“It’s time for Belmont to change and to recognize that we have gay students, faculty and staff,” said Curb, who is also a trustee emeritus at Belmont. “I want to see this board and the school leadership act like Christians.”

It’s probably the harshest criticism that has been leveled at Belmont University to date. And there’s been quite a bit. Students and alumni have protested outside of Belmont buildings. The Faculty Senate passed a resolution saying that employees shouldn’t be fired on the basis of sexual orientation. And local columnists have said that the school is fostering a culture of intolerance and discrimination, cloaked in a misinterpretation of religious values.

But the power of having a major donor to the University call attention to the LGBT problem on campus is pretty significant. Nothing quite catches the ears of administrators like a man with a $10 million wallet.

Curb went on to add that Belmont University has a choice to make about what kind of school it wants to be. Does it want to be the type of school that caters to a national audience, and builds a reputation that puts it among the elite schools of the country? Or does it want to be a school, ala Liberty University or Regent University, much more concerned about a stiff commitment to conservative religious values than on a national reputation for success?

“Belmont has to decide whether they want to be a national recognized university — particularly with their school of music business — or they want to be a church,” Curb said.

That underscores a very important point. Nobody is denying the right of Belmont University to hold religious values. Indeed, some of the best schools in the country have deep religious traditions that frame their identity. But the question remains: Is Belmont the type of school where gay Christians, or those straight Christians who believe that homosexuality is not a sin, can feel comfortable? The University should say, so that faculty and staff know what’s expected of them, and that students (both current students and incoming students) know what to expect on campus.

Photo credit: Belmont University

Millionaire Donor to Belmont University: Christians Don’t Fire Gay Employees

Even though the population size grew enough to consider the species recovered, many of the factors that led to brown pelican endangerment are still prevalent today. Which is why Change.org community member, Dagmar Jesensky, is petitioning California to return brown pelicans to the state’s endangered species list.

Poisoning from the pesticide DDT caused the brown pelican population crash back in the 1960s, along with a number of other bird species, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Despite an EPA ban in 1972, DDT is still having effects on bird populations today, such as the federally endangered California condor.

Having just been declared recovered last year, IBRRC worries that, while the number of pelicans in California has “recovered,” the population has not stabilized.

Brown pelicans are considered an indicator species. Dependent on water for food and breeding, chemical contaminants from oil spills and runoff can decimate the population quickly. One notable example from the eastern U.S. is the Gulf oil spill earlier this year.

It’s not just recent oil that is harming wildlife. Turning our attention back to California, a freighter that sank near San Francisco in 1953 appears to still be causing problems for brown pelicans. Approximately 457,000 gallons of fuel went down with the ship. California Department of Fish and Game estimates close to 52,000 birds have been killed as a result of the periodic fuel leakage from 1990 to 2003.

In the San Francisco Bay area, Jesensky has also noticed an increase in sewage spills in recent years. In February 2009, over 1 million gallons of raw sewage and stormwater spilled into San Francisco Bay in the span of a week.

IBRRC cites domoic acid and botulism poisoning, as well as juvenile pelicans dying from starvation, as other dangers to brown pelican survival. Domoic acid, commonly found in red algae, have neurological effects on brown pelicans. Anchovies, a large component of the pelican’s diet, consume vast quantities of toxic algae. There are even indications that domoic acid can cause epilepsy in humans and sea lions.

Jesensky witnessed firsthand the effects of domoic acid poisoning on brown pelicans in the San Francisco Bay area: “Then some pelicans started doing an unnatural thing — they were stretching their long necks backwards in the middle of the flight. It looked as if they were experiencing some kind of a spasm.”

Additionally, IBRRC is concerned about the number of brown pelicans that get caught in fishing lines.

Starvation is no longer just affecting juvenile pelicans. This past winter, a thousand dead pelicans washed up on the shore of California. A collaboration of California Fish and Game, IBRRC and others rushed to save surviving pelicans and try to figure out what caused the unusual deaths.

With all of these threats, what’s the obstacle to endangered species re-listing? Since brown pelicans are considered a benchmark — a standard of a successful endangered species recovery program — placing them back on the endangered list, at the state or federal level, would be tantamount to admitting failure.

That doesn’t deter Jesensky, who is petitioning to have brown pelicans returned to the endangered species list for both California and at the national level. The road that lies ahead is challenging, but well worth it to watch these magnificent birds return to their former glory in both health and numbers.

Photo Credit: Franco Folini

Was the California Brown Pelican Recovery Celebrated Too Soon?

The report says that rabbits were fed a diet high in fat to increase cholesterol levels to egregiously high levels and to harden their arteries. Then, the companies fed the animals tea in their water, ostensibly to demonstrate that if the levels decreased, they could market their product as having health benefits. Rabbits weren’t the only test subjects; mice were bred with severe bowel inflammation problems, and then fed tea to see if it helped. And piglets were infected with E. Coli, to give them diarrhea, and I suppose the tea companies felt that their product might have an effect on that, too?

In any event, even if tea had helped the artificially, intentionally sickened animals, they were all killed afterwards for their trouble. It doesn’t get less natural than this.

And this might not be all. Other reports have stated that the Lipton brand uses animal products in their teas — like blood. To dye it the right color.

The companies’ silence on these issues are disturbing. Apparently, Lipton did not respond to repeated calls for a statement on the findings. Twinings, however, verified that it doesn’t use animal products or employ animal testing in the making of its products. So if you’re interested in certifiably cruelty-free tea, you might want to switch.

Tea companies are using your dollars to fund ridiculous, unnecessary, painful and deadly tests on animals that don’t improve human health but only the company’s bottom line. Animals should not have to suffer and die just so large corporations can make specious claims as to their products’ health benefits.

The National Anti-Vivisection Society has tons of research about the pros and cons of animal testing, which you can read here. But it boils down to this: the physiology of the animals, and the way they are artificially sickened, means that whatever “benefits” Unilever determines their products have mean pretty much nothing for regular people with high cholesterol and irritable bowels who drink Lipton, Lyons, and PG tips teas. If you like their teas, awesome. But if you’re drinking it solely to ensure you don’t die from a heart attack or stroke, you might need a different kind of help.

Agree? Then tell Unilever, the parent company of the Lipton, PG tips, and Lyons brands, to end their use of useless animal testing. And until they do, vote with your wallet; this winter, curl up with a mug of something else.

Photo credit: psd

How Many Animals Have Died for Your…Tea?

Let’s share some Theo memories as evidence (really, watch and feel instantly happy):

Remember the Monopoly talk with Cliff? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFY0HBkUm8o

How about “Jammin’ on the one”? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuHRQC3gHmU

And of course, he looks excellent in a hat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvGdfOfLFw

Don’t you want to see how Theo is spending his time and money these days? Does he keep in touch with Stevie Wonder? Did he get his pilot’s license? Do he and Cockroach live together? Does Rudy ever stop by? So many questions! (And successful sitcoms are founded on so much less.)

Sign on here and encourage the TV powers that be to bring back Malcolm Jamal Warner as Theo Cosby! As my husband put it, “If Frasier can have a show, Theo can have a show.” Word.
Hey, NBC, give Theo Cosby a sitcom!

Photo courtesy of tonrulkens on flickr

With the release of and subsequent media frenzy surrounding Pope Benedict XVI’s published comments on condom use has come a renewed debate about religion, sexuality and public health. And it’s not just about “male prostitutes.” While the Pope’s original declaration referred to the fact that condom use may be a moral act for male prostitutes wishing to prevent against sexually transmitted infections, the Vatican later clarified that — oh, wait a minute — women, men and transsexuals also may use condoms to protect themselves against transmission of disease, thank you very much.

Many progressive Catholics and organizations say these statements have opened the door to the potential to have a more realistic conversation about the role condoms play in protecting the health and lives of women, men and young people globally.

But, of course, the conversation has been happening for years between public health experts, advocates and those who use condoms. We already know that condoms are the only sure-fire contraceptive method for women who want to prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. However, Catholics for Choice say that many Catholic health providers working for Catholic aid agencies in developing nations are secretly handing out condoms while fearing for their jobs since condom use is still unacceptable as a tenet of the Church. Catholic groups like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States have stood in the way of ensuring access to condoms, as well as to the funding of other HIV/AIDS prevention strategies that work — like comprehensive sex education in developing nations — for too long.

The best way we can “use” the Pope’s comments on condoms, in this country, is to put pressure on Catholic health agencies working on the ground in these poor nations to formally integrate condoms into their prevention strategies.

The Catholic Church is one of the largest providers of AIDS relief services in developing nations. Agencies like the U.S. based Catholic Relief Services (CRS), that provide crucial health services but will not promote condom use or distribute condoms, are funded mostly by the U.S. government. Andrew Green on Change.org writes that CRS spent upwards of $170 million on HIV/AIDS related programming in 2009. As Jodi Jacobson writes on RH Reality Check, HIV positive women in primarily Catholic countries who can only access health care from these Catholic agencies, do not have access to the means to protect themselves from pregnancy or re-infection without condoms.

That is entirely unacceptable.

Tell Catholic Relief Services (CRS) that if it’s good enough for the Pope, it’s good enough for the women, men, and young people around the world who have the right to access the public health proven strategies, like condom use, to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. Pope Benedict’s opinion that condoms may be the most moral course of action in certain circumstances shines a new light on the way Catholic aid agencies may approach HIV/AIDS prevention. Join public health advocates in saving lives and tell Catholic Relief Services to start distributing condoms — because including condoms in any prevention programs is necessary and moral.

Spread the Pope’s Condom Message To Catholic Health Workers

According to Warren Throckmorton, a Christian psychologist and blogger covering Uganda’s efforts to criminalize homosexuality, Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati is set to attend a December 6-8 conference in D.C. held by the International Consortium on Government Financial Management. The conference is set to take place at the Enrique Iglesias Conference Center at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Throckmorton spoke to Bahati in mid-November. At the time, Bahati said that his Anti-Homosexuality Bill would not face a vote in parliament until after February 2011 elections. But Bahati is still very confident that the bill will pass.

“Bahati said that due to the upcoming elections no significant legislative work is anticipated. He continues to believe that the bill will be considered and debated in Parliament after the elections,” Throckmorton reports. “Mr. Bahati said that the delay should not be taken as a sign of lack of support by the committee chair or his peers in the Ugandan Parliament.”

So there you have it. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill — which would criminalize homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment, and even throw in jail straight people who work on behalf of LGBT rights, or straight people who do not disclose to the government people they know who are LGBT — won’t become law before February 2011. But it is still very much on the table, and something that Bahati continues to champion every chance he gets.

And the International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management, as well as all their sponsors for the upcoming December 6-8 conference, are comfortable with someone like Bahati attending?

Indeed, the conference is sponsored by a cadre of corporate players. There’s Grant Thornton, an international accounting and consulting firm; Casals & Associates, an international development company; FreeBalance, a global software solutions company; Mosley & Associates, a management consulting outfit; and Graduate School, a worldwide group running government-centered education programs. These corporate cats are all OK with having their name attached to a conference where a politician like Bahati, who wants to literally kill gay people and look straight allies in jail, will participate?

That’s hard to believe. Send these companies a message that their name shouldn’t be attached to anything that a politician like Bahati is participating in, and send a message to the organizers of the International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management that they should not welcome the participation of Bahati. This is a man who, if his legislation passes, would stand by and let a genocide against LGBT people take place in his country. He does not belong at the table of world political and business leaders.

Photo credit: YouTube

Ugandan Politician Behind "Kill the Gays" Bill To Attend U.S. Conference?