National
Scott Brown, Mitt Romney spokesman behind offensive Twitter account
Brown refused to participate in anti-suicide video series; spokesman turned incident into controversial Twitter joke using pseudonym
Scott Brown was absent from the Massachusetts delegation's 'It Gets Better' video. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
A fake Twitter account meant to make fun of a Massachusetts politician ended the month of July by making light of the “It Gets Better” campaign to help prevent teen suicide has been linked to a spokesman for both Sen. Scott Brown and Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.
Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior campaign adviser to U.S. Senator Scott Brown, admitted unapologetically this week to the Boston Globe that he was behind the “CrazyKhazei” Twitter account meant to lampoon Alan Khazei, who hopes to face off against Sen. Scott Brown as the Democratic candidate from Massachusetts in 2012.
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“It’s horrifying that Scott Brown has chosen to look the other way after his senior adviser was caught making fun of a project whose sole aim is to prevent youth suicide,” Kevin Franck, communications director with the Massachusetts Democratic Party told the Blade. “Instead of telling LGBT youth across Massachusetts that it gets better, the junior senator has demonstrated that he is perfectly willing to tolerate the same kind of anti-gay bullying that has tormented so many young people.”
Fehrnstrom admitted setting up the fake Twitter account, telling Glen Johnson of the Boston Globe “It was my Twitter account.”
“Sometimes we take our politics too seriously and this was my way of lightening things up,” Fehrnstrom told the Globe. “As they say in politics, if you can’t stand the tweet, get out of the kitchen.”
Fehrnstrom, however, may have gone a bit too far when he posted a tweet at the expense of the popular, “It Gets Better” campaign to help communicate hope to LGBT youth most at risk to attempt suicide.
Screen Shot of the offending tweet on the "CrazyKhazei" Twitter feed. (Screen capture by Washington Blade)
“I promise to devote all my time in office making gay videos. Shame on Scott Brown for focusing on jobs!” the July 31 tweet read.
The ‘joke’ came at a time when Scott Brown received criticism for not joining the rest of the Massachusetts delegation to the U.S. Congress in making an “It Gets Better” video encouraging troubled and bullied LGBT youth to seek help rather than end their lives in suicide. According to studies LGBT teens are up to four times more likely to do when compared to straight counterparts.
Scott Brown released a statement saying: “While it’s clear Eric was seeking to inject a little levity into politics on his own time, I wasn’t aware of what he was doing.”
“While Senator Scott Brown may think that this was ‘just injecting a little levity’ in the campaign, he should know that what he’s trying to pass off as juvenile behavior is actually very hurtful to LGBT people not only in his home state, but around the country,” Michael Mitchell, National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director, said in a statement released last week. “The fact that Fehrnstrom set up a fake account that appeared to be from a Democratic challenger is dirty politics, plain and simple.”
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The Twitter account has since been deleted, but staffers from the Democratic ‘Blue Mass Group’ captured the stream before it was deleted, and compiled all of the tweets into a single PDF file. The Washington Blade was able to grab a screen capture from that file which shows the Tweet.
Bay State Stonewall Democrats Co-chair Claire Naughton expressed outrage over the tweets. “Statements like that are indicative of a person’s value system. I cannot believe that Sen. Brown has not already fired Fehrnstrom from his campaign.”
Brown was the only member of the Massachusetts delegation to Congress to refuse to participate in making an “It Gets Better” video, which has seen the participation of the President, Secretary of State Clinton, many sports teams, celebrities and national political and entertainment figures.
At the time, his spokesman Colin Reed explained the Senator’s absence saying “His main focus right now is on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track.”
Despite several attempts, the Blade was unable to receive a response from the Scott Brown campaign.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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