The Deeply Dishonest Pastor Tom Brown Continues To Fight For Recall Of El Paso Mayor And Two Council Members Over Domestic Partner Benefits, End Of Florida Gay Adoption Ban Engenders One Hundred New Families, NOM Targeting Of Republican New York Senator Mark Grisanti An Obvious Mistake, Openly Gay EastEnders John Clarke Marries Canadian Boyfriend

Pastor Tom Brown wants homosexuals to repent and turn to Christ. He certainly does not want them to be given taxpayer-financed health benefits. Brown, reports The New York Times, is the charismatic leader of Word of Life Church, an independent evangelical congregation of about 1,500 members, and is on a mission to ensure that the domestic partners of El Paso city workers no longer get health insurance. He is spearheading an effort to oust the mayor and two City Council members who supported an ordinance allowing the city to pay for the health benefits of unmarried employees’ domestic partners — gay and straight. “They want to reward fornicators, and they want to reward homosexuals,” Mr. Brown said in an interview, his voice booming with indignation as he pumped his fist for emphasis. The battle over the ordinance and the resulting campaign to oust Mayor John Cook and the two council members, Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega, is dividing a city that prides itself as a liberal Democratic stronghold. For some, it is a symbolic struggle over El Paso’s identity. For others in this deeply religious and largely Latino city, the fight is one that city leaders brought upon themselves and have badly bungled. “These are the things that define a city,” Ms. Byrd said, “and they’re worth fighting for.” The battle over health benefits for same-sex couples began in 2009, when the Council approved a budget item that expanded coverage to unmarried domestic partners of city employees. Ms. Byrd said the move stemmed from a conversation she and other council members had with a gay high school student who said he did not feel welcome in El Paso. The Council’s action drew immediate fire from religious leaders. Brown and a small group of protesters showed up at a Council meeting less than a week later, quoting Bible verses and threatening to initiate a voter referendum. “The only thing I could think of at the time was, If you do this, you’re going to lose the good will of the city,” Brown said. His words, he said, were prophetic. Within a few months, Mr. Brown and his supporters started a petition campaign urging the Council to adopt an ordinance to stop the city from giving health benefits to domestic partners. The Council rebuffed the petition. “They were trying to get us to legalize discrimination against gay people,” Ms. Byrd said. Undeterred, Mr. Brown and his supporters gathered enough signatures to force a voter referendum on whether the city should be barred from giving health benefits to unmarried couples. As the November 2010 election drew near, religious leaders offered free weddings to unmarried heterosexual couples working for the city. They offered to help gay city employees find counselling that the religious activists said would rid them of their homosexuality. The El Paso Times quoted Barney Field, the executive director of El Paso for Jesus, as suggesting that the ordinance was making the city vulnerable to spill-over violence from the drug war in neighbouring Ciudad Juárez, Field adding “El Paso is in a precarious position right now." The referendum passed with 55 percent of the vote. Of the 150 city employees who were subsequently notified that they would lose benefits for dependents, 19 were in domestic partnerships, including 2 who are gay. The cost to the city of providing benefits to the partners of those 19 was about $34,000 a year, Mr. Cook said. Among those also losing their benefits, he said, were foster children, retirees and disabled relatives cared for by city employees. Cook, who was elected in 2005, often quotes Scripture, and his standard response when asked how he is doing is a tranquil, “I’m blessed. How are you?” But in conversation about the debate over domestic partner benefits, his temperament becomes saltier. Recounting a recent speech he gave to local pastors, Cook said he asked who among them was without sin. None raised a hand. “Since you’re a bunch of damn sinners, I shouldn’t provide services to any of you,” he told the group, adding that he did not see where Jesus “told us we were supposed to judge one another.”

For 33 years, Florida barred gays and lesbians from adopting. That changed last October, when Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in Miami ruled the law unenforceable and the state declined to challenge it. Since then, reports The Orlando Sun-Sentinel, family law attorneys estimate more than 100 men and women in South Florida's gay and lesbian community have pending adoption cases. "The phones have been ringing off the hook,'' said family law attorney Elizabeth Schwartz, of Miami.”It's been 33 years of pent up desire,'' she said. After the October decision, the state removed the question of sexual orientation from its application form, although the ban remains on the books and could be challenged down the road. At the Foster and Adoptive Parent Association of Palm Beach County, Executive Director Marie Bond said "we're definitely seeing more families,'' from the gay and lesbian community. Victor Martin, 49, a single gay man, adopted his 21-month-old daughter in December and said he couldn't imagine what his life would be like without her. "I was so attached to her that I was ready to do whatever it takes,'' said Martin, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens. He said he had been a foster parent before, but was ready for a permanent family. The day the adoption was finalized, he said he broke into tears when the judge declared, "She is now your daughter as if she was born to you.'' Robert Lamarche, of Boca Raton, and his partner finalized their adoption of a now 16-year-old boy last year and are now in the process of adopting a 3-year-old girl who was placed with them last year. He said his first adoption involved nasty court battles. "This time around we get to go about it like everybody else,'' Lamarche said. Still, it is going to take time for some to move forward on adoptions, given the years of discrimination in the law, experts say. Jennifer Digilio, 38 and her partner, wanted to adopt in Florida but because of the ban they packed up and moved to California. There, they adopted their now 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter and later returned to Lake Worth. "We took two children out of foster care in California who could have been taken out of foster care in Florida,'' said Digilio.”It seemed pretty strange that the state was saying it's OK to be a foster parent but you can't adopt.'' In the town of Palm Beach, the Odells are gearing up for November, when possibly on National Adoption Day, they will finalize the adoption of their son. Jessie Odell, who had signed up to adopt through Children's Home Society in Palm Beach, said he fell in love with his son's picture before he even knew his story. They were initially told the boy was troubled, but Jessie Odell said he simply needed stability and a loving home. Since being placed with them, they say his grades have improved and his behaviour is typical of a child his age. Their son calls Cooper Odell "dad,'' and Jessie Odell '"daddy.'' Once, he asked them why he has two dads. Jessie Odell responded: "because you're very lucky.'' "I think he agrees,'' said Jessie Odell, adding he believes they're just as fortunate.

The Buffalo News rightly suggests that the National Organization for Marriage’s targeting of Republican State Senator Mark Grisanti is actually a gift. A NOM-sponsored billboard reading “Mark Grisanti, You’re Next” appeared last week, Grisanti of the few Republicans who voted in June to pass New York’s marriage equality law. According to the News, “The “You’re Next” is apparently a reference to last month’s victory of an anti-gay- marriage Republican in the special election for the disgraced Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat. Claiming it as a victory for the anti-marriage equality cause is a nice try. But suggesting that gay marriage had an impact on a race that was far more of a referendum on national Democratic policies is like crediting a lucky rabbit’s foot for the Bills’ 3-0 start. That’s not all the billboard gets wrong. In a delicious irony ... the sign helps Grisanti more than it hurts him. If the folks behind the attack ad, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), had a grasp of local politics, they would have held their fire and saved their money. The more they succeed in making marriage equality an issue in the 2012 race, the more good it does Grisanti. The 60th Senate District, which runs from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, has five times as many registered Democrats as Republicans. In a recent poll, three of every four of those Democrats backed gay marriage. Attacking Grisanti on the issue plays to his strengths –particularly if he, as rumoured, jumps back to the Democratic Party. For all of the “harm” the billboard does him, NOM might as well have reminded voters that Grisanti loves his mother, adores apple pie and pledges daily allegiance to the flag. ‘Most people in the district side with me on the [gay marriage] issue … I think I made the correct vote,’ Grisanti said Friday. ‘I believe everyone should have the same right [to marriage] that my wife and I do.’”

EastEnders star John Partridge wed his boyfriend Friday, The Mirror reporting that the actor, who plays ­Christian Clarke in the BBC drama, married Jon Tsouras in a civil ceremony. John, 40, had been with Canadian-born Jon for eight years before the pair decided to marry. They were married in front of family members and close friends at the Trafalgar Tavern pub in Greenwich, South East London. Other guests included Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner and a number of John’s fellow EastEnders stars. John, voted the sexiest male at the 2009 Inside Soap Awards, spoke of his desire to get married last year. He said, “We’ve been together for seven years and it’s about time I made an honest man of him.” Christian is one of ­EastEnders’ most popular characters thanks to his explosive storylines with his gay lover Syed Masood.