Victory Fund-endorsed candidate Steve Kornell has won his groundbreaking race for a seat on the St. Petersburg City Council.  The first-time candidate is a social worker in local schools and the latest in a growing number of LGBT Floridians seeking local office in a state with virtually no statewide protections for the LGBT community.

I will do a more thorough update on this later in the day when I have found the actual decision and combed through it, but I wanted to say up front, that reports suggest that the Florida  court decision to deny a dying woman’s family access to her room in the trauma wing of a Florida hospital seems to be based, not on partner rights policies, but on a general proposition that patients in trauma rooms have no absolute right of visitation or access.

So, the fact that Lisa Pond’s wife was treated in a blatantly homophobic manner was not at issue for the court. They side-stepped the question of partner rights in hospitals (which they had to because Lisa’s wife, Janice had a power of attorney they were obligated to acknowledge) and determined that no individual has the right to visit a patient in the trauma wing if the hospital sees fit to bar them entry.

This is an amazing after-the-fact revision of events, permitting the court to uphold discrimination even when the law does not do so.

Lambda Legal has time to review this dismissal and look for other legal avenues to pursue. Here’s hoping they can find a way to confront the homophobia of this hospital head on. Only then can they undo this wishy-washy piece of legal reasoning handed down by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Posted Wednesday to Southeast Florida Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade’s blog (via Steve Rothaus)

For a long time in the life of the Episcopal Church we have been dealing with the realities of human sexuality. We have wrestled with who’s in and who’s out, who can be ordained and who can’t, which relationships are to be blessed and which are not.

With the passage of Resolution C056 at the 76th General Convention in July, we opened the door a little bit to permit our clergy to respond pastorally to same-sex couples who have been legally married in jurisdictions where such civil marriages are permitted.

Accordingly, I intend to authorize the clergy of this diocese to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have been legally married in states or countries where this is possible. This authorization will not apply to civil unions, domestic partnerships or any other legally recognized status other than marriage; this is no more nor less than we do for heterosexual couples who wish to have their unions blessed by the Church—they must be married.

I would emphasize two points: First, our General Convention did not authorize Episcopal clergy to perform same-sex marriages, and consequently, I am not authorizing any clergy to perform same-sex marriage in this diocese; and second, no priest in this diocese is ever under any obligation to perform any marriage he or she feels is inappropriate.

I have appointed a representative committee of diocesan clergy, chaired by Dean Douglas McCaleb of Trinity Cathedral, to develop some liturgical guidelines for proposed same-sex blessing services. I anticipate that these guidelines will be ready in four to six weeks for any clergy who request them.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at bishopfrade@aol.com.

The state is appealing a Miami-Dade County judge’s November 2008 ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The ruling came in the case of Martin Gill, who along with his partner has adopted two young boys. The appeals court is hearing arguments Wednesday in Miami.

State attorneys say the judge essentially legislated from the bench and that state lawmakers should decide the matter. Attorneys for Gill and the two boys say the judge was expected to review the facts in detail before making her decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Gill, calls Florida’s gay adoption ban the broadest such law in the nation.

Crist said he isn’t trying to take credit, but he told a group of real estate agents Friday that he’s had prayer notes placed in the Western Wall in Jerusalem each year and no major storms have hit Florida.

Crist noted that just before his election in 2006, Florida had been affected by a total of eight hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

“Do you know the last time it was we had a hurricane in Florida? It’s been awhile. In 2007, I took my first trade mission. Do you know where I went?” said Crist, a Methodist, referring to a trip to Israel.

He then told of going to the Western Wall and inserting a note with a prayer. He said it read, “Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties. Charlie.”

“Time goes on – May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December – no hurricanes,” Crist said. “Thank God.”

Last year, Sen. Nan Rich was traveling to Israel and Crist asked her to put a note in the Western Wall, a holy site in Judaism and a place where written prayers are traditionally placed.

“It was the same note, by the way, the same prayer,” Crist said.

This year a friend was going to Israel and he gave him a prayer to put in the Western Wall.

“You can do it on the Internet now, but I’d rather have it physically in there,” Crist joked.

The note was placed in the wall in May.

“May, June, July, August – we’re getting closer,” Crist said. “Knock on wood. I would ask you all to say a prayer.”

Afterward, he said he’s not taking credit for the lack of storms in this hurricane-prone state.

“I give that to God,” Crist said. “But it’s nice.”

This is a good story to end the work week on. Yeah I know it’s not gay news related, but if you get prissy your heart is colder than those yahoos at Westboro Baptist “Church.” Please go get some help. Like today. Remember Damon Weaver? The precocious kid reporter from Florida who was looking for an interview with President Obama? Well he got it last night.

Weaver, Pahokee’s favorite son, sat down for 10 minutes  with Obama in the White House Diplomatic Room. The interview ranged from the serious (give Weaver props for asking about bullying and violence in our schools) to the silly. Damon would like french fries served at every school lunch (not too outlandish really).

This morning the 11 year old boy will be hitting the morning shows on CNN and MSNBC. And I hear talk of him holding a press conference on the South Lawn.

Don’t want to be too cynical (yeah I do) but this feel good story comes at a perfect time for the White House. Obama will be in Montana today  for a town hall meeting on health insurance and if it gets hot, the White House can just point to Damon and the press will lose its mind. This kid is catnip. Remember during the inauguration festivities when  ABC News’ Diane Sawyer almost adopted him?

For the prissy ones already banging at the keyboard about how their grand  gay day has been ruined forevah, here is something you’ll like. While Damon was all respectful to his interviewee, a former president was taken to the woodshed for DADT and DOMA. Blogger Lane Hudson, who exposed Mark Foley for the creep he is, was listening to Bill Clinton at the Netroots Nation conference and had enough. Hudson  stood up and interrupted the Big Dog, and gave him grief for DADT and DOMA.

Two things stand out: apparently some in the audience booed Hudson and some old lady told him to leave. Progressives really hate it when you bring up stuff they don’t want to deal with. Second, part of Clinton’s response is instructive.

“You wanna talk about ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn’t deliver me any support in the Congress and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempt to let gays serve in the military and the media supported them. They raised all kinds of devilment. And all most of you did was to attack me instead of getting some support in the congress. Now, that’s the truth.”

For six months I’ve been reading how President Obama hasn’t done squat for the gay community. Heck I’ve written some the stuff myself. All fair. All fair. Yet presidential leadership does not operate in a vacuum. It would be nice if politicians did the right thing, but it’s naive to think a president is going to put his/her toe in something without cover. Even Damon knows that! What did Franklin D.  Roosevelt say?

“I agree with you, I want to do it; now make me do it.”

RIP Les Paul.

Under the leadership of Kennedy, the former pastor who died in 2007, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was a forerunner to modern evangelical megachurches and a fiercely conservative voice on social issues like homosexuality and abortion in the mostly liberal, Democratic city of Fort Lauderdale.

Graham’s grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, took over earlier this year as its pastor.

But some Kennedy loyalists, including his daughter Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, are upset with the direction Tchividjian is taking the church and have called for his ouster.

Tchividjian cuts a far different image from Kennedy. His hair is spiky, his beard sometimes scruffy, his skin tan. He has forgone wearing a choir robe at services, as Kennedy had.

And while he has shown no sign of theological differences with Kennedy, he has rejected politics as the most important way to change the country, while Kennedy was extremely active in politics as an influential Christian broadcaster.

Cassidy and five other members recently circulated a letter with a petition urging a meeting to consider the firing of Tchividjian, indicating he had misled them in their search for a new pastor.

Dissenters at the church have been vague in their criticism of Tchividjian’s leadership. Their letter called him “a disaster” who has shown “a complete lack of respect” and made “grievous missteps.”

They lament the merger with Tchividjian’s former church, the far smaller New City Presbyterian, saying “their staff has taken complete control.”

“We were told many things that all sounded good at the time, but in fact those soothing words have largely proven empty and it keeps getting worse,” the dissenters wrote. “They range from preferences bordering on the mundane to violations of ethical standards that have guarded the purity of the church for decades.”

Tchividjian dismissed the dissenters as “a super small but very vocal minority” in an e-mail message to The Associated Press, but referred calls to Bill Ashcraft, a longtime member and church elder. Ashcraft estimated fewer than 100 of the church’s roughly 2,000 members support the pastor’s dismissal.

“They would like for things to be exactly as they were under Pastor Kennedy,” Ashcraft said. “We didn’t bring Tullian Tchividjian to Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church to do exactly what D. James Kennedy was doing.”

After the Coral Ridge members circulated the first letter, Tchividjian called a meeting to address their concerns, but Ashcraft said none of the dissenters attended, instead sending a second letter. After that, they were told they were not welcome at the church until an internal judicial process was complete.

“They spelled out some vague complaints for the pastor but they didn’t ask for any modification of anything. They just asked to sign a petition to sever this pastor’s relationship with the church,” Ashcraft said. “It’s hard to negotiate with people like that.”

Jim Filosa, a Coral Ridge elder who along with his wife is among those disciplined by the church, said he couldn’t discuss the matter in detail. Cassidy and others who were disciplined didn’t return calls seeking comment, but Filosa said Kennedy’s daughter shouldn’t be described as the effort’s ringleader.

“She is just one voice in many,” he said.

Cassidy still remains on the board of Coral Ridge Ministries, the broadcast ministry founded by her father that is technically separate from the church, though it is closely affiliated. A spokesman for Coral Ridge Ministries, John Aman, released a statement saying despite Cassidy’s involvement in the leadership challenge, there was no further comment.

Ashcraft said the hope is that the dissenters eventually rejoin the fold. In an Aug. 6 letter to congregants, Tchividjian wrote “No church government can tolerate such an insurrection from those who will not listen to admonition, refuse all counsel and will stop at nothing until they have overthrown legitimate authority and replaced it with their own.”

Tchividjian, 37, is the middle of seven children born to Stephan Tchividjian and Graham’s eldest daughter, Gigi. He attended Coral Ridge and its adjacent school as a young man and Graham officiated at the church’s dedication ceremony. Tchividjian eventually dropped out, spending about five years partying on South Beach before recommitting to Christ, joining the seminary and becoming a minister.

Coral Ridge’s founding in 1959 marked the creation of what would become one of the country’s first megachurches. It had been without a pastor from Kennedy’s death in September 2007 until Tchividjian was appointed in March.

When questioned whether he would support changes to the law, Gov. Crist told reporters, “I’d have to think about it.”

Three hours later, however, Gov. Crist reaffirmed his support for “traditional families” only to adopt while speaking at an event in Jacksonville as a part of his statewide tour for “Explore Adoption Day.”

In 1977, Florida passed a law that made it the only state in the country to ban gay adaption. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently suing to have the law overturned. ACLU and other groups believe that preventing gay adoption prevents some children from being adopted.

“Excluding a class of people is harmful to children, particularly those in our state who have had gay foster parents,” ACLU spokesman Larry Spalding told The Associated Press.

Read the full Jacksonville.com story here.

Judge Cindy Lederman has been removed from her 15-year post as top administrative judge over Miami-Dade’s juvenile courts. The new chief justice over Miami courts says he wanted new perspectives and leadership.

Lederman ruled in November 2008 that Florida’s gay adoption ban was unconstitutional, a case now on appeal. She also oversaw numerous juvenile justice programs in Miami and publicly scolded state officials in 2002 following the disappearance of 5-year-old foster child Rilya Wilson.

The new top judge in Miami’s juvenile courts is Orlando Prescott. Lederman will remain a juvenile court judge and says she respects the decision.

Liberty Counsel, a faith-based legal group, had asked the high court to prohibit the bar’s Family Law Section from filing a friend of the court brief in an appellate court that was considering Florida’s ban of adoptions by homosexuals. The justices ruled 5-2 in the case on Thursday.

The bar brief supported a trial judge’s ruling that declared the ban unconstitutional. That decision is on appeal to the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami.

The high court majority ruled Liberty Counsel failed to show the brief violated its constitutional rights or that the bar broke its own rules.