High schoolers use the power of love to chase away hate group

When Fred Phelp's hateful Westboro church came to Columbia, we had a great time making fun of their ignorance.

The students of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA used a different, but very inspiring method to stand up to the group. This is just too cool:




Hat tip to AmericablogGay.

Newsbusters's accusation of 'religion bashing' deserves rebuke

The site Newsbusters tries very hard to be a conservative version of the popular Media Matters. The site would do better to be compared to a member of the Olympic gymnastics team because of the way it twists and manipulates logic in unbelievable angles in efforts to either defend right-wing wrongs or make the case that those of us on the left are a bunch of mean bullies.

The newest column tries to make the case that the Huffington Post is creating a religion blog  whose aim is to bash Christians. The writer of the piece, Carolyn Plocher, gives a few examples of writings on the Huffington Post as proof.

And one of the examples is a recent piece I wrote:

Other articles attempted to paint Christians as intolerant radicals by hyping abstract stories about individuals, such as Janet Porter, the president and founder of Faith2Action, praying for the "Christian takeover" of the media. Alvin McEwen wrote he'd be "remiss" if he didn't point out that Porter said this prayer "in front of a huge multitude during one of those dreary we have to save American values from the forces of secular evil conferences which religious right organizations seem to hold more often than World Wrestling Entertainment hosts wrestling pay-per-views."

For the record, I was not aware that the Huffington Post was considering creating a religious blog and regardless, my piece was not a part of that. Furthermore, I don't think I need to paint Porter or anyone who supports her as an "intolerant radicals." Seems to me when someone prays to God to take something away from someone else and give it to them, I don't necessarily think that person can be described as following the Golden Rule.

But for the sake of conversation, you be the judge on whether or not Porter and those who support her (and coached her loudly during this prayer) come across as "intolerant radicals:"



What galls me is the fact that someone actually thinks this sort of madness needs to be defended and that somehow calling attention to what Porter did during a huge event attended by other noted religious right dignitaries - hardly "abstract" - is somehow bashing Christianity.

If Porter's arrogance is considered a form of Christianity which needs protection from criticism, then we have serious problems with the concept of Christianity in America.

And that was not rhetorical statement because I do believe in fact that we have a serious problem with some who consider themselves Christians in this country.

Through my piece on Porter, I was pointing this out.  I was not bashing Christianity but the bastardization of Christianity by Porter and the rest of the religious right, i.e. the ugly way in which they pervert God's message of love for the sake of cliques and grubby human concepts of conquest. Generally, when people go about the business of conquest, they don't do it in honest ways. This is definitely seen in how the religious right has demonized the gay and lesbian community through the use of stereotypes, junk science, and anecdotes taken out of context.

Whenever I hear Porter or anyone on the evangelical right go on about "winning the nation for Christ," I always cringe. Seems to me that if God had enough power to create Heaven and Earth, he can win America all by himself. He certainly doesn't need help from me, the Huffington Post, and certainly not Janet Porter or Newsbusters. And he definitely doesn't need help from conference halls full of people motivated through phony fear stories of prison camps, their children being "homosexualized," or visions of "their right to pray being taken away."

But the thing is that some on the evangelical right can't seem to grasp that fact. They also can't seem to grasp the concept of humility and respect for a higher power. They have replaced the image of God with one of  themselves. In their world, not forcing others to pray publicly the way they want is "persecution" and having to acknowledge the simple fact that America is a diverse (not Christian) nation ranks with being fed to lions or being crucified.

To hear them talk, Jesus apparently said "pick up your cross and follow me and I will give you a nice car, a nice house, 2.5 children, and a Republican president and Legislature every four years."

Strangest thing though, that passage doesn't appear in any Bible I have read.

But if that implication is how some people want to define Christianity, then more power to them. However, they shouldn't whine or infer persecution when someone else calls attention to the fallacies in that definition.

Bisexual pro wrestler, President Obama and DADT, and other Thursday midday news briefs

Video: By 'the record,' Molotov must mean those outdated round things that have little public support - Calling out cowards who support the Ugandan anti-gay bill but won't talk about what it actually says as far as the death penalty for gays and lesbians.

Sinead O’Connor v. Bill Donohue on the Catholic Child Rape Scandals - Remember when people gave Sinead O'Connor hell for tearing up the picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live? To paraphrase rapper Kool Mo Dee, how ya like her now?

News video: Is Obama backtracking on DADT? - I support President Obama but sometimes I swear he does things to intentionally drive folks on the left and right crazy so he can sit back and watch the carnage.

Hurley: Iowa Gay Marriage Anniversary A Celebration Of 'Eternal Death' - Yes, the eternal death of loneliness and ignorance.

Pro wrestling's first openly bisexual wrestler hits the air this Monday - Even though this was publicly known after the wrestler, Orlando Jordan, had left the WWE, the climate of the entire thing should be very interesting.

Let the child be 'a single lady' if he wants to

I couldn't resist posting this. Apparently while driving in the car, a family put the Beyonce song "All the Single Ladies."

When the three-year-old boy joined his sisters in singing it, his father told him that he wasn't a single lady, thereby totally destroying the little guy.

But it does have a happy ending. The father apologized and this morning, they were on CBS's This Morning where the little boy - who is sooo cute - was humming the song. Also the father said he now lets the boy sing the song all he wants to.

No mean comments, folks. But it does remind me of when I was a child and I would hear a good song by a female and took it upon myself (because of peer pressure) to substitute feminine pronouns for the masculine ones so it would seem that I was talking about my "girlfriend" rather than my "boyfriend."

Ain't it a drag when silly little fears like that ruin a good experience like singing a fun song?

Why just offend gays when you can offend Irish people too?

Geez Bill Donohue. Claiming that "Like the Irish and alcoholism, "there's a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors," is no way to defend the Pope and the Vatican against the charges of knowledge of sexual abuse.

This interview just defies description.

partial transcript courtesy of ThinkProgress

SANCHEZ: Well, let me just stop you right there, because immediately as you say that, there are people watching this show, and I can hear them saying this, Bill Donohue, shame on you. Are you saying all gays are pedophiles?

DONOHUE: As I said in the ad, which I wrote, most gay priests are not molesters, but most of the molesters have been gay. And I also said, that there’s no such thing as a — that homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior. Let me give you a quick example. I’m Irish. Everybody who has half a brain knows that the Irish have a bigger problem with alcoholism than the Italians or the Chinese, for example. Does that mean because you’re an Irishman, therefore, you are driven to become an alcoholic? Of course, not.

What it means, though, if your group is overrepresented in a particular problem area, you ought to explore it. Yes, there’s a connection between Irish and alcoholism, and, yes, there’s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors.


Related posts:


With defenders like Bill Donohue and the Catholic League, the Pope is in trouble

Religious right 'Day of Truth' peddles same old lies to youth

April is here which means it's time again for the Day of Silence (April 16), the event held by GLSEN in which participating high school students nationwide do not talk during an entire school day in protest of the problems faced by lgbt students.

It's also time again for religious right groups to push their sad counterpart, Day of Truth, in which other students are encouraged to dissuade the supposed gay agenda.

Let's be honest. The Day of Silence has been a huge success every year while the Day of Truth has been a flop. I guess this is a case where the young has more sense than adults when it comes to accepting their lgbt peers.

So this year, the Day of Truth seems to have gone through a change in an attempt to seem hip and appeal to the young.

Its webpage is really cute and there seems to be a "we just want to start a conversation" vibe going on.

And of course there is that semantic claim that the Day of Truth preaches true tolerance for "those who make not agree with the homosexual agenda."

But don't be fooled. Like all other vestiges of the religious right, the Day of Truth is peddling inaccurate information about the lgbt community and the majority of it is contained in its resource guide page.

There is a pdf file from written by "Mike," a supposedly former gay young man, called Homosexuality isn't the answer. This is some of the things he says:

Many researchers have studied how gay-identified people live. The research has convinced me that embracing homosexuality is not the satisfying dream-come-true that society makes it out to be, even for those who are exclusively attracted to the same sex. Let’s look at how.

Research has shown that many gay-identified men, over their lifetime, have a lot of partners. In the 1980’s, two researchers named Mattison and McWhirter studied 156 male couples over a period of five years. Out of all these couples, only seven claimed that they were sexually monogamous while they were together, and none of these were long-term. Of the couples who stayed together more than 5 years, none were monogamous.

And this isn’t biased research from a religious or conservative group. Mattison and McWhirter were openly gay men.

It's interesting that a young man would have the gumption to look up a study that was published in 1984.  It's also interesting that "Mike" referred to the Mattison and McWhirter study without mentioning the part in which they said their work couldn't be considered an adequate representation of all gay couples:

“We always have been very careful to explain that the very nature of our research sample, its size (156 couples), its narrow geographic location, and the natural selectiveness of the participants prevents the findings from being applicable and generalizable to the entire gay male community.”

"Mike" also says:

More recently, in 2003 a Canadian professor named Barry Adam released a study about gay men. He reported that only 25% of the men he interviewed claimed to have been in monogamous relationships at some point, and these were mostly younger men in relationships shorter than three years.

Of course "Mike" omits several things about the study. According to a Washington Blade article:

Adam recruited the men for his study through ads in gay publications and leaflets distributed at gay organizations and bars in Ontario. To qualify for the study, the men had to be in a relationship for at least a year. The relationship of one couple spanned 23 years.

The sample of 70 men - including both members of 10 couples and 50 other men - included 41 Caucasians, 16 Asians, five men from African and Caribbean descent, seven Latinos and one Canadian Aboriginal.

The article also says:

Adam's research team did not calculate the average length of non-monogamous relationships. It was not clear if partners became non-monogamous over time, or if they agreed to be in an open relationship from the beginning, Adam said.

The study sample was diverse but may not be representative of gay men as a whole, because "genuinely random samples of gay and bisexual men are virtually unachievable," Adam said.

I doubt that "Mike" is who he says he is. Most likely, he is a Day of Truth staffer dressing up distorted studies as a "personal story of freedom from homosexuality."

Peter LaBarbera compares me to Tiger Woods and other Wednesday midday news briefs

I'm not one for political correctness or falsely making cries of racism, so I will let you all be the judge of this comment by Peter LaBarbera responding to the email I sent him with this morning's post:

. . .Being accused of "naked stridency" by Alvin McEwen is like being accused of sexual excess by Tiger Woods. . .

Yes Peter is aware of the fact that I am a black man but I'm not offended (although I am acting that way in the email exchange with LaBarbera in order to goad more comments from him. He is so easy to provoke.) Granted, it may seem juvenile, but remember THIS is the man who the so-called Christian publication One News Now goes to when it needs a comment for one of its biased anti-gay articles and he professes to be a leader in the anti-gay movement. So it is good for folks to see the full flow of LaBarbera's vapid mindset. This is the man that some folks actually thinks is an "expert" on the gay community. Other than being a right-wing circus clown, LaBarbera again shows why he perfectly represents the emptiness of the religious right.



Okay enough for silly indulgences. On to news briefs:

Trinity Broadcasting Network Settles Harassment Lawsuit - Is "Christian dirt" an oxymoron?

Video: It's an A & B conversation, they just wanna C everyone outta homosexuality - It's almost April which means it's time for that phony Day of Truth.

Council Approves Same Sex Benefits for Employees' Partners - This is good news.

Maryland: Impeachment Threat Over Gay Marriage - This is so stupid.

Hate site label has Peter LaBarbera running scared

I usually check out Peter LaBarbera's anti-gay Americans for Truth web page for either a good laugh or information for a good post. LaBarbera's eager plunges into homophobia has given me plenty to write about over the years.- so much so that I venture to say that LaBarbera's naked stridency has done more to help the lgbt community demonstrate the hatred and utter hypocrisy of religious right groups and their supporters.

But today, I am noticing a tone on his page which I haven't seen before - fear.

Ever since the Southern Poverty Law Center designated his web page as a hate site (a long time overdue), LaBarbera has been on what be called as a psychological bender, devoting six posts over the past week to pleading his case.

It's unbelievable to contemplate but the SPLC has actually taken LaBarbera's mind off of gay sex, at least for a while.

From challenging the SPLC's Mark Potok to a debate to whining about how SPLC is ignoring gay blogs which he claims preach hatred (and he lists his favorite whipping boys - Joe.My.God. and Truth Wins Out), LaBarbera seems to be disturbed (more than usual that is) that his "Christian assessment" of the lgbt community is receiving so much criticism.

He has even taken to posting comments from pro-gay blogs in an attempt to smear the blogs in general. Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out was the unfortunate victim of such a smear.

Then again, I take that back. If I know Evan, the only unfortunate party was LaBarbera for daring to take him on.

It amazes me that a man who has made his life's work the demonizing of an innocent group of people can suddenly whine that he is the victim when his attempts garner him the attention he truly deserves.

Amazing, yes but oh so fun to watch.

The fact of the matter is no matter how he tries to disguise his homophobia as basic Christian beliefs, no one is buying LaBarbera's whines (except for the truly ignorant - yes that means you, Linda Harvey). SPLC's designation  and his labored defenses of his position represents another depth which LaBarbera has sunken in his campaign to vilify the lgbt community.

And it represents the plain sad fact (well not so sad to some of us) that while LaBarbera has long since lost all credibility as an anti-gay activist, he is gaining credibility for a new designation - circus clown.

Related posts:

Wayne, Evan, Joe, Rea: Do any of you mind if I go first?

10 reasons why Americans for Truth is a hate site

Peter LaBarbera - the self-destruction of an anti-gay activist

With defenders like Bill Donohue and the Catholic League, the Pope is in trouble

The Times continues to editorialize about the "pedophilia crisis," when all along it's been a homosexual crisis. Eighty percent of the victims of priestly sexual abuse are male and most of them are post-pubescent. While homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior, and most gay priests are not molesters, most of the molesters have been gay. - The Catholic League, 2010

We all know  the inaccurate belief that if a boy is sexually abused by a man then that makes the perpetrator gay.

Anita Bryant used this lie extensively in her anti-gay campaign in Florida during the late 1970's.

Paul Cameron distorted credible research to make this case a myriad of times in his bad work.

From time to time, members of the religious right will push this falsehood.

And now we can add the Catholic League to that dubious list of liars.

The Catholic League and its leader, Bill Donohue has taken it upon themselves to defend Pope Benedict and the Vatican from charges of complicity in child sexual abuse, most specifically the abuse of over 200 deaf boys.

In an ad in today's New York Times, Donohue runs the gambit of diversion. In addition to attacking gay men, he also attacks  the media and even the victims of the abuse:

Here's what's really going on. The Times has teamed up with Jeffrey Anderson, a radical lawyer who has made millions suing the Church (and greasing professional victims' groups like SNAP), so they can weaken its moral authority. Why? Because of issues like abortion, gay marriage and women's ordination. That's what's really driving them mad, and that's why they are on the hunt. Those who doubt this to be true need to ask why the debt-ridden Times does not spend the same resources looking for dirt in other institutions that occurred a half-century ago. 

And if he thinks that this defense will somehow help the Vatican, he is wrong. Whether Donohue is aware of it or not, his hateful and hysterical defense has done nothing but exacerbate the situation.

And this is a good thing.

Better links to the situation:

Bill Donohue: the Catholic Church's problem is about homosexuality

TWO Appalled By Catholic League’s Misleading Ad Smearing Gays

The Papal predator priest protection PR nightmare proliferates

Watch: survivors of abuse point the finger of blame directly at Benedict

Gays blamed for Catholic church abuse scandal and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Ex-general Sheehan apologizes to Dutch former Chief of Staff over anti-gay remarks - Bet you won't read about this in One News Now.

The Catholic League Strikes Back At NYT, Blames Sex Abuse On Gays - Sure. The Pope allows the molesters of children to get away and it's all the fault of THE GAYS.

Anti-Gay 'Dr. Shock' Busted on Sex Charges - Shock therapy. Why didn't I think of that?

TWO Exclusive: Linda Harvey’s Extremism On Display In Michigan - Phony gay expert Linda Harvey supports the Ugandan anti-gay bill.

Gay student settles lawsuit against NY district - Protect our lgbt children or pay the price.

Religious right attacks Feldblum's appointment with more lies

As to be expected, religious right groups aren't happy at all with President Obama's recess appointment of Chai Feldblum as commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

But their objections probably say more about their bias than it does about Feldblum. First let's look at the organization who is never at a loss for degrading terms and images when it comes to the lgbt community - the Traditional Values Coalition.

“On Friday, President Obama recess appointed 15 of his languishing nominees including radical professor Chai Feldblum to serve as a Commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

"Feldblum’s extensive paper trail, showing how out of the mainstream she is, kept her from being confirmed. Fortunately, she can only serve without confirmation through the rest of the current session of Congress, which is the end of 2010.

“What does Chai Feldblum believe?

"Feldblum wants the government to promote every type of relationship as equal to traditional marriage, including ‘polyamorous’ relationships (those involving three or more sexual partners).

“Feldblum also believes that sexual liberty trumps religious liberty. She rejects the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom.

“Feldblum has criticized the Supreme Court for its Boy Scout decision. She opposes the Boy Scouts right to exclude gay (LGBT) Scout leaders and gay Scouts from its organization.

“Feldblum was the author of the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a pro-LGBT bill that will impose draconian regulations on all businesses with 15 or more employees. As a member of the EEOC, Feldblum will ruthlessly enforce ENDA against American businessmen, educators, Christian media companies, Christian day camps and more.

“The bottom line is that Feldblum believes that whenever there is a clash between religious liberty and the LGBT agenda, the LGBT agenda should win the legal argument.”

And then there is the Family Research Council's statement:

Lesbian activist Chai Feldblum was also recess appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Like Mr. Becker, Ms Feldblum believes that if the law doesn't suit her agenda, she can simply disregard it.

Ms. Feldblum is one of the architects of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which seeks to give special protections to homosexuals and crossdressers, with no regard for the religious objections of those who see such practices as wrong. In fact, when questioned about instances when religious liberty and homosexual "rights" conflict, Ms. Feldblum brazenly stated she would have "a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win." There seems to be little doubt, even in Ms. Feldblum's mind, about how she will rule in cases involving religious liberty that come before her.

Actually the link provided in this statement makes it seem that Feldblum favors "sexual liberty" over "religious liberty," which is a total bastardization of her position but serves the purpose of implying that she favors "wanton sexuality" over "God fearing religious beliefs."

Of course it's total inaccuracy. I've already talked about the phony belief that Feldblum favors polygamy, so now I'm going to address this notion that she favors "sexual liberty" over "religious liberty."

She never said or implied that. The statement these religious right groups are gaining mileage out is from a piece she wrote entitled Moral Conflict and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion.

Ensuring that LGBT people can live honestly and safely in all aspects of their social lives requires that society set a baseline of non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender
identity. If individual business owners, service providers and employers could easily exempt themselves from such laws by making credible claims that their belief liberty is burdened by the
law, LGBT people would remain constantly vulnerable to surprise discrimination. If I am denied a job, an apartment, a room at a hotel, a table at a restaurant or a procedure by a doctor because I am a lesbian, that is a deep, intense and tangible hurt. That hurt is not alleviated because I might be able to go down the street and get a job, an apartment, a hotel room, a restaurant table or a medical procedure from someone else. The assault to my dignity and my sense of safety in the world occurs when the initial denial happens. That assault is not mitigated by the fact that others might not treat me in the same way.

Thus, for all my sympathy for the evangelical Christian couple who may wish to run a bed and breakfast from which they can exclude unmarried straight couples and all gay couples, this is
a point where I believe the “zero sum” nature of the game inevitably comes into play. And, in making the decision in this zero sum game, I am convinced society should come down on the side of protecting the liberty of LGBT people. Once an individual chooses to enter the stream of economic commerce by opening a commercial establishment, I believe it is legitimate to require that they play by certain rules. If the government tolerated the private exclusionary policies of such individuals in the commercial sector, such toleration would necessarily come at the cost of gay people’s sense of belonging and safety in society. Just as we do not tolerate private racial beliefs that adversely affect African Americans in the commercial arena, even if such beliefs are based on religious views, we should similarly not tolerate private beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity that adversely affect LGBT people.

In other words, Feldblum believes that a business should not be allowed to discriminate against lgbts no matter the so-called "deeply held personal beliefs" of the owner.

She does not believe owners of an apartment building should have the right to deny lgbts housing even if they have a so-called "deeply held personal belief" that homosexuality is a sin.

And she does not believe that the beliefs of service providers should override the needs of those they are supposed to be serving.


And let's face it, she is right in her assessments.

So while they accuse her of wanting special rights for gays and lesbians, it is organizations such as TVC and FRC who are pushing for special rights for Christian owners in commercial business to discriminate.

And frankly, that isn't right.

Related posts

Religious right smear campaign fail: Chai Feldblum gets her appointment

Famous lgbts throughout history

Yeah, yeah, I know. Ricky Martin came out. Well color me surprised.

In tribute to that (and the fact that it's a slow Monday), I am now posting a video via youtube on famous lgbt notables throughout history.

See if you were aware of these folks:

The Republican National Convention and sex clubs and other Monday midday news briefs

RNC spent $1946.25 at sex-themed nightclub Voyeur West Hollywood - And apparently there was gay sex involved.

AFA's Fischer Hopes Americans Will Violently Revolt Against the "Tyranny of a Repressive Central Government" - Remember this is the same guy who thinks that "gay acts" should be outlawed.

Mike Heath: Too contentious for Question One, perfect for 'One News Now' - It's like Friday the 13th with these folks. Like Jason Voorhees, some never go away.

Gay-straight club sparks protests - Here we go again with ignorant parents and lgbt children caught in the crossfire of stupidity.

Religious right smear campaign fail: Chai Feldblum gets her appointment

Who knows? Maybe that huge victory in passing health care legislation gave President Obama some chutzpah because he has recently announced 15 recess appointments of administration nominees held up by Republicans.

And one of these appointments is openly gay Chai Feldblum to be commissioner of the Equal Opportunity Commission. According to SheWired:

Feldblum was key in the drafting and negotiations over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). She and three others were appointed using a constitutional provision known as a recess appointment.

Should ENDA pass, a position on the EEOC puts Feldblum in position to be one of five commissioners to develop regulations for its implementation.

Although a Senate committee had approved Feldblum in December, one Senate Republican put their confirmation vote on unspecified hold. Any senator can put any nominee on indefinite hold for a period of time without identifying him or herself.

One has to suspect that there was more than strictly political shenanigans behind the hold up of Feldblum's appointment. The idea that she may hold a position with the EEOC had been causing fits amongst religious right groups.

The Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber said:

Chai Feldblum (pronounced "high" as in "stoned") is a lesbian activist and sexual anarchist attorney who supports legalized polygamy and bisexual polyamory. She has been nominated by President Obama to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is like having Michael Moore guard the donuts. In the past, Feldblum – ENDA's chief framer and, if confirmed, one of five commissioners charged with its enforcement – has candidly summed-up the mindset behind the bill.

World Net Daily accused her of saying that "gay sex is morally good."

Earlier, religious right groups accused her of favoring polygamy. Media Matters said the following:

Right-wing media have attacked Feldblum for being a signatory to a July 26, 2006, statement titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage," which states that "marriage is not the only worthy form of family or relationship, and it should not be legally and economically privileged above all others," and cites "Households in which there is more than one conjugal partner" along with "Single parent households" and "Adult children living with and caring for their parents," among others, as people that "stand to gain from alternative forms of household recognition beyond one-size-fits-all marriage." The statement is entirely unrelated to the duties Feldblum would have as an EEOC commissioner, which include enforcement of existing federal laws involving job discrimination and providing oversight of federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices, and policies.

The irony is that this accusation gained a bit of traction; so much so that Feldblum had to repudiate her signing the statement. But then the issue fizzled away.  A lot of this probably had to do with the fact that the right was, at the time, obsessed with smearing another Obama appointee, Kevin Jennings.

As we all know, they failed miserably in that attempt. And thanks to Obama's power of recess appointments, they also failed in their attacks on Feldblum.

It's always nice to know that sometimes, liars don't prosper.

Related posts:

Matt Barber's slur of Chai Feldblum's name was unnecessary but so very indicative

The religious right fears Chai Feldblum because she believes in basic fairness

The religious right attacks another openly gay Obama appointee

With their homophobic smears of Jennings exposed, anti-gay right now targeting EEOC nominee Feldblum

The true culprit in the so-called destruction of Christianity

Religious right groups are always quick to blame the gay community and the rest of the "secularlists" of what they call a plan to either silence or destroy Christianity.

In reality, Christianity gets worse and worse press because of men like the one in the above video. He is Wayne Sapp, pastor of Dove Ministries (talk about your oxymoron) in Florida. And he isn't happy that Gainesville, FL may elect an openly gay mayor, Craig Lowe.

And he doesn't beat around the bush about his anger either:

Here in Gainesville, they're getting ready to have a run-off election between two candidates, and one of them is openly a homo, gay, fag -- whatever you want to call him. We got one running for mayor of Gainesville, trying to convert Gainesville into Homoville. We can't have it.

Now tell me, would you want to join any group which implies that it encourages such openly blatant hatred?

By the way, click here to donate to Craig Lowe's Campaign.

Related post: 

Group overusing the 'men invading women's restrooms' lie in Florida

Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten

There were portions of this early Jim Carrey movie which I found funny. And I didn't mind the late Cleavon Little's portrayal of a gay man (he played it rather subtlely).

But one very offensive scene keeps me from making this movie a part of my video library.

First some background. Once Bitten (1985) is a comedy about a female vampire (Lauren Hutton) who must bite a virgin three times in order to keep her eternal youth. Carrey portrays the "lucky youth" because his girlfriend won't give him any play.

By the way, the virgin must be bitten on the thigh, which is very important to the ugly scene you are about to see.

Hutton has already bitten Carrey twice, inducing strange behavior in him which causes his friends to seek answers. They are told that if Carrey has been bitten, there will be a mark on the inside of the thigh.

Of course this means that they will have to look for the mark and they do - while they are taking a shower after gym class.

I suppose someone would think what happens next is funny but it isn't, particularly the response of the other guys in the shower.

Man, look what gay and lesbians have had to deal with when it comes to movie portrayals:



Past Know Your LGBT History postings:

Know Your LGBT History - The Boys in the Band

Know Your LGBT History - Christopher Morley, the crossdressing assassin

Know Your LGBT History - Midnight Cowboy

Know Your LGBT History - Dracula's Daughter

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

Know Your LGBT History - 3 Strikes

Know Your LGBT History - Paris Is Burning

Know Your LGBT History - The Women

Know your LGBT History - Soul Plane

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

Special Know Your LGBT History - Fame

Know Your LGBT History - Welcome Home, Bobby

Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

Know your lgbt history - The Jerry Springer Show

Know your lgbt history - Martin Lawrence and that 'gay guy' on his show

Know your lgbt history - The Ricki Lake Show

Know your lgbt history - Which Way Is Up

Know your lgbt history - Gays in Primetime Soaps

Know your lgbt history - Boys Beware

Know your lgbt history - The Boondocks

Know your lgbt history - Mannequin

Know your lgbt history - The Warriors

Know Your LGBT History - New York Undercover

Know Your LGBT History - Low Down Dirty Shame

Know Your LGBT History - Fortune and Men's Eyes

Know your lgbt history - California Suite

Know your lgbt history - Taxi (Elaine's Strange Triangle)

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

Know your lgbt history - James Bond goes gay

Know your lgbt history - Windows

Know your lgbt history - To Wong Foo and Priscilla

Know your lgbt history - Blazing Saddles

Know your lgbt history - Sanford and Son

Know your lgbt history - In Living Color

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

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  
 

The noose of truth tightens a little more around the Vatican and other Friday midday news briefs

9 reasons for teaching children not to lie - Why is it that these so-called pro-family groups repeat the same anti-gay lies and fear stories repeatedly. Sooner or later it's going to blow up in their faces.

Watch: survivors of abuse point the finger of blame directly at Benedict - The Pope faces more trouble over cover-ups of the abuse of children.

‘Ex-Gay’ Michael Glatze Attracted To Spotlight Like A Mosquito in June - The story of a racist ex-gay spokesperson who said he would stop being an ex-gay spokesperson but then changed his mind.

Matt Barber adds names to Hate Group list - Mark your calendars and check for the Apocalypse. I partially agree with Matt Barber here.

Trans Student Suspended from Same School in Mississippi That Canceled Prom, Later Hounded Out of Town - There is NO excuse for this.

McDonnell - Virginia law protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination not needed

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell continued his war of schizophrenic subtleties against the state's gay community yesterday by claiming that anti-discrimination laws protecting gay and lesbians in Virginia isn't needed:

“I don’t know that we need it based on the numbers that I’ve seen.“

“There really isn’t any rampant discrimination on any basis in Virginia,“ he said. “If you’re going to have a law, it needs to actually address a real problem.“

Since his election into office last year, McDonnell has had a, shall we say, non-friendly relationship with Virginia's gay and lesbian community. It was discovered that in college, he wrote a thesis slamming gays, unwed mothers, and no-fault divorce. McDonnell attended Regent University, a public institution founded by Pat Robertson, who isn't exactly considered a friend of the lgbt community.

While running for office last year, he said that he wouldn't renew the executive order banning discrimination regarding the sexual orientation of state job applicants.

Earlier this year, he issued an executive order that "specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities."

You will notice that omitted from that list are lgbts.

Then Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, sent a letter to the state's public colleges and universities claiming that state law prevented them from including lgbts in their non-discrimination policies.

The furor over that was so great that McDonnell, according to Time magazine, issued an executive directive that clarified his earlier executive order, contradicting Cuccinelli's previous statement and specifically prohibiting discrimination "based on factors such as one's sexual orientation."

This new statement about non-discrimination laws not being needed ought to make things very interesting for McDonnell. He is definitely playing a balancing act and it will be a short matter of time before he falls off of the wire.

10 reasons why Americans for Truth is a hate site

Peter LaBarbera has finally responded to the Southern Poverty Law Center declaring his Americans for Truth web site as a hate site. He claims that his site is getting smeared.

He also links to a defense from fellow right-winger Matt Barber. However based on his past statements, Barber defending LaBarbera against charges of being anti-gay is like Idi Amin defending Josef Stalin against charges of being a dictator.

But let's take a critical look at the charge. Now according to Matt Barber (who sits on the board of Americans for Truth - so much for objectivity):

AFTAH is a Christian organization that promotes biblical morality . . .

I guess that "biblical morality" includes:

1. Smearing gays via a CDC report on an increase on HIV while intentionally downplaying the part of the report which clearly places the blame on this increase on homophobia (while at the same time implying that the report "dispels the homophobia causes AIDS propaganda")

2.  Defending a bill which would lead to the imprisonment and possible genocide of Ugandans simply for being gay or lesbian.

.3. Going to subcultural leather events and using the "racy" behavior of gays attending to stigmatizing the entire lgbt community while ignoring the behavior of heterosexuals at the same events.

4. Making ugly comments about a "transgender quota" in the Obama Administration simply because the president appoints a (very, very qualified) transgendered woman to an office in his administration.

5. Instigating a  highly inappropriate comment about gays, lesbians, and sexual intercourse; a comment so ugly that it led to a feud between three religious right groups. And by the way, Barber was heavily involved in this one too.

6. Continuously citing the work of the discredited researcher Paul Cameron, even when made aware of his dubious history of getting kicked out of medical groups, censures and rebukes.

7. Aiding and abetting Conservapedia spread lies about gay health using the fictional term "gay bowel syndrome."

8. Freely admitting to errors when it comes to claims against the gay and lesbian community but not taking responsibility for them.

9. Falsely accusing the Democratic National Convention and the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of putting on a sadomasochistic event.

10. Attempting to imply that a staph infection was the new HIV and then lying about his implications when caught.

Those are just 10 reasons gleaned from my interactions with LaBarbera and I'm sure they only scratch the surface.

Earlier when talking about this situation, I claimed that LaBarbera's reaction would remind me of the Aesop fable of the dog and the bell. It goes like this:



A DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. His master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his presence wherever he went. Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day an old hound said to him: Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog." 

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame. 

I think that says it all.

Teabaggers vs. Proposition 8 protesters: a change in angry people brings out the hypocrisy in the right

Watch CBS News Videos Online

These are the threats made against Democrat Bart Stupak after Sunday's health care reform vote. They are chilling on their own but the fact that they emanate from folks who claim to be "pro-life" gives an extra batch of ice to the chill.

And of course some on the right have trivialized incidents like these, which is totally the opposite of the aftermath of the 2008 Proposition 8 vote when gays and lesbians protested in anger.

Remember how Michelle Malkin wept and cried with pseudo disgust over us "gay bullies" who supposedly attacked people via protests and boycotts?

Nowadays she is taking to personally attacking a Congressman who dare call attention to the excesses of the anti-healthcare protests. Quite a hypocritical switch but business as usual for  Malkin.

Remember how Mike Huckabee told only one side to the Phyllis Burgess incident (i.e. the anti-gay protester who was pushed and her styrofoam cross taken from her after she elbowed her way through crowd of anti-Proposition 8 protesters so that she could get on camera). Remember how the religious right portrayed the lgbt community on the whole as thugs who were allegedly threatening people, vandalizing churches, and shouting people down?

We were inundated with story after story of how gays and lesbians were "beating up" on "innocent" Christians and those stories were connected with earlier phony stories about gays and lesbians supposedly assaulting people. It got so bad that I wrote a post calling for us to get a handle on the lies told.
 
And remember this comment:
 

Of course, activists say they are merely utilizing their political freedoms and rights, but, the fact is, I see a lot of sore losers who are intolerant of any outcome but the one they desire. Some are acting like toddlers who throw a temper tantrum until they get their way. Are they fighting for their rights or at last showing true colors of intolerance against anyone who believes contrary to them?

That was  actor Chuck Norris speaking about the Proposition 8 protesters. As far as I know, he has been silent about the teabaggers threatening Congressmen and their children.

Meanwhile the publication in which he ran that piece of vile, World Net Daily, is now in a surfeit of stories about "socialism," how Obama is trying to destroy the United States, how he is not a United States citizen etc. etc.

And on other right-wing blogs and such comes even more shallow defenses of the threats and violence we are seeing.
 
Apparently to some on the right it doesn't matter whether the protests are truly violent or not. It's all about whether the supposedly "true Americans" are protesting rather than the "undesirables."

That conundrum is as annoying as Republicans seeking court aid in overturning health care reform after years of accusing judges of being "unelected" and "activists."

But that is another column for another time.

Anti-gay Pope Benedict implicated in cover up of molestation of deaf children

For a man who castigates the lgbt community, Pope Benedict seems to have some ugly skeletons in his closet:

From the New York Times:

Top Vatican officials — including the future Pope Benedict XVI — did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer.

The Wisconsin case involved an American priest, the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who worked at a renowned school for deaf children from 1950 to 1974. But it is only one of thousands of cases forwarded over decades by bishops to the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led from 1981 to 2005 by Cardinal Ratzinger. It is still the office that decides whether accused priests should be given full canonical trials and defrocked.

In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee’s archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican’s secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy’s dismissal.

But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church’s own statute of limitations.

“I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood,” Father Murphy wrote near the end of his life to Cardinal Ratzinger. “I ask your kind assistance in this matter.” The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

The New York Times obtained the documents, which the church fought to keep secret, from Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for five men who have brought four lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The documents include letters between bishops and the Vatican, victims’ affidavits, the handwritten notes of an expert on sexual disorders who interviewed Father Murphy and minutes of a final meeting on the case at the Vatican.

You can read the entire story here. It's just too ugly for me. It's a shame that this man didn't attack true crimes against children with the same fervor in which he attacked the lgbt community.

Mean, Dumb, and Just Plain Stupid

There is so much stuff going on today that I decided to introduce it all in a segment which I sincerely HOPE that I never have to use again - Mean, Dumb, and Just Plain Stupid.

MEAN - We've all heard of Constance McMillen, the young girl whose school cancelled her senior prom to keep her from bringing her girlfriend. And we know the story of Derrick Martin, the young man in Georgia inspired by this story to bring his boyfriend to his prom and how his school and folks across the nation backed him up.

But do you know what his parents did? Apparently they couldn't deal with all of the attention and kicked him out. According to this link he is now staying with a friend.

What kind of crap is that? I've seen a 5'4, 100 woman swing a chair like a baseball bat in defense of her child. These folks can't handle a little attention? Nonsense

Of course all of those folks who gave Kevin Jennings and GLSEN hell last year are totally silent over this.

DUMB - Oklahoma, home of Sally (gays are terrorists) Kern did something really hilarious.  The state legislature created a bill meant to strip hate crimes protection from lgbts. However, because of a "legislative error,"  the bill strips hate crimes protection from cases of race and religion. Lgbts, however, are still protected. Whoops!


JUST PLAIN STUPID - Those damn teabaggers. I'm sorry but now they are at the point of threatening the Democrats who voted health reform legislation through and that's just ugly. Children have been threatened, windows have been broken, and the home address of legislators have been posted with invitations to "pay them a visit."

You know it's serious when Politico and the Huffington Post are concentrating on the same story.

So from this day forward,  I will always refer to those folks as "teabaggers." Forget that "tea party members" nonsense.  They will always be "teabaggers" to me and yes I know the sexual connotations of the term, but maybe if some of them actually concentrated on that certain act, we wouldn't have to deal with hearing their mouths for a while.

Religious right misleads about testimony in DADT hearing

The news briefs are below if you want to read them. I just had to give this piece special consideration.

By now you all have heard of the testimony by retired General John Sheehan during the recent DADT hearings in which he blamed gays being allowed to serve openly in the military for the Srebrenica genocide in 1995

And you have heard the rebukes he received from Dutch officials. Let me reiterate what they said:

Dutch officials, however, are forcefully rejecting Sheehan’s outrageous claim. “It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense,” said the Dutch defense ministry spokesman, pointing out that international investigations of the Srebrenica massacre found no evidence “that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role.” The Dutch ambassador to the United States said she “couldn’t disagree more” with Sheehan’s statement, and Dutch caretaker Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop called the claim “‘damaging’ and not worthy of a soldier. ‘I don’t want to waste any more words on it,’ he said.” Gen. Henk van den Breemen, Dutch Chief of Staff at the time of the Srebrenica genocide, added that Sheehan was spouting “total nonsense.”

Now all of this was published on March 19th.

And on March 23rd in The Advocate came this:

During last week’s hearing on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, former NATO commander Gen. John Sheehan told committee members that a former Dutch defense chief of staff, Gen. Henk van den Breemen, said the “liberalization” of the Dutch forces rendered them incapable of protecting the people of Srebrenica in 1995 during a battle in the Bosnian war when approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys were executed.


Van den Breemen rejected Sheehan’s account in a statement on the Dutch Ministry of Defense’s website, calling it “complete nonsense,” according to a translation provided the gay veterans group Servicemembers United.

The statement reads, “Sheehan based his claims on statements from then-chief of staff Gen. Henk van den Breemen. Van den Breemen, for his part, considers Sheehan’s accusations ‘complete nonsense.’ Van den Breemen does not share Sheehan’s opinion on the role of homosexuals in the fall of Srebrenica, and has never said anything that would imply he did.”

However if you were to read today's edition of the American Family Association's One News Now, you would read something along the lines of this:

General debunks repeal of military's 'gay' ban

A conservative military watchdog was impressed with the recent testimony of a former NATO commander who presented compelling evidence against President Obama's plans of repealing the military's ban on homosexual service.

Gen. John Sheehan testified before a recent hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee where he related a 1995 incident in which Dutch soldiers were detailed to protect some Bosnian Muslim civilians. In an exchange with committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Michigan), Sheehan claimed the Dutch battalion was under-strengthed and poorly led.

"The Serbs came into town and handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off and executed them," Sheehan accounted. "That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War Two."

Levin replied by asking: "Did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?"

As the general began to answer, Levin cut him off and asked again, "Did they tell you that? That's my question" -- to which Sheehan replied, "Yes, they included that as part of the problem."

And you would also read about how Elaine Donnelly, head of the Center for Military Readiness and an outspoken opponent of gays serving openly in the military, voices how she was "impressed" by the retired general's testimony.

But what you won't read are the rebukes from Dutch officials because they are not included in the One News Now article.

Now some may argue that One News Now didn't mislead anyone by not reporting what Dutch officials said about Sheehan's testimony, but I beg to differ.

The Dutch rebukes are a very crucial part to this story and One News Now had plenty of opportunity to include them, that is if it wanted to.

But if I know One News Now's history (and I do), getting the story right was obviously the last thing on the publication's list of priorities.

Homeless made to suffer because of homophobia and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Portland RCC Diocese Ends Homeless Aid Group's Funding, Because of No On 1 Support - Homophobia claims the homeless as victims.

LifeSiteNews piles on Throckmorton - I don't agree with Warren Throckmorton on a LOT of things, but this vendetta against him lodged by our "friend" LaBarbera demonstrates Porno Pete's vindictive nature.

Judge rules Constance McMillen's rights were violated, but prom cancellation is valid - In case you haven't heard.

Georgia High School Approves Gay Prom Date - Another story, a happier ending.

A brief note on public relations - I'm in agreement with you on this, Jeremy. Few are watching for now but this situation will reach a crescendo and I hope it's not an ugly one.

Do you support the 'Homosexual Agenda' (silly survey)

I received this forwarded email from a fellow barista at Pam's House Blend. It's from Eugene Delgaudio, President of a group called Public Advocate of the U.S.:

Dear fellow American,

The Radical Homosexuals claim you and other pro-family Americans actually now support same-sex marriage, special job preferences for homosexuals and promotion of the homosexual lifestyle in schools.

Is it true? What do you say?

I have prepared an American Morality Survey for you to fill out that I will provide a link to in a moment.

But first I want to make sure you understand just how serious this issue is.

You see, the Radical Homosexuals are storming through Washington demanding passage of their agenda.

And with the passage of Thought Control last year, they say NOW is the time to push their perverse "life-style" on every man, women and child in America.

And they insist YOU actually support them.

The Homosexual Lobby played a major role in electing Obama and the majorities he enjoys in both houses of Congress.

I can only begin to imagine all the damage the Radical Homosexuals will do with their allies controlling the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House.

As the President of Public Advocate of the U.S., I've devoted twenty-seven years to battling the radical homosexuals in Washington.

Backed by Hollywood celebrities, the media and millions of your tax dollars, the Radical Homosexuals have many Congressmen quivering with fear -- and they have a Radical Homosexual-friendly majority in control of Congress.

That is why pro-family Senators and Congressmen are counting on me to find out if you really support the Gay Bill of Special Rights and homosexual marriage as the radical homosexuals claim.

Please click here to complete the American Morality survey and prove to Congress that Americans oppose homosexual marriage and the Gay Bill of Special Rights today.

Frankly if you really do support the radical Homosexual Agenda -- or if you just no longer care enough to stand up for the family -- insiders in Congress say the entire Homosexual Agenda could pass in a matter of months.

*** Special job rights for homosexuals and lesbians. Businesses may have to adopt hiring quotas to protect themselves from lawsuits. Every homosexual fired or not hired becomes a potential federal civil rights lawsuit.

Radical homosexuals will terrorize day care centers, hospitals, churches and private schools. Traditional moral values will be shattered by federal law.

*** Same-sex marriages and adoptions. Wedding-gown clad men smooching before some left-wing clergy or state official is just the beginning.

You'll see men hand-in-hand skipping down to adoption centers to "pick out" a little boy for themselves.

*** Homosexual advocacy in schools. Your children or grandchildren will be taught homosexuality is moral, natural and good. High school children will learn perverted sex acts as part of "safe sex" education.

With condoms already handed out in many schools, Radical Homosexuals will have little trouble adopting today's "if it feels good do it" sex-ed curriculum to their agenda.

And to add insult to injury, lobbyists for the Homosexual Agenda are paid off with your tax dollars!

It goes on like this and ends with a special request for "donations," as if we should be surprised. The email also included several requests to fill out an American Morality Survey. And just so you know, the questions here are slanted such as:


Should homosexuals receive special job rights and force businesses, schools, churches and even daycares to hire and advance homosexuals or face prosecution and multimillion-dollar lawsuits?


Do you support the use of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund homosexual "art", so called AIDS-awareness programs and homosexual research grants that are frequently funneled to political advocacy?


Do you support same-sex "marriage" for homosexuals or "marriage-like" rights, like homosexuals being able to adopt children and raise them in their "lifestyle"?

I wouldn't advise filling out the survey because it puts your name on a "petition." It's worth looking at however for the accusatory language and imagery used. The email even implied twice that lgbts want to "invade" daycares.

Yet another phony moral "person" whose definition of morality encompasses making lgbts look the aliens from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

They seem to spring up everywhere. Hell of a way to make money.