Tag Archives: Delaware

Delaware GOP Chairman Forced To Resign After Posting Gay Slur on Facebook

Delaware GOP Chairman Forced To Resign After Posting Gay Slur on Facebook

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Chris Rowe, the chair of the New Castle County Republican Committee in Delaware is being forced to resign his position after using a derogatory term for a gay man in a Facebook post. Rowe agreed to resign after GOP chairwoman Jane Brady called him Wednesday and asked him to step down from the appointed position.

Rowe has said that he making the decision “begrudgingly and only under duress.”

Rowe’s Facebook homophobic post about last Sunday’s Texas church shooting has been removed from his page.

“Faggots cannot handle reality,’’ Rowe had posted in response to a friend’s comment on his page.

After the post was discovered Rowe told the Delaware News Journal earlier that he wouldn’t apologize for using the slur. He called it “locker room talk” with a close friend and said he isn’t homophobic.

But after being told to resign he changed his story:

“I just got frustrated and used an improper word,’’ said Rowe “I made a mistake. God doesn’t create perfect people and I can verify that because I ain’t one.”

He said he never intended to offend gay people or anyone else.

“If the use of this word in any manner, injured or upset or really hit hard at the emotions of an individual and hurt them, really hurt them inside, I’m heartfully sorry,’’ Rowe said.

Regardless state GOP chair Jane Brady, a former Superior Court judge and attorney general who appointed Rowe, reiterated Friday that he had to step down.

Brady said she had spoken to many people within the party who were alarmed by the statement, and some who were not, before deciding her course of action.

“One of the people that called me said that they felt that this was a word that was used when they were in boot camp all the time, and I said, Well, what was the connotation then? It’s the same as the connotation now. It’s offensive.’ ”

Man Charged With Hate Crime After Assaults At Delaware Gay Pride Festival

Man Charged With Hate Crime After Assaults At Delaware Gay Pride Festival

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A Delaware man has been charged with a hate crime after assaulting a man at a gay pride festival and groping two others on August 11th.

Dover police spokesman Mark Hoffman says witnesses at the festival contacted police, after finding a 62-year-old man bleeding from a punch in the mouth. Sean Wiley was identified as a suspect. Police say he was drunk and shouting slurs at festival attendees.

 Besides the the assault Wiley also “grabbed the private body parts” of a 31-year-old man and 46-year-old woman at the festival. Hoffman says Wiley tried to punch an officer, and was arrested.

 Wiley was initially charged with Offensive Touching (3 counts), Assault 3rd Degree, Menacing, Disorderly Conduct, Public Intoxication, Trespass 3rd Degree, and Resisting Arrest (felony). As the investigation progressed, police obtained a warrant for the Hate Crime charge.

 Wiley was arrested and committed to the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, but has since been released on bond. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer.

Beau Biden, Son of Vice President Joe Biden, Dies Of Brain Cancer At Age 46

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Joe Biden and Beau Biden

 

Joseph “Beau” Biden III, son of Vice President Joe Biden, died Saturday at age 46  after battling brain cancer, according to the vice president’s office.

“Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known,” his father wrote in a statement.

In 2013, Beau Biden was treated at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after he became disoriented and weak while on vacation. He was diagnosed with brain cancer, and after undergoing surgery was given a clean bill of health.

The cancer returned this spring and Biden pursued aggressive treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the vice president’s office said. He died Saturday evening, surrounded by his extended family.

Beau Biden is the second of Joe Biden’s children to precede their father in death; the vice president’s 1-year-old daughter Naomi was killed in a Christmastime car accident in 1972. The crash also took the life of Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia, who was Beau’s mother.

After serving as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia for nine years, and briefly working in private practice, Beau Biden won his first election for attorney general in 2006 by 13,000 votes. When he was re-elected in 2010, Beau Biden increased his winning margin to 149,000 votes over his Republican competitor.

During his time in office, Biden took aggressive tactics to tamp down on child sex crimes perpetrators, netting 180 convictions. He also went after banks and mortgage lenders for their roles in perpetrating crooked loans.

A captain in the Delaware Army National Guard, Beau Biden was deployed to Iraq for a year in 2008, serving in an administrative post with the 261st Signal Brigade.

Beau Biden, like his father was dedicated to fight for  LGBT Equality.

In April 2013, Beau Biden joined Delaware Governor Jack Markell in supporting marriage equality legislation, and the governor signed it into law in May.

A month later, he urged state lawmakers to pass legislation that would establish legal protections based on gender identity.

“I support providing protections from violence and discrimination based on gender identity and expression under Delaware law,” Biden said in a video released by Equality Delaware.

On Saturday, Vice President Biden said in his statement, “More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brother. His absolute honor made him a role model for our family. Beau embodied my father’s saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.”

President Barack Obama, writing in a statement, quoted Irish poet William Butler Yeats — a favorite of the vice president’s — in honoring Beau Biden’s life.

Yeats wrote, “I have believed the best of every man. And find that to believe it is enough to make a bad man show him at his best or even a good man swing his lantern higher.”

“Beau Biden believed the best of us all,” Obama said. “For him, and for his family, we swing our lanterns higher.”

Back2stonewall’s sincerest condolences go out to the Biden family in this their hour of loss.

Delaware Becomes The 11th State To Pass Marriage Equality!

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The gay civil rights movement continues to gain momentum as Delaware becomes the 11th state in our country to pass a law allowing same sex marriage. This was done at what seems like record speed as it appeared to only be in the beginning stages and faced a potentially drawn out battle from those opposing the bill. But quick and persistent action combined with the passage of same sex marriage in Rhode Island just last week propelled the bill further along than expected, albeit a very welcomed turnout. Here’s more:

The marriage bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 12 to 9 Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s a great day in Delaware,” said Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, who signed it within minutes of passage before an overjoyed crowd of activists. “I am signing this bill now because I do not intend to make any of you wait one moment longer.”

Same-sex couples will be eligible for marriage licenses on July 1.

Delaware adopted same-sex marriage just five days after a similar decision in Rhode Island and after ballot-box victories last fall in Maine, Maryland and Washington.

During three hours of emotional debate before the vote Tuesday, State Senator Karen Peterson, a Democrat, said she had lived with a female partner for 24 years, and she challenged opponents of extending marriage to gay couples. “If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, then you need to work on your marriage,” she said, eliciting cheers and laughter.

A Republican opponent of the bill, Senator Greg Lavelle, said before the vote, “We won’t fully understand the impact of this legislation for years to come.” Mr. Lavelle, the minority whip, said it was “strange” to “have to defend traditional marriage that we have known for thousands of years.”

In Maine, Maryland and Washington in November, same-sex marriage won in state referendums for the first time. In eight other states, now including Delaware, and in the District of Columbia it has been adopted by legislatures or required by court decisions.

Public opinion on the issue is shifting quickly, with polls showing that a majority of Americans support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

“The momentum continues,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based advocacy group that aided the campaign in Delaware.

This win will inevitably draw attention to the efforts of LGBT advocates that are pushing bills in both Illinois and Minnesota that would allow same sex marriage. And adding another state may show the Supreme Court Justices who will be ruling on Prop 8 and DOMA this summer that they need to take into consideration the evolution and change this country is working towards.

Both Rhode Island And Delaware Make Advances For Marriage Equality

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The fight for marriage equality has heated up as not only one but two states advanced measures that would allow same sex marriage. First came the news that Rhode Island’s marriage equality bill had advanced past the Senate Judiciary committee:

Late this afternoon the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-4 to recommend S38, the marriage equality bill, to the full Senate. This move sets up Rhode Island to join the five other New England states in allowing for same-sex marriages. 
positions Rhode Island, the final holdout in New England, to pass marriage equality. This.

The vote on the full floor of the Senate will be tomorrow (Wednesday).

Then later on today came the news that Delaware is a step ahead of Rhode Island and had also made advances in a similar bill that would allow same sex couples the right to marry:

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The state House on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill legalizing gay marriage in Delaware, barely a year after the state began recognizing same-sex civil unions.

The measure cleared the House on a 23-to-18 vote and now goes to the Senate, where supporters and opponents expect another close vote.

Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has promised to sign the bill if it passes the Democrat-led legislature.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Markell, who met with supporters of the bill in his Legislative Hall office immediately after Tuesday’s vote, which saw five Democrats break ranks with their party and oppose the measure.

What does this mean? Well for one it is a great day to see that all the hard work of LGBT activists and advocates of equal rights is gaining momentum. And it shows that politicians and legislation is finally beginning to reflect the majority of the citizens of this country that support equal rights. In what could now be three states (Delaware, Rhode Island, and Illinois) that are all making advances in marriage equality legislation then we’d be up to 12 states (and the District of Columbia) that have marriage equality. My hope is that this will be taken into account during the DOMA and Prop 8 decisions from the Supreme Court in the next few months.

GOP “Family Values” Candidate Eric Bodenweiser Arrested For Molesting 10 Year Old Boy

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Deleware’s GOP state Senate candidate Eric Bodenweiser, an anti-gay card carrying member of Delaware’s Family Policy Council, which is officially associated with Focus on the Family has been arrested for the child molestation of a 10-year-old boy.

The indictment includes 113 felony sex charges, including 39 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse — first-degree and 74 counts of unlawful sexual contact — second-degree. Although the indictment doesn’t identify the gender of the victim, the Gape Gazette identified the victim as a boy who allegedly was sexually abused by Bodenweiser between Oct. 1, 1987 and Aug. 31, 1990 when he was between the ages of 10 and 13. Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the Delaware Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, said the victim, who is now in his 30s, has spoken to the media and revealed details not disclosed in the indictment but which are expected to surface at a trial. – Lou Chibarrro at the Washington Blade

Sometimes I wish I believed in heaven and hell, because there is a special place in hell for people Eric Bodenweiser.

Shocking, disgusting and evil.

Guilty dogs bark the loudest.  One has to wonder how long before Perkins. LaBarbera, and Fischer are exposed?

Watch The FULL Debate Between Christine O’Donnell and Chris Coons – O’Donnell Compares Gays In The Military To Adultry (Video)

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She could run but she couldn’t;t hide.  last night in Delaware Christine O’Donnell Christine O’Donnell shared a stage with New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) in their first debate.

On the  “Dont Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal O’ Donnell stated that it would not be up to her if elected to push her “personal agenda” about the repeal and “it should be left up to the four Joint Chiefs of Staff. But in the end O’Donnell comapred gays in the Military to Adultry.

“The military already regulates personal behavior in that it doesn’t allow affairs to go on within your chain of command. It does not allow it you are married to have an adulterous affair within the military. So the military already regulates personal behavior because it feels that it is in the best interest of our military readiness. I don’t think that Congress should be forcing a social agenda on to our military. I think we should leave that to the military.”

This stands in stark contrast to where she would push her “personal agenda” when speaking on abortion she said did say would support abortion ONLY in cases “where the life of the mother was at risk”  Using her non-personal agenda remark the shouldn’t abortion  rights decisions be left up top the Department of Health and Human Services?

Of course the Republican quislings are already applauding her debate.  Because its a HUGE thing that she didn’t come off as crazy as she is and they are also blaming Wolf Blitrzer and a local Delaware reporter for treating O’Donnell unfairly.

*Yaaaaawn*

Watch As Maddow Rips Into "Ex-Gay" Proponent And Senate Candidate For Delaware Christine O’Donnell (Video)

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Rachel Madow ripped into “Ex-Gay” proponent and Delaware Senate Candidate For Christine O’Donnell Friday Night on the Rachel Maddow Show.

O’Donnell has the backing of Sarah Palin and is a Tea Party Candidate running as a Republican because the Tea Party really is Republican.