PFOX answers my question, Obama and the Advocate, and other Thursday midday news briefs

Regarding my post about Peter Sprigg's award nomination, PFOX has emailed me the name of the award it nominated him for:

The Montgomery County, MD Public School’s Award for Distinguished Service to Public Education

Which brings further accentuates the point of my post. Nominating Sprigg for this award is like giving a Grammy to one of those American Idol rejects. And I mean the really bad ones.

Exodus International Responds to the APA Resolution on Change Therapy - Guess who's not happy with the APA's decision on ex-gay therapy.

There are a lot of phone calls to make about ENDA co-sponsorship - Oh geez. I got DeMint and Graham. Who's got roots on me?

Details Emerge About the Estate of Author E. Lynn Harris - Miracle upon miracle! BET is talking about a possible gay issue. Granted it's about deceased author E. Lynn Harris and his estate but hey, it's better than Soul Plane.

Top gay magazine bemoans Obama - Top gay magazine The Advocate breaks from its schedule of celebrity stoking to criticize President Obama's inaction on lgbt issues. Pot, meet kettle.

Freepers upset over APA repudiation of ex-gay mess

While the folks at the phony news service One News Now have been silent over yesterday's decision by the American Psychological Association that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments, the Neanderthals at Free Republic aren't at a loss for words.

I love those morons. Their comments always make very pro-lgbt victory even sweeter:

No one bats an eye when a straight guy goes gay but the thought of a gay guy going straight drives them bonkers.

Yeah. I’m actually in support of this. If we start normalizing therapy to change sexual orientation it’s only a matter of time until people start talking about straight to gay therapy for “repressed” children and adults. Or straight to a “happier, more natural, and well adjusted bi-sexuality” for people. I’d rather leave the lid on this bowl of fish and say that people should work this out for themselves without psychologists poking their brains.

The drive to normalize homosexual sex started with pressuring the APA (American Psychiatric Association) to remove homosexuality from their diagnostic manual. Homosexuality was correctly (in my opinion) described as an abnormality or disorder to be treated. The homosexuals are the ones that pressured the APA into removing it from their DSM.

The APA declaration is totally false and politically motivated.

you shouldn't support anything the APA advocates. It is a corrupt organization that spews out lies and non-science to back the gay mafia, who have taken over control of the agency.

The fact that homosexuals have changed orientation is a fact. Even the homosexualist, and closet homosexual, child abuser, Kinsey, stated that sexuality was fluid. It is all about sexual morality. Most homosexuals are emotionally damaged--either molested or/and mentally abused when a child--or complete pagan hedonists.

Do you honestly think that people who rape babies are "born" with that orientation? APA believes it is NOT a learned behavior..which is bullcr*p.

Primates, when denied their natural mother and a natural environment produce offspring, who not only are super aggressive and antisocial, they become sexually dysfunctional (think sexual deviants Gacy, Keppler, Dahmer, Roelm, Hitler, Manson, Kinsey, --it is endless..... Abusive parenting creates sexual deviancy. By advocating and encouraging homosexuality, you are advocating child abuse.

True, in Greek and Roman societies homosexuality was glorified as in many pagan societies...Plato even mused on the glories of man-boy sex, but without Judeo-Christian influence, that was the norm......and to think it isn't a learned behavior is absurd.

Editor's note - While it's usually my policy not to interrupt Freeper rambling, I must comment. I find it odd that this person mentions amongst examples of "sexual deviants" homosexual serial killers but conveniently says nothing about Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, the Yorkshire Ripper, Gary Ridgeway, or Harvey Glatman - heterosexual serial killers. Granted, this person's tangent is enough to suggest that he or she get some type of medication, I felt I just had to add that bit.

If you look below the surface of this report, the implications are outright disturbing. Homo-leftists will run with this proclamation to the max and will literally attempt a push for criminalizing such therapy. This will dovetail perfectly with their ever-earlier indoctrination of young children - effectively brain-washing them into a never-to-return condition. Homosexuality will be effectively mandated by law.

Why would a Christian advocate a pseudo-science that is pressured by political activists to change their labels, without relying on scientific facts or data to back up it statements..The APA lost me when they were taken over by the gay mafia.....by caving into the pressure of the militant homosexuals to take their lifestyle choice off of the mental disorder list proved it was not a scientific organization, but a political propaganda one.

I swear, you just gotta love "dem Freepers."

Senator DeMint will not address the lie he told about hate crimes legislation

So many things happened today that I was almost didn't know what to write about.

First there was this:

Commentary: The APA Says ‘No Evidence’ In Support of Ex-Gay Therapy

then there was this:

BREAKING NEWS: ENDA introduced in Senate

So while "everything was coming up roses" so to speak, it looked like I would have to play "eeney, meeney, miney, mo" to decide what to write about.

Then a certain email hit my box from Sen. Jim DeMint. It reads in part like such:

Dear Mr. McEwen,

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for S.909, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. As you may know, this bill would create a new federal crime for willfully causing bodily injury to any person because of their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

Like you, I believe all criminals who commit violent crimes should be severely punished. However, I also believe all crimes are hate crimes, and have concerns that expanding federal hate crimes law would turn almost any crime involving willful bodily injury into a federal felony.

Additionally, the broad language of this hate crimes legislation will unnecessarily extend federal law enforcement beyond its constitutional bounds. Expanding federal involvement in an area that is truly a state and local law enforcement responsibility undermines the authority and effectiveness of those officials, and creates conditions for arbitrary and politicized prosecution of certain cases.

I will spare you the rest of the email because it's as boring as what I have shown you.

And totally off the subject of the email I sent him. My email addressed this letter that Sen. DeMint sent to pastors around the country telling them that hate crimes legislation would lead to them being arrested for preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

I even wrote a post about it.

But Sen. DeMint wouldn't even mention the letter he wrote nor did he continue to tell the lie about pastors being arrested.

Maybe I should be glad that it seems as if DeMint is abandoning that lie. But I'm not.

To me, the thing worser than telling a lie is pretending that you never said it.

LaBarbera launches nasty attack against transgender community, Joe Jervis makes Linda Harvey mad, and other Wednesday midday news briefs

The Autumn of Pete's discontent - One of the main things I don't live about religious right spokespeople is their blatant hypocrisy. They like to say that lgbts are meanspirited while at the same time trying to piss away their own nastiness. Not only is Peter LaBarbera misleading in his latest ramblings, but he also attacks a very intelligent online buddy of mine, Autumn Sandeen. Jeremy from Goodasyou.org doesn't let him get away with it.

Linda Harvey: JMG Is A Liar - Joe Jervis has got Linda Harvey running scared. Damn I'm jealous!

Amsterdam mayor marries U.S. gay couples on canal - This is awesome!

Tempers flare over benefits for gay, unwed city employees - It's ridiculous that certain things are brought up for a vote, like people's benefits for example.

After Third Day of Counting, Washington Signature Fail Rate is 13% - Speaking of which, the Washington petition may have problems. Good!

Religious right spokesperson who wanted to 'export homosexuals' nominated for an award

PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays), that bastion of ex-gay phoniness has just nominated Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg for an award for "distinguished service in public education."

PFOX head Regina Griggs said the following:

For the past four years, Mr. Sprigg has served on the school board's Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development. The 15-member Committee consults with professional educators within the public school system in developing and evaluating the student sex education curriculum.

Mr. Sprigg has spoken out in favor of including former homosexuals in the county's "Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality" school lessons. These lessons promote tolerance of homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, cross-dressers, and the intersexed, yet failed to include ex-gays, which is the only disfavored group within the public school system. Without Sprigg, the ex-gay community and parents would not have a voice in the public schools.

Mr. Sprigg also enabled public school staff to promote a positive learning environment that holds mutual respect for others by participating in PFOX's flyer distribution program. PFOX distributed flyers to every high school student in the Montgomery County public schools urging the elimination of bias and prejudice against former homosexuals and their supporters. Students also received factual information on sexual orientation and resources on alternatives to homosexuality.

How sweet.

Griggs doesn't give the name of the award but based on his past history, nominating Sprigg for any award having to do with the tolerance and the advancement of education is like nominating one of those really bad American Idol rejects for a Grammy.

Isn't Peter Sprigg the SAME GUY who said the following:

" . . . I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe that homosexuality is destructive to society."

And you don't have to take my word for it, isn't that right, Peter:



Also based on some of the papers he has written for the Family Research Council, Sprigg wouldn't know factual information if it came to life and kicked him in the keister.

He helped to write the paper Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples and the book Getting It Straight, both of which have a plethora of inaccurate information (including numerous studies taken out context) regarding the lgbt community.

I talk about both the paper and the book and their numerous errors here and here.

At the time in which I wrote the two posts, I inaccurately gave another employee of FRC, Timothy Dailey, sole credit for writing these pieces. As you can see here, Sprigg had a hand in writing these pieces.

The only reason why Sprigg exists on this committee is to undermine anything that would benefit lgbts in a positive manner. He doesn't speak for tolerance and understanding but lies and obstruction.

From what I understand, his appointment was the result of a long and drawn out lawsuit over the school board's sex education program.

Also, there are enough reasonable members of that committee to cancel out any madness he may bring up.

But isn't it alarming that this man who would like to export gays and lesbians from the United States, who has no problem with creating junk science on gays and lesbians is on a committee that is supposed to look after the well-being of children, including those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender?

I don't know what award PFOX nominated Sprigg for but I've got one for him.

But to say what it's called would cause me to "lose my religion."

Peter Sprigg's "research:"

The Family Research Council continues to use 'outdated' work

Another flawed piece of work courtesy of the Family Research Council


The lies of PFOX:

UPDATE - PFOX answers my question. And someone is still distorting the issue

Another update from yesterday's post: PFOX caught distorting study

UPDATE - The following letter from David S. Fishback, Member, Board of Directors, Metro DC PFLAG and past Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee (2003-05), gives a very good view of the situation regarding Sprigg's appointment to the committee:

While Peter Sprigg was appointed to the Montgomery County Board of Education's Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development in 2005 as part of the settlement of a court suit seeking to stop the Board from implementing changes in its health education curriculum setting forth accurate information on sexual orientation, the settlement agreement has expired, and the Board was under no further obligation to seat Mr. Sprigg.

Readers should be aware, however, that after the 2005 lawsuit was dropped, the Board started the process over again and, after winning a second lawsuit in 2007-08, implemented curriculum revisions that, in most respects, were even better than the curriculum that was derailed by the temporary restraining order issued by a federal court judge in May 2005. Mr. Sprigg's presence on the Advisory Committee failed to stop the Committee from recommending and the Board from implementing the curriculum improvements.

Mr. Sprigg's presence on the Committee is irrelevant to what PFOX says about the flyers it distributes: "Mr. Sprigg also enabled public school staff to promote a positive learning environment that holds mutual respect for others by participating in PFOX's flyer distribution program. PFOX distributed flyers to every high school student in the Montgomery County public schools urging the elimination of bias and prejudice against former homosexuals and their supporters. Students also received factual information on sexual orientation and resources on alternatives to homosexuality." These flyers are distributed pursuant to a quarterly program by which any non-profit group may distribute flyers in the schools. In fact, most of these flyers -- which assert nonsense that is contradicted in the curriculum and is contradicted by the information provided to the Guidance Offices -- are simply tossed in the trash can by the students. Indeed, Metro DC PFLAG also uses the flyer distribution program to pass out accurate information for students and parents.

It is worth noting that it appears that none of the other 14 members of the Advisory Committee (including members of the Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG and Teachthefacts.org (a grassroots group formed to support comprehensive, accurate sexuality education in Montgomery County), as well as the immediate past and now present Chair and Vice Chair) share Mr. Sprigg's views. Indeed, PFOX conveniently omits from its press release the fact that Mr. Sprigg has been remarkably unsuccessful in convincing his fellow Committee members or the Board of Education or the MCPS staff to follow the fringe views of PFOX and of his employer, the Family Research Council.

The advantage, I suppose, of having Peter Sprigg on the Advisory Committee is that it gives the other members a preview of the right-wing party line. Those members are well aware that they have to examine closely everything he says and examine any "authority" he cites.) Indeed, by having him on the Advisory Committee, the right-wing is deprived of the argument that their views are not even being listened to. What we have done in Montgomery County over the past 6 years is to give Mr. Sprigg and his allies every opportunity to make their case. The rest of us listen, check out their sources, check out what the mainstream medical and mental health professional associations have concluded -- and then roundly reject the PFOX/Family Research Council nonsense.

As long as Mr. Sprigg does not engage in the kind of obstructionist tactics that his allies in Montgomery County sought to use in years past, his presence is not a problem. In dealing with public policy, there is no reason not to listen to many sides -- as long as no one acts like the shouters at the current Congressional recess town hall meetings. I have debated him on a state-wide news program, and I have never seen him behave in such a manner.

Another black celebrity swears that he isn't gay and other Tuesday afternoon news briefs

You will get a kick out of this. Apparently my piece on Bill Maher's birther monologue got a real rise from one birther. You gotta read his comment. After all, he broke out of the insane asylum to post it. Go here and pan down to the comments.

When you stop laughing, check out the following other news briefs.

South Carolina is such an embarrassing place to live - I don't know what's worse - having a hypocritical governor, zany elected officials, a statute at the State House commemorating the life and times of bloodthirsty racist Ben Tillman, or the fact that John Stewart eviscerates the state for only two of those things:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Thank You, South Carolina!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

October’s march on Washington leaves some activists perplexed - I've said it once and I will say it again - NO MORE DAMNED MARCHES! No more going to marches where we hold dumbly decorated signs, say silly slogans, and then go home and not know what the hell we need to do next. I say stay home and support your local lgbt communities!

Clinton Portis Does Not Come Out Of The Closet - Oh look; another black celebrity talks about not being gay. Funny thing though - nobody was asking.

Meet Another Maine Couple Affected By SFMM's "People's Veto" - The push to ban gay marriage in Maine is no joke. And it's affecting our brothers and sisters in a negative way.

We’ve Lost: U.S. Census to Count Gay Marriages - How come we overcame and nobody told me? Hat tip to goodasyou.org

Bill Maher's birther monologue speaks to gay community's ego problem

Please forgive me for not including any news briefs today. But a video of a Bill Maher monologue has been on my mind.

He was talking about the birthers but his words leads me to say the following:

Sometimes I feel that any points of progression made by the religious right are in part the fault of the lgbt community.

We have the resources to expose their lies, their reliance on Paul Cameronesque studies and their constant stigmatization of us on a large scale. And we have the numbers of support to back us up when we do.

But many of us don't believe in talking about these things. I think our community on the whole has an ego problem.

There are some of us who have this idea that to focus any attention on organizations like the Family Research Council or Concerned Women for America or wacky religious right talkings heads such as Peter LaBarbera or Linda Harvey is beneath us.

Some of us have this idea to do so would give the religous right more attention than they deserve. And that is part of the problem. That mindset is egotistical and if we don't get our noses out of the air and to the grindstone, the lgbt community will never get to where we need to be.

But Bill Maher says it much better than me. Below the video is the transcript. Again, he is talking about the birthers, but his words can relate to the lgbt community. We have allowed lies about us to grow and spread. And now we need to mow down a shitload of crabgrass:



TRANSCRIPT: Never underestimate the ability of a tiny fringe group of losers to ruin everything. For the past couple of weeks we've been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of the "birthers", the far-right goofballs who claim Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and therefore the job goes to the runner-up, Miss California Carrie Prejean.

And you know there is nothing you can do to convince these people, you can hand them in person the original birth certificate with the placenta, and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background, and they still would not believe it.

"Hey birthers, wanna hear my theory? My theory was that Obama was born in America and you were born with the umbilical cord around your neck. I don't know what his mother was doing when she was pregnant, but I'm pretty sure your mom was drinking."

Oh, I kid the birthers, there's one thing that makes me think they could be right. We're Americans, of course we're gonna hire an illegal alien to clean-up.

I'm joking, of course. And laughing it off has also been the reaction from Democratic leaders so far. Proving that Democrats never learn. But if you don't immediately kill errant bulls**t, no matter how ridiculous it can't grow and thrive like crabgrass or Cirque du Soleil. This birther stuff might be a deluded right-wing obsession, but so was Whitewater and look where that ended up: "What are they gonna do, keep expanding the case until they impeach the President over a blowjob?"

Yes.

I'm telling you that in America there is no idea so patently absurd that it can't catch on. Have you ever met a Mormon?

Or, more recently, we had the Swift Boat allegations against John Kerry, making him, a genuine war hero, a coward in a race against the guy who never left Texas. It was so stupid Kerry refused to even discuss it and we all know how well that worked out.

Well, you may ask, how something as inane as Whitewater or Swift Boats or the birther-thing gains traction? Well I'll tell you how, the same way that the story of Elton John almost dying from ingesting too much of Rod Stewart's sperm gained traction in my high school, dummies talking to other dummies.

It's just easier now because of the internet. And because our mainstream media does such a lousy job of talking truth to stupid.

Lou Dobbs said recently, "People are asking a lot of questions about the birth certificate." Yes, the same people who want to know where the Sun goes at night and where to put the stamp on their e-mail. And Lou, you're their new king.

Which is why it is so important that we, the few, the proud, the reality based, attack this stuff before it has a chance to fester and spread. This is not a case of Democrats versus Republicans. It's sentient beings versus the lizard people.

And it is to the lizard people that I offer this deal, I will show you President Obama's birth certificate when you show me Sarah Palin's high school diploma.

The religious right will not learn from the Tel Aviv tragedy

I have a question for Concerned Women for America, Americans For Truth, the Family Research Council, the Traditional Values Coalition, and all of the other so-called pro-family groups.

For years, you all have looked to foreign countries to supply you with proof that giving lgbts the right to marry, passing hate crimes legislation in our favor, or generally supporting us in any way would lead to the downfall of this country.

You have manipulated incidents in places like Sweden, the Netherlands, and Canada to make the case that we are trying to destroy the goodness of society.

Are you going to learn from this incident in Tel Aviv? Are you going to understand that the constant labeling of lgbts as "the scary other," the "monster under the bed," or the "boogeyman in the closet" has recriminations that aren't necessarily Christian?

Are you going to cool the lying rhetoric?

Who am I kidding? They probably won't. Former ad executive and former lgbt expert Linda Harvey (head of Mission America) just released a statment about the attack in Tel Aviv:

"We are deeply saddened by this violent act and the deaths of these young people, and pray for the perpetrator to be found and brought to justice.

"At the same time, it is deplorable this incident is already being used by the homosexual community to blame this act on those holding a traditional moral viewpoint. Israelis, just as anyone else on earth, should still have the right to oppose homosexuality for religious or other reasons without being called accessories to murder. The motive is still unknown; why engage in slanderous speculation?

. . . "It's tragic that any teens go to these centers, and we remain unequivocally opposed to their purpose, which is to legitimize this behavior and draw young people into claiming a homosexual identity, often without parental involvement or knowledge. " Harvey said . . . "No one needs to be involved in homosexuality, but unfortunately, these two young people can no longer hear that message."

And I have just received an email from the American Family Association. Apparently they are angry at Triple AAA for offering family memberships to lgbt couples:

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has begun offering "Family Memberships" to homosexual couples, recognizing the homosexual couple as being "married," according to a homosexual activist organization in Florida.

Thirty states have overwhelmingly voted to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. Yet AAA is treating homosexual couples as if they are married.

The homosexual couples need only state that they are married to receive the family benefit. In the eyes of AAA two homosexuals living together constitute “marriage” and make a "family." All they have to do to get the "family membership" benefits is to say "we are gay and married."

Then comes this "lovely" article in AFA's One News Now - Congressman consumed with allowing homosexuals in military:

Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, is unhappy that Murphy, a married father, recently held a news conference in Philadelphia with a radical homosexual group to launch his campaign to push for the passage of H.R. 1283, which would end the ban.

According to Gramley, Murphy is exploiting his Iraq war service to advance that agenda. "He is an Iraqi war veteran, and it almost appears as if he's using that position to drum up the support he thinks he needs to overturn this law," she says.

Gramley admits she sent a letter to Murphy, pointing out the national security risks of changing the policy. "It's a national defense issue, and we mentioned that in the letter. Because if you get homosexuals in the military, you are then putting additional pressure upon our troops because they're being housed in very intimate situations with individuals who are sexually attracted to them," she adds.

Nope, they haven't learned a thing.

What do the lgbt community and President Obama have in common? Those damned 'headless monsters'

This nonsense over whether or not President Obama is an American citizen has made me philosophical.

Most specifically, the new controversy has made me philophical. This one has to do with President Obama's alleged Kenyan birth certificate:

The latest development in the Obama "birther" conspiracy is the emergence of a "Kenyan birth certificate" for the president, put online by movement maven Orly Taitz.

Oddly, the same people who are so skeptical of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate are willing to accept this new document despite many flaws, documented by the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel and Markos Moulitsas.

There are numerous flaws with this birth certificate including:

First, the hospital is Coast Provincial General Hospital (sometimes said to be Coast Province General Hospital), not Coast General Hospital.

Second, Kenya was a Dominion the date this certificate was allegedly issued and would not become a republic for 8 months.

Third, Mombasa belonged to Zanzibar when Obama was born, not Kenya.

Fourth, Obama's father's village would be nearer to Nairobi, not Mombasa.

Fifth, the number 47O44-- 47 is Obama's age when he became president, followed by the letter O (not a zero) followed by 44--he is the 44th president.

Not that it matters of course. As I understand it, those fine fiends at Free Republic are on the case to prove that the birth certificate is not a flaw.

It should make for more comedy, as if this nonsense about President Obama not being a United State citizens hasn't been funny already.

But it becomes less comical when one analyzes the entire situation in relation to the lgbt community.

President Obama has now become afflicted with that lovely thing that many of us in the lgbt community know of too well - the headless monster.

The headless monster is a belief or idea that is passed off as truth even when it has been consistently debunked. The belief's "head" or credibility has been lopped off. However, belief continues to be propped up as truth due to the insistence of a loyal group who will swear to its veracity.

These include beliefs like President Obama is not an American citizen.

Or beliefs like "homosexuality takes 20 years off of your life," or "the majority of child molesters are gay men," or "homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle."

No matter how many times we have debunked these lies, they continue to be thought of as truth by people either too ignorant or too homophobic to accept the fact that there is nothing wrong with being an lgbt.

But while the birther mess is providing us with a laugh a minute, the constant repeititon of "headless monsters" about lgbts has caused real harm to us and our families.

So what does all of this mean? I don't know. Maybe it's something to think about the next time our community goes off on the President about not moving fast enough on our issues.

Granted, we should never slack up when it comes to getting our issues taken care of, but maybe the realization that we are all in the same boat may give us a bit of levity.

After all, us and the President are in the same boat. Let's rock it when need be but not sink it.

A crazy black man interviews a crazy black woman, more on the Tel Aviv tragedy, and other Monday midday news briefs

Audio: Subjectively, we find 'ex-gay' odd; Objectively, we find 'ex-gay' otherwordly - I am going to say it and I don't care who gets offended - When two crazy black people get together, all you get is more crazy.

Police Say They Have A Lead in Tel Aviv Killings - I haven't been out of the loop so much that I didn't hear about this tragedy. I've already written a draft of something that I want to ask religious right groups.

Netanyahu condemns "horrific killing" at gay club. Israeli pols demand stop to anti-gay rhetoric - Amen. just Amen!

Judge Penny Brown: Black Church Should Be at Forefront of HIV/AIDS - Bet you won't see this item in the black media.

Another WingNutDaily Birther blooper: Kenya wasn't a republic until Dec. 1964 - Repeat after me - "The birthers are stupid and need Jesus!"

Census to Release Raw Marriage Data - Color me indifferent

Conservative columnist slimes gay victims of violent crime

Town Hall columnist Mike Adams isn't known for his good taste when writing about the lgbt community. But I think he has gone too far today in writing about a possible hate crime that happened in July to two gay men in North Carolina.

Adams wrote the piece in what was supposed to be a satirical attack on hate crimes legislation. In pursuit of that vein, he doesn't let anything get the way of his point, such as the facts.

The original situation took place in Wilmington, NC on July 17. In early morning hours, Chaz Housand and Chet Saunders were beaten into unconsciouness by a group of thugs.

Housand suffered broken facial bones and lacerations; Saunders sustained a concussion and internal bruising, and says that his fine motor skills have been impaired. Neither remembers what happened so neither can say whether or not sexual orientation has a role in their attack.

However, there were witnesses to the attack:

Witnesses said three men had beaten the victims and kicked them when they were down.

“This is our town,” one of the suspects had said, before kicking a victim one last time and leaving, according to the account witnesses gave police.

. . .In the hours after the incident, police received multiple tips. First they got a description of the suspects’ vehicle, Blanton said. Then 911 dispatchers received a call telling police the suspects were at a home on Dapple Court.

Officers went to the residence and saw three men, who fit the suspects’ descriptions, sitting in the living room. One of them had blood on his shoe, Blanton said.

. . . Officers charged Melvin Freanthony Spicer, 25; Daniel Minwoo Lee, 21; and Jong Tae Chung, 27, each with one count of assault inflicting serious injury, according to a statement from Officer Crystal Williamson.

So why does Adams slime his way in? Apparently one of the young man who was attacked had been involved in lobbying attempts to change North Carolina's hate crimes legislation.

So, as Adams seems to imply, forget everything else. The young men probably got drunk and deserved whatever happened:

While neither Housand nor Saunders knows exactly what happened, both said they can think of no reason someone would attack them, other than their sexual orientation. I guess what they are saying is that they have easily discernible characteristics, which make them look “obviously gay.”

. . . People like Chaz Housand and Chet Saunders do need something to protect them from their own stupidity. Saunders told the local paper “I never really expected something like this to happen.” Clearly, anyone who believes he can get so drunk that he forgets much of the night in, of all places, downtown Wilmington is suffering from severe intellectual hernia.

So, let me be clear about where I stand on this issue: We should not, especially in a time of deep budgetary crisis, use public funds to protect the drunk and stupid from their own drunkenness and stupidity.

To the extent that the drunk and stupid are given protection from their own poor decision-making it should come from private initiatives. And so I’ve come up with an initiative that will save the North Carolina taxpayers from having to waste precious resources passing new, or modifying old, hate crimes legislation.

It amazes me. Rush Limbaugh and company seems to always praise conservatives for that "rugged individualism" and spirit that made America great.

I see very few conservatives embodying this image. I see a bunch of overpaid thinktank sucking hacks who really need to sit down before they ruin the public discourse any further.

I can't honestly say what happened to Housand and Saunders. But whatever the case may be, they don't deserved to be slimed by anyone, much less Adams.

What a coward.

Carrie Prejean saved traditional marriage - a lie you can't believe even if you were high on acid

I am reading something on the online rightwing site Town Hall that just defies description.

Apparently Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of National Review Online, has published a piece that credits beauty queen and former Miss California Carrie Prejean for "saving traditional marriage" and holding back the push for marriage equality.

I kid you not. Of course how Lopez accomplishes this is an old trick that I have seen the religious right do - take several unrelated incidents and link them together. The credibility of these claims generally depend on the emotions of the audience they are writing to.

Lopez is obviously a master of this because according to her after Prejean made her now infamous statement and had her brush up with gossip columnist Perez Hilton, the momentum started to shift against marriage equality.

Of course she claims that it is not her argument but that of National Organization for Marriage head Maggie Gallagher's in the newest issue of the National Review, which has Prejean on the cover. But if you ask me, based on what she wrote, it's obvious that Lopez had an whiff of whatever Gallagher was inhaling when she wrote her piece:

The New York Times, just a day or so after Gallagher's piece ran, confirmed that something has changed. In an article titled "Backers of Gay Marriage Rethink California Push," the paper reported on how, discouraged by the political and cultural climate, many gay-marriage advocates are scaling back efforts to overturn Proposition 8. This, despite the supposed inevitability of which some of my friends on the right were all but convinced, not long ago.

In reality, there is much debate amongst those who want to overturn Proposition 8 on whether it would be advantageous to pursue this action in 2010 or 2012. I hardly think it has anything to do with Prejean seeing that the situation with Proposition 8had been taking place long before she verbalized her opinion about gay marriage.

The last part of Lopez's piece is a hoot:

And unlike the most strident advocates of gay marriage, who spent the time during and after the Proposition 8 campaign intimidating and punishing those who supported the measure, most of us who oppose gay marriage are not looking to exclude anyone from any kind of happiness.

Carrie Prejean is now a face of that kind of tolerance. The contrast of her measured, mildly offered opinion to the angry, ugly Internet response from beauty-contestant judge Perez Hilton, who asked Prejean the fateful question, was striking . . . According to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, support for gay marriage has dropped nine percentage points from a 42 percent historic high. According to Gallup, only 13 percent of Americans believe that gay marriage would make us better off, while 48 percent believe it would be change for the worse. While Republicans were tripping over themselves to pose with the party's Log Cabin branch and join the march of inevitability, a beauty queen made it OK to confidently acknowledge reality, in a loving and beautiful and even tolerant way.

So Lopez, Gallagher, and others are trying to make Prejean some sort of symbol now; a Florence Nightingale-cum-Betsy Ross of the anti-gay marriage movement.

It could work.

All they have to do is make everyone forget about those half naked pictures of her, her breast implants, and her wannabe-divalike behavior that led Donald Trump (who was in her corner)to finally kick her to the curb.

And I haven't even scratched how Gallagher and her National Organization for Marriage tried to distance themselves from Prejean when it was discovered that there were some tire tracks in that pure as the driven snow image she has tried to project.

The entire thing leaves me depressed. Obviously, Lopez can't seriously believe that tripe she wrote. But she is getting paid a lot of money for it.

How can I get in on that racket?

Know your lgbt history - Cleopatra Jones and her lesbian drug lords

I am a serious fan of the Cleopatra Jones movies from the early 1970s.

Cleopatra Jones, portrayed by the late Tamara Dobson, was an African-American secret service agent who fought drugs in her community and overseas.

It's a shame that only two movies, Cleopatra Jones and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, were made. They were landmarks in motion picture cinema because it was one of the few times that a black woman took centerstage in a movie and probably the first time a black actress played an action hero.

However, there were some problems, particularly with the choice of villain Cleopatra Jones had to combat.

They were both lesbian drug lords. A lesbian villain in one movie wouldn't be bad, but the makers of the Cleopatra Jones made it a point to include a lesbian as the villain in both.

And to me that sends a bad message. Why not a man? Why not a heterosexual woman?

However again, there is a silver lining to this cloud. The actresses who played the drug lords did a rather good job, proving that talent can always transcend stereotyping and bad parts.

Two-time Oscar and Emmy award winner Shelley Winters plays Mommy in Cleopatra Jones.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I loved her performance. Winters (whose career was not damaged at all by this movie) is having fun with the role. She comes on the screen with all of the subtlety of a speeding train.

The following scene (beginning at 6:21) displays best what I mean as she berates a henchman for missing a chance to kill Jones. A fun game to play while watching this movie is to count how many costume changes and wigs Dobson and Winters go through.



Now in Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, actress Stella Stevens takes a more serious tone with her role of the Dragon Lady and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Whereas Winters went for superbutch extreme, Stevens is played her character as a sensuous woman equally adept at binding up her hair and leading her army in pursuit of doublecrossers or putting on a cocktail dress and charming patrons of her casino.

Subsequently, she and Dobson engage in a long drawn out fight scene, unlike Winters who has a short fight with Dobson before her demise.

Unfortunately I can only provide the trailer of the movie in the following clip. But it gives you a good impression of the Dragon Queen.

Now the only problem I had with Stevens's character is the relationship between her and her Asian adopted daughter. It is obvious the Stevens's character has taken a, shall we say, less than maternal interest in the girl. Particularly when she has her brutally murdered for helping Cleopatra Jones.



Editor's note - The fight scene from Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold is here for anyone who wants to view it.

Past Know Your LGBT History postings:

Know your lgbt history - Norman, Is That You?

Know your lgbt history - The 'Exotic' Adrian Street

Know your lgbt history - The Choirboys

Know your lgbt history - Eddie Murphy

Know your lgbt history - The Killing of Sister George

Know your lgbt history - Hanna-Barbera cartoons pushes the 'gay agenda'

Know your lgbt history - Cruising

Know your lgbt history - Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones

Know your lgbt history - I Got Da Hook Up

Know your lgbt history - Fright Night

Know your lgbt history - Flowers of Evil

The Jeffersons and the transgender community

Black minister fighting for lgbt rights, mess in Maine, and other Friday midday news briefs

Minister Wants the Black Church to Help Fight for LGBT Rights - One of the reasons why there seems to be a problem in the black community with lgbts is because we never hear positive stories like this one.

Photo: Even Pandora is like, 'Whoa, these boxes are unsavory!' - Using outside help, some folks in Maine are trying to deny equality to their fellow citizens.

Christian Civic League of Maine's Heath on the 'insidious methods' of the Homo Agenda - One of the most unfortunate thing about the Maine situation is that this nut may gain a degree of legitimacy. Perfect. Another religious right talking head.

DP Bill Passes House Subcommittee - How about some good news for today.

Maderazo: A Transgender Person is Murdered Every 3 Days in the World…Mostly in Latin America - What kind of mess is this? No one deserves to be murdered for who they are.

U.S. military accused of atrocities against Iraqi gays - I continue to be impressed by the Washington Blade. Stay on this story!

Let the Harvey Milk bashing begin courtesy of Focus on the Family

Sadly,(Harvey) Milk and his many partners could be poster boys for an analysis produced by authors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows the widespread degree to which men who have sex with men were abused as children.

. . . Milk and his partners live tumultuous, painful lives, rife with anonymous sex, public sex, bathhouses, prostitution, drugs, depression, alcohol abuse, suicide attempts and multiple partners. The pain and confusion of childhood sexual abuse festers on as their lives unfold

Later in life, Milk condemned child predators. But he evidently never made the connection with his own childhood sexual abuse or that of his partners. Nor does he ever question the brokenness that surrounds him – drugs, risky sexual behavior, alcohol abuse, depression and suicide – except to blame society.

And it begins.

Jeff Johnston of Focus on the Family has written an irresponsible piece on Harvey Milk that is all over the map. It looks like the piece was created to criticize the movie Milk but tailored to include talking about Milk's recent selection as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Johnston is clearly trying to imply that Milk was "introduced into gay sex" by older men.

He is also pulling the "gays lead lives full of promiscuous sex and other risky behavior" factoid in an effort to denigrate Milk and create the idea that President Obama erred in giving Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

For the record, Johnston is being highly deceptive when he invokes the Centers for Disease Control's name because he isn't even citing the organization's work but a link to another Focus on the Family piece, Childhood Sexual Abuse and Male Homosexuality.

The irony is that piece freely cites work from Straight and Narrow which was written by Thomas Schmidt. Schmidt is not a doctor but a theologian who freely cited Paul Cameron in Straight and Narrow.

Now about Johnston's other assertions, I will be honest. I don't know if Milk was promiscuous and I don't really care.

I don't know if Milk was "introduced to sex by an older man" and again I don't care.

What Johnston is doing is blaming Milk for the something he could not control but worked to end.

We know how things were back then for lgbts. Gay men were not free to be out or open abou their lives for fear of reprisals. There is a lot of shame in secrecy and with shame comes bad behaviors.

Also, lgbt children could not be open either. So when they found enclaves where they could be open (be it Fire Island or whatever), they went full speed ahead.

The only implication Johnston and I agree on is the fact that this is not a way to live.

But if Johnston or Focus on the Family in general feel that there was something wrong with the decisions that Milk and other lgbts made in light of the world they had to deal with, then they would stop trying to hinder the progression of lgbt rights.

Every time Focus on the Family and other so-called moral groups attack lgbt clubs in our schools or any other thing that would help lgbts, they work to create the unfortunate world where there is shame and secrecy for those who don't fit the heterosexual orientation.

Johnston's and Focus on the Family's attack on Milk clearly reinforces the fact that he is highly deserving of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

They exploit a world of shame and fear.

Milk worked to destroy it.

He taught lgbts to stand up and demand our respect, to not hide in dark corners, and not let the world define us.

Harvey was an American hero.

Free Republic weighs in on Harvey Milk honor while I wait for the religious right shoe to drop

I'm a patient man and in the case of religious right wannabe backlash against Harvey Milk receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I know my patience will pay off.

I'm just waiting for the so-called main groups (i.e. Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council) and the pathetic hanger-ons (i.e. Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber, Linda Harvey) to say something.

My guess is that they are trying to formulate some talking points or a way to make their disagreement with Milk's choice sound less homophobic.

In particular, they are probably going to try something a few of them attempted when the movie Milk premiered - connecting Harvey Milk with Jim Jones and the People's Temple. You will remember that the Jim Jones led over 900 of his followers to a mass suicide in Guyana, South America a few days before Milk was assasinated. Before that incident, Jones was heavily involved in San Francisco politics.

My guess is that we will all be seeing more innuendo scandalizing Milk's name before this thing ends.

In the meantime, folks at that lovely site, Free Republic, have interesting things to say about Harvey Milk's honor. And here I thought Thursday was going to be boring:

Obama is an airhead.

Sick people creating a sick Nation.

milk set about to “improve the world”

that’s a real stretch... bringing sodomy into the normal American experience improves the world? Why not include beastality? that’s also as anal intercourse!! When did Right and Wrong die?

obamanation is just that... a horrible obamanation against America

Instead of a medal it should have been a cutoff of all funds for AIDS treatment!

Milk already got the “medal” he deserved. From Dan White!

Hmmm giving a medal to a dead guy. Guess he won’t be there to pick it up.

Those comments move me . . . in an intestinal sort of way.

Harvey Milk to get Presidential Medal of Freedom, religious right attack imminent and other Thursday midday news briefs

Harvey Milk to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom - A well-deserved honor but batten down the hatches cause you just know what's going to happen next. The religious right is sure to freak out.

Well as far as I'm concerned, to paraphrase Cameron Diaz in the Charlie's Angels movie:

Bring it on, bitches!!!!!!!!

For a full list, including Chita Rivera (alright!) and Billy Jean King, go here.

Chicago event to honor gay veterans - They had better!

Mass Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Is Pro-Gay - This is good news!

Info on homosexual health risks squelched - It was just a matter of time before One News Now pushed Peter LaBarbera's Paul Cameron grafted lie.

The Rebirth of the Center for Reclaiming America - And speaking of that lie, it gets shot down by People for the American Way in the midst of a report about some awful religious right conference. As the article says, we should be hearing more from the conference attendees as time goes on.

Which is fine by me. Let's do this thing!

Matt Barber's ignorance is a blast from the past

This clip is from an old "instructional video," Boys Beware and is laughable when one views it now.

But don't be so quick to laugh. While the accusations lodged by this piece of garbage isn't as overt as they are now, the implications by religious right groups regarding lgbts and children remain.

Yesterday's nonsense by Matt Barber reminded me of Boys Beware.

Barber is trying to rally anger against the company Home Depot for "daring" to provide venues for children at Pride events:

Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel tells OneNewsNow the home improvement store is facilitating the exposure of children to sinful behavior.

"Out of some kind of notion of political correctness and being tolerant, Home Depot is contributing to all of this," he notes. "They're contributing to the corruption of children, and they need to answer for that."

Personally I approve of Home Depot's actions because despite Barber's hyperbole, the fact of the matter is that:

a. many same-sex families include children

b. not all Pride events fit the stereotype of half naked men and women running around in open areas dancing to disco music and bumping and grinding into each other.

Down here in Columbia, SC, we are proud of the fact that our lgbt festival is highly family friendly.

Barber's diatribe proves just how the religious right want to paint us into a corner when it comes to children. They are always quick to imply that we harm children but never address the fact that we are raising children.

Think about it. When folks like Maggie Gallagher and Barber talk about how same-sex marriage will hurt children, they never acknowledge the fact that lgbt families have children.

It's not an unintentional oversight.

The legend of the Mad Dad of Massachusetts or how to distort a situation religious-right style

I've written about the David Parker controversy a few times so allow me to regurgitate my breakdown of the situation yet again. This time, however, I want to put it in another context.

David Parker cares so deeply that he is willing to go to jail and endure a lengthy court process for the right to be a parent. In a world where a myriad of social problems can be traced back to parental abuse or indifference, it is incredible that Parker is being treated as a criminal and not as the hero he is. - Wendy McElroy, Parental Rights vs. Public Schools

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Well, homosexual relationships are, by their nature, sexual. The, you know, the movement is trying to say no, it's not. But you know, there's a big elephant in the middle of the room here, and we're not recognizing it. - Brian Camenker, head of Mass Resistance

I don't want the school to determine the timing and manner when this stuff is brought up. I want him to play on the swing set and make mud pies. I don't want him thinking about same-sex unions in kindergarten. - Massachusetts parent David Parker

Both comments taken from interview with Bill O'Reilly

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Does an elementary school have the right to indoctrinate children in their view of controversial moral issues without the knowledge or consent of parents?

That is the issue that the U.S. Supreme Court may decide. Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues, speaks with David Parker, a Lexington, Massachusetts parent, who is petitioning the high court, hoping it will accept his appeal of a First Circuit Court decision on his case.

In 2005, Parker was arrested at his son's school following a classroom lesson on same-sex marriage using the book King & King. The principal at Esterbrook Elementary School in Lexington defended the King & King lesson and denied parents the right to be informed about it and to opt their kids out. - Concerned Women for America

When a controversy happens regarding gay rights, religious right organizations are quick to jump into the situation and exploit it for their own purposes regardless of what the truth may be.
A perfect example would be the case involving Massachusetts parent David Parker.

In April 2005, Parker was arrested for trespassing when he refused to leave his son’s school, Eastabrook Elementary, in Lexington, MA. He was angry that his son, who was at the time in kindergarten, was sent home with a “diversity book bag.” He objected to a book in the package because it showed a child in a same-sex household.

Parker contended that the school was encroaching on his right as a parent to talk to his son about issues of sexuality. He met with school officials and was arrested when he refused to leave after the meeting. He claimed that any mention of same-sex parents constituted a talk of human sexuality and that Massachusetts law guaranteed that he could opt his child out of the discussion. Parker also claimed that school officials were not giving him assurances that this would happen.

At first glance, it seems that the case of David Parker was one of a concerned father attempting to be able to raise his child in the way he sees fit. As you can see, religious right groups certainly claimed that was the case. And unfortunately they were aided by folks like Wendy McElroy and Bill O'Reilly who apparently never realized journalism involves more than just writing and interviewing folks. A little investigation never hurts matters.

Which is what I did. And what I found was a case a bit more complex.

Distortion—David Parker objected to his child being exposed to homosexuality because it was an issue of sexuality and Joseph Estabrook Elementary refused to accommodate him

Truth—In a January 17, 2005 email to the school, Parker said: “There is a book included entitled, Who’s in a Family (with pictures) that include lesbian and homosexual couples with children—implicitly equating this family structure as a morally equal alternative to other family constructs. We stand firmly against this book or any other subject matter pertaining to homosexuality ever being indoctrinated to our child, discussed in school, or sent home. We don’t believe gay parents constitute a spiritually healthy family and should not be celebrated.”

Joseph Estabrook Elementary principal, Joni Jay, wrote Parker an email clearly saying homosexuality is not a part of the kindergarten curriculum. She also said she cannot control what students say to one another and that many children attending Joseph Estabrook Elementary live in same-sex households.

Point of fact: The entire controversy began because Parker’s son brought home a “diversity bookbag” with several items in it. Among them was a book showing certain types of families, including same-sex families. It was the only book in the packet that talked about anything of a homosexual nature.

Distortion—Parker was well within his rights because Massachusetts laws says parents must give permission to have their children discuss any issue involving human sexuality.

Truth—Parker was not well within his right because discussions of differing families, including gay-led households are not included in the parental notification policy. This is because it is not an issue about human sexuality. Principal Jay informed Parker of this on March 4, 2005. Jay said she confirmed this with the district assistant superintendent and the director of Health Education. She was answering an email in which Parker said that neither he nor his wife authorize any teacher or adult to “expose” his sons (Parker has two sons) to “any sexual orientation/homosexual material/same sex unions between parents.”

Point of fact: The night before Parker’s arrest, he addressed the Lexington School Committee during their public meeting. In his speech, he attempted to link gay-led households to sexual behavior:

“Children who are successfully indoctrinated that same-sex marriage is normal and correct will eventually understand that sexual intimacy is a part of this union. Let’s not be naive about the implied human sexuality aspect of same-sex unions. Let’s be honest with ourselves. When we accept same-sex unions, we accept its implied . . . sexual intimacy. These concepts are indeed inextricably linked.”

Distortion—David Parker was arrested because Joseph Estabrook Elementary did not respect his rights as a parent.

Truth—David Parker was arrested for trespassing. Even though his initial questions were answered, Parker persisted and finally received another meeting with school officials. According to a press release issued by William J. Hurley, Interim Superintendent of Schools and Christopher Casey, Chief of Police in Lexington, Parker and his wife requested that the school, in the future, ensure that teachers automatically remove their children from discussions of same-sex households, even if the issue rises spontaneously. It was explained to Parker and his wife that the policy allowing students to opt out of discussions of human sexuality was not relevant here and the Parkers’ request was “not practical” because children could discuss “such matters among themselves at school.”

When Parker and his wife were told that they could appeal the response to the Commissioner of Education, Parker did not want to. It was then that the two decided not to leave the school. The Lexington Police were called. Parker’s wife went to the couple’s car but he stayed. Two plain-clothed detectives came at 5:20 p.m. and a police lieutenant came at 6 p.m. All asked Parker to leave but he refused.

Distortion—David Parker did not intentionally get arrested. According to his lawyer, Jeffrey Denner:

“He (Parker) was invited to come in, he came in, there was a dialogue going back and forth, there were faxes sent back and forth to the school committee. His intent was not to get arrested. His intent was to establish a dialogue to protect his own children and other children as well.”—Father faces trial over school’s ‘pro-gay’ book, WorldNetDaily, August 4, 2005

Truth—According to the press release submitted by Hurley and Casey, Parker said “If I’m not under arrest, then I’m not leaving.” The press release also said Parker began calling people on his cell phone and a small group of people began arriving with cameras. Parker was finally arrested at 6:24 p.m. The group with the camera was waiting behind the police station and photographed his arrival.

Mass Resistance (Massachusetts conservative group) claimed that Parker was using his cell phone in order to keep his wife up to date with the meeting while she sat in the couple’s car.
Point of fact: There are pictures of Parker being arrested and led away by police on the Mass Resistance web page. Now how could any of this have happened by chance? For that matter, there are pictures of Parker addressing the Lexington School Committee the night before his arrest. The fact that these pictures are on the web page do give an impression of premeditation by Parker and Mass Resistance.

Distortion—David Parker got into this fight solely because of his concern for his children and what they are being exposed to in school.

Truth—Since his arrest, Parker has been speaking against gay rights in other states. On June 13 and 14 of that same year, he was the speaker in a six-town “Wake UP Maine” tour with Brian Camenker, the head of Mass Resistance. The purpose was to aid a Maine referendum against the recently passed bill outlawing discrimination against the gay community. A flyer was distributed showing Parker in handcuffs. The flyer also claimed that Parker “questioned the homosexual rights movement.”

The image of Parker in handcuffs had made its way around several web pages like some sort of bastardized picture of Che Guevera. He also appeared in a commercial in another effort to overturn the Maine anti-discrimination bill. In addition, the Family Research Council filmed an interview with Parker as a part of a successful effort to pass Proposition 8 in California. The organization referenced the Parker controversy in writings about gay marriage in California.

And then don’t forget this interesting addendum:

In May 2006, Parker’s son was involved in a fight at school with a friend over seating in the school cafeteria. His son and the other student made peace with each other and continued to be friends. They even had a play date later that week. In addition, Parker was informed as to what happened.

However, less than a month later, the Mass Resistance sent out a press release claiming that Parker’s son was set upon by eight to 10 students who did not appreciate his fight against Joseph Estabrook Elementary. The press release generated considerable buzz with the anti-gay industry, as it was either run or referenced by many so-called “pro-family” web pages, including the Traditional Values Coalition and Concerned Women for America.

Joseph Estabrook Elementary School explained the true story in a press release. However, none of the so-called “pro-family” groups, including Mass Resistance and the Traditional Values Coalition, apologized for any of their claims about a conspiracy to hurt Parker’s son nor did they correct the error.

By the way, in 2007, a federal judge dismissed Parker's case against the school and in 2008, the Supreme Court also denied his case.

However, it is clear that when controversy involving us take place, the lgbt community must be highly vigilant in getting the truth out as soon as possible.

Otherwise the situation becomes another file in the religious right cabinet of lies.

Other articles and web pages used for this post:

www.massresistance.org

www.lexingtoncares.org

http://www.davidparkerfund.org/

Arrested father had point to make, The Boston Globe, April 29, 2005

Wake UP Maine Tour announced, www.MaineToday.com, June 10, 2005

Massachusetts Men Speak Against Homosexual Rights, www.MaineToday.com,
June 14, 2004

Coalition for Marriage to host David Parker at Littlefi eld Baptist Church, www.
MaineToday.com, November 3, 2005

Father faces trial over school’s ‘pro-gay’ book, WorldNetDaily, August 4, 2005

Report: Christian Parent Arrested After Being Denied Say-Son in Son’s Education,
Agape Press, April 28, 2005

Dad Becomes Icon in Battle over Homosexual Agenda in Schools, Agape Press,
May 18, 2005

School dispute persists after plea deal is struck, The Boston Globe, October 27, 2005

Press release, Lexington Public Schools, May 2, 2005

David Parker’s Son Beaten Up on the Playground, Traditional Values Coalition,
June 15, 2006

New liberal strategy: Assault 7-year-olds, Kevin McCullough, June 16, 2006

Press release, Lexington Public Schools, June 16, 2006

Matt Barber doesn't want Home Depot to support lgbt families and other Wednesday midday news briefs

WNBA's Mystics say no to 'kiss cam' because it might capture two women kissing - Give me a break, WNBA!

Governor "Terminator" Kills AIDS Program - This ain't good at all.

Top-Down “National March for Equality” Won’t Wash - Enough marches! How about enclaves where we exchange information and resources.

Tenn. State Senator (a typical anti-gay Republican) quit over affair with intern - Me with my hands on my hips and persed lips going "Um hmmm" Finger snaps coming.

Home Depot building a 'le-gay-cy' for children - Oh look. One News Now has taken time from its busy schedule of Obama bashing to print more sleazy lies about the lgbt community courtesy of Matt Barber. How dare Home Depot support lgbt families!

'Christian leader' Micheal Brown answers my blog, plays the evasion game

Michael Brown, director of director of Coalition of Conscience and leader of the protest against Charlotte Pride last weekend, doesn't appreciate what I wrote about him in a yesterday's blog post.

You will remember that I called Mr. Brown to the carpet for talking about how he loved the lgbt community while at the same time repeating some of the ugliest religious right pieces of propaganda.

Most specifically, I pointed out how he claimed that there was a plot by the media to obscure the homosexuality of Frank Lombard, the Duke University official who was recently arrested for molesting his five-year-old black son.

Brown and I had an exchange. And as you can see, his answers leave a lot to be desired:

Michael Brown :

Alvin,

A quick note from Dr. Brown here. First, just a reminder that I'd love to take you for lunch the next time you're in Charlotte. The invitation stands.

Second, I'm quite baffled by your charge of hypocrisy. I've been forthright and consistent in the five years I've been addressing these issues in Charlotte. . .

I have consistently said that the church has often been insensitive to the struggles faced by LGBT individuals, and that we have sinned against you by making homosexuality out to the worst of sins, and I apologized for that (publicly, in 2006, 2008, and 2009).

I have consistently proclaimed God's transforming love to the LGBT community in settings too numerous to mention (most recently at Pride Charlotte).

And I have consistently stood firmly against many of the goals of gay activism.

What has now been revealed that wasn't known before? Where is the hypocrisy? I'm genuinely baffled by the charge.

You can question my love, doubt my sincerity, call me an enemy of your rights, judge me however you choose -- but to charge me with my hypocrisy? Really, Alvin!

Me:

Your statements speak for themselves. And by statements, I mean your original words to the media, especially concerning the Frank Lombard situation.

I wanted to clarify that because I noticed in your long comment to me just now, you did not address what you said regarding the alleged conspiracy by the media to not call out Lombard's sexual orientation.

How convenient of you.

Michael Brown:

Alvin, I do not have the time to interact with your entire post, so I focused on your headline, exposing its falsehood. So, please drop the "how convenient" stuff, OK?

As for my statements, yes, they speak for themselves, loudly and clearly, and so there is no hypocrisy or duplicity, only forthright speech.

As for the Frank Lombard situation, I agree with what Dr. Mike Adams and others have pointed out in their writings on the subject.

Just for the record, a friend asked me to take a minute to respond to your article here after he spotted it, and I was happy to do so, but I don't have time for extended dialog in this setting, especially when your whole premise of "hypocrisy" is false. Talk about headless monsters! How about meaningless headlines?

Me:

Mr. Brown,

You haven't exposed anything but your duplicitous nature. My headline speaks for itself but your evasiveness gives it creedence.

Don't blame Mike Adams or anyone else for what you said regarding the Frank Lombard situation. Again, I notice how you are not willing to talk about the lie you repeated about a media plot.

Your comments were false, totally un-Christian, and by their very nature insults the same sex parents who go far and beyond the call of duty to provide for their children. Furthermore, your continued sad attempts to sidestep your comments reveal not only to me but to everyone else who reads this blog as to how utterly false your declarations of love for the lgbt community are.

Again, how very convenient.

So there you are, dear readers - the words of a man who will not only lie on the lgbt community, a man who will talk about how he loves us while implying about plots to cover up the molesting of children.

And when he is exposed, he doesn't do the Christian thing and apologize. No, he continues to dig that hole deeper.

Michael Brown is not only duplicitious. I now consider him pitiful.