Washington DC residents awoke this morning to the sight of a giant AIDS ribbon hanging from the North Portico of the White House in observance of World AIDS Day. Established in 1988, the event occurs every December 1st to focus attention and raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic.  While loathe to give the previous administration props for anything, the practice of hanging the ribbon actually began under former President George Bush in 2007.

Last Wednesday the White House issued a presidential Proclamation marking World AIDS Day, and held a press conference yesterday observing the event.

Interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air, Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, discussed the connection between the Family and Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which prescribes the death penalty for acts of “aggravated homosexuality.”

Mr. SHARLET: Well, the legislator that introduces the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of The Family. He appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Uganda National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda.

GROSS: So you’re reporting the story for the first time today, and you found this story – this direct connection between The Family and the proposed legislation by following the money?

Mr. SHARLET: Yes, it’s – I always say that the family is secretive, but not secret. You can go and look at 990s, tax forms and follow the money through these organizations that The Family describe as invisible. But you go and you look. You follow that money. You look at their archives. You do interviews where you can. It’s not so invisible anymore. So that’s how working with some research colleagues we discovered that David Bahati, the man behind this legislation, is really deeply, deeply involved in The Family’s work in Uganda, that the ethics minister of Uganda, Museveni’s kind of right hand man, a guy named Nsaba Buturo, is also helping to organize The Family’s National Prayer Breakfast. And here’s a guy who has been the main force for this Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda’s executive office and has been very vocal about what he’s doing, and in a rather extreme and hateful way. But these guys are not so much under the influence of The Family. They are, in Uganda, The Family.

You can listen to the interview in its entirety below:

At least we finally have it in writing…

A group of religious leaders representing various denominations released a 4,700 word manifesto today called the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, which formally declares their opposition to gay marriage and abortion, among other things.. The document also encourages Christians to resist and disobey laws contrary to their teachings on those issues.

“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.

The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The document is the usual treasure trove of hate, one of the choicer passages below…

It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law—such persons claiming these “rights” are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.

The signatories for the document is a who’s who of the anti-gay religious establishment, including James Dobson, Maggie Gallagher, Bishop Harry Jackson, Bill Donohue and  Tony Perkins.

Charles Colson, one of the authors of the declaration, pimps the document with some of the usual fear mongering in the clip below…

You can view the document in its entirety here (warning, the link may be a bit slow).

California representative Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) went toe to toe with Stephen Colbert last night in his “Better Know a District” segment where she defended the rights of gays and lesbians to marry, and then enjoyed a bit of skateboarding at the end. Rep. Speier is a staunch advocate for gay rights, supporting UAFA, ENDA and the repeal of DOMA and DADT. While some may wonder whether Rep. Speier was in on the “joke,” I suspect she was simply playing it straight. I’m so glad to have someone like her representing our district. Enjoy.