, Maryland) Queer Eye for the Bible - a hard hitting look at how the Bible has been used to control, condemn and hate a multitude of groups over the centuries.
Equality Maryland and National Black Justice Coalition Unveil New Publication on Homosexuality and the Black Community
South Africa’s Highest Court Rules In Favor Of Marriage Equality
Equality Maryland Expands Advocacy Efforts with New Lobbyist
Efforts To Force Gay-Related Bills To Referendum Die
Episcopal Diocese Of Maryland Rejects Marriage Discrimination
Equality Maryland Urges Montgomery County Public Schools To Stick By Decision To Teach The Facts
Bring it! To your campus...
A Love Story DVDIn 2004 the Virginia state legislature passed the most draconian measure in the country, prohibiting contracts which "purport to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage" between two individuals of the same gender. A Love Story in the Face of Hate is an inspiring and educational documentary that looks at this law's impact through the eyes of one couple, forced to leave the state when the discriminatory legislation went into effect.
Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton, both in their 60s, aren't activists; they are two people who have loved each other for nearly 40 years and simply wanted to live their lives together, confident that legal steps they'd taken would enable them to always care for each other. But Barbara was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and unable to risk having their legal contracts invalidated by the new law, the couple decided to leave their home state.
Barbara and Tibby put a face on the law's oppression and its far-reaching consequences. The battle against this specific legislation in Virginia, and similar legislation across the country, continues. Learn the policies of your state and promote informed discussions at your school. This 38 minute DVD can be used as a tool to educate, facilitate and promote informed discussions within a variety of group or classroom settings. The documentary also features three songs by Gaye Adegbalola of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women.
More information including a study guide, additional downloadable resource materials, and ordering options are available at: http://www.sumoe.com/lovestory/
Did you receive this from a friend? Want to sign up to receive Gen EQ News? E-mail campus@hrc.org to subscribe
Human Rights Campaign
Escape from the red states: gay parents can wake up to find that their home state wants to break up their family. Some fight back; others simply leave for friendlier locales
Advocate, The, July 19, 2005 by Kelly Griffith
Boxes are stacked in the garage, the walls are barren, and an air mattress on the den floor serves as bed for the night in the Orlando, Fla., home of Janine Kirchgassner, 45, and Julia Robertson, 43, and their children, Jessica, 6, and Matthew, 4. It's their last day living here, and the moms look tired. They have a right to--it's their second move in three years.
snip
When Virginia passed its law last year, that rendered moot many contracts between gay partners, Barbara Kenny, 66, and Tibby Middleton, 67, knew it was time to leave their home state of more than 35 years.
For years the couple had numerous legal documents protecting them in case of sickness or death, but the law seemed to make many of them useless. "I said, 'Tib, let's go,'" Kenny says.
More...
http://tinyurl.com/bqurv
Associated Press continues to feed the media fantasy that the impeachment proceedings against Clinton are all about his racial policies. AP reporter Michelle Boorstein went out of her way to elicit some of these reponses from "representative" black citizens:
Writer Michelle Boorstein smears Caner thusly:
Most of his books have focused on Islam's "trail of blood," as he calls Islamic history, and when prominent Southern Baptist leaders call Muhammad a "demon-possessed pedophile" — angering Muslims worldwide — they have cited Caner as their source.
it would be far more helpful when writing about an author, it's often helpful to at least skim through his latest book.
Selling Christian music without selling out
Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post
Antiabortion Group Plans 'Campus'
by Michelle Boorstein
The Washington Post With its small sign and plain, wood-cabin-style design, the modest Stafford headquarters of the American Life League underplays what lies within: a plan to revolutionize the antiabortion movement.
Call a lawyer...you can appoint anyone you want to be in charge of your affairs. This is all about forcing homosexual marriage down our throats. It is not marriage. In my opinion Homosexual couples should not receive benefits and can do anything they wish in the privacy of their home. Keep your sex life private, it is of no interest to me.
I don't think that the majority of gays are after "marriage" but are after benefits from the government that heterosexuals have. If you are born gay, make a commitment to a partner, why shouldn't they receive these benefits as tax paying citizens?
Translation: A lefty meeting-house with church tax-benefits
The precedent has been set for the State to determine how children will be assigned to parents. By severing the ties of children to their natural parents, this action also lays the groundwork for the State takeover of child-rearing.
The problem isn't generating such a document, the problem is getting it's terms honored.
IMO, the concern is not theoretical, for example immediate family members at odds with designated decision makers appear to me to be in much stronger position given the wording of this law.
In my case, were I not married and lived in a state with this law, and given that I have serious reservations based on prior experience about the capability of my biological relatives to hone my wishes on these matters, I would be very concerned over the possibility of legal challenges to a DPA designating a non-relation as my decision maker.
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