''You Down with LGBT' rap and video should be required viewing' and other Friday midday news briefs

This absolutely SWEET pro-lgbt rap song and video courtesy of the Planned Parenthood Los Angeles’ Peer Advocate program is the right panacea to the notion that rap and hip-hop are naturally homophobic genres. And it serves to remind us about a necessary point that many of us in the lgbt community tend to forget. Sometimes we give in to stereotypes when allies in the communities we stereotype have NO ONE listening to their voices. Let's pay attention to our invisible communities as much as we pay attention to our "appointed" communities. 

In other news:

YouTube Bans Teen Homophobe For Life - Just how homophobic do you have to be as a teenager to be banned from youtube for life? Talk about your double dubious "honors." 

 Bob Newhart, don't become the next Kirk Cameron! - Pay attention to this situation. It looks like it's going to blow up like a volcano any minute. 

 Indiana Bishops: Support Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment For The ‘Well-Being Of Children’ - And here we go again with the "won't someone think of the children" excuse. 

 India ‘goes gay for a day’ to protest gay sex ban - Way to go folks in India! 

 28 Heartwarming Photos Of Indians Being #GayForADay To Protest The Ban On Same-Sex Intercourse - More about this protest from Buzzfeed, including pictures.

Bryan Fischer forgets what the Bible says about pride

It seems to me that Bryan Fischer is so adept on the Biblical verses which speaks about the so-called sin of homosexuality that he forgot the one about pride going before a fall:



Now Bryan. How can you be the "truth detector" when you are already the bullshit artist?

'Pat Robertson: Lesbian friend may turn your children gay' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Robertson: Lesbian Friend Might Turn Your Kids Gay - I did NOT get that memo from National Headquarters. When did the Gay Mafia vote on this? 

 In other news: 

 Republican Senators Introduce ‘License To Discriminate’ Against Married Same-Sex Couples - Words fail me . . .

Fox's Favorite Right-Wing Legal Group Applauds India's Ban On Gay Sex - Oh those poor 
"persecuted" bigots on the right. 

Planting Peace Launches 'Uganda Underground' Safe-Housing Initative For LGBT Community - And you can help with this effort, too.

Peter LaBarbera blames Jamaican lgbts for their own persecution

Editor's note: It's a rare two post day on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters due to the fact that today's news briefs will be pre-empted. After reading this post, pan down to read how Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association undermine complaints about the Southern Poverty Law Center:

LaBarbera

Apparently the criticism due to his Jamaican trip is getting to Peter LaBarbera.  It was reported this week that LaBarbera recently attended a conference in that country in which he advised folks there to fight to retain the laws against sodomy (called "buggery laws). These laws form the building blocks of anti-gay oppression in Jamaica. In part, LaBarbera said:

I do not stand with my government. I’m a patriotic American, but I do not stand with the current United States government in its promotion of homosexuality and gender confusion. But I do stand with the Jamaican people … I pray that you will learn from our mistakes and from lessons of history and avoid the inevitable moral corruption and health hazards and the danger to young people that come from capitulating to this sin movement that calls itself gay. It is almost now can be predicted with 100 percent accuracy, if the law is a teacher: If you take down this law, it will only lead to more demands. Appeasement does not work.

LaBarbera received lots of deserved criticism, particularly from pro-lgbt sites and blogs, not only because of his rhetoric, but also how his rhetoric can be used to fuel anti-gay violence in Jamaica. Jamaica is unfortunately known for its homophobic violence. According to Truth Wins Out:

Just this year, a gay man was stabbed to death, after which his home was set on fire while the body was inside. The article also reports that the week prior, a mob tried to attack a man they perceived as gay. The month before, a gender-nonconforming teen was “chopped and stabbed” to death. Those are just incidents that happened between July and September of this year. In 2006, Time Magazine labeled Jamaica “the most homophobic place on earth,” and for good reason.

In a post on his Americans for Truth webpage, LaBarbera sought to minimize the idea that his rhetoric could cause further violence against Jamaican lgbts. 

Bryan Fischer, India, the SPLC, and the big irony of homophobia

Define irony:

At the same time several groups, including the American Family Association complain to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel attacking the Southern Poverty Law Center for declaring various anti-gay organizations as hate groups,  Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association is praising India Supreme Court for its ruling criminalizing "gay sex"



Someone is obviously trying to have it both ways.

When funny anti-gay statements become tools for oppression

Anti-gay pastor from Uganda, Solomon Male

"Homosexuality is dangerous . . .I have counseled young men who's rectums have protruded, and young women who have lost uteruses because of indulging in lesbianism. There are no facilities to treat them since they would have ruptured anus. I have counselled so many people who say they are homosexuals and they have since changed their ways of living. I don't hate homosexuals but the acts of homosexuality. I will fight homosexuality, not the people." - Solomon Male, Ugandan pastor

If this a statement by an American pastor said in this country, it would be "ha! ha! homophobic." However, seeing that Male is a pastor in Uganda, a country which persecutes lgbts and is still considering passing a bill which would penalize lgbts for being who they are, things aren't so funny.

For the record, I have never heard of any woman losing her uterus because of lesbian sex. And I have never heard of protruding rectums. I have unfortunately been the recipient of a vile picture of a gay man with his alleged intestines wrapped around him with the sender claiming that it was the result of gay sex, but the picture was an obvious fake. Nauseating but fake.

Male is very influential in Uganda and has sworn to eradicate homosexuality out of the country. And he is catching a lot of attention due to a trial involving Bernard Randall, a retired British gay man on trial in Uganda after two men stole his computer, which contained images of him having sex, and gave the images to Male.

If convicted, Randall could serve two years behind bars while the other man in the video faces a worse sentence.

'Lgbt heroine Edie Windsor receives Time Magazine honor' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Edie Windsor

Edie Windsor Is Time Magazine's 'Person Of The Year' Runner Up - The woman behind the end of DOMA. She should have gotten Time's 'Person of the Year,' but runner up ain't no slouch. 

Gov. Snyder: Dave Agema's antigay remarks 'extreme and discriminatory' - Yes, a Republican official said something so homophobically NASTY that a Republican governor had to call him out. It's about time because Dave Agema needs a time out. I mean I can't stand someone who will cite anti-gay junk science, but I "hates" someone who will cite anti-gay junk science as it was written over 20 years ago. More on the Dave Agema mess. He has quite a history of using junk science:

 Anti-gay legislation rooted in lies, not Scripture

  Dave Agema saga exposes the lies of the anti-gay right 

 Dave Agema controversy gets worse for lgbt community  

India’s Supreme Court: It’s Still Illegal To Be Gay - Just a reminder. The lgbt struggle for equality is worldwide and multicultural.  

“A Great Day for Prejudice and Inhumanity” - More on the situation in India from Box Turtle Bulletin.  

Obamacare Success Story: Man With HIV Thought He'd Be 'Dead Within 6 Months,' Now Has Awesome, Cheaper Insurance - An Obamacare success story that you probably won't hear about in certain places of the media.

The 'War on Christmas' is real . . . dumb

Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, gives us her view about the 'War on Christmas'

Family Research Council smears judge for decision in bakery lawsuit

I could have sworn that one of the 10 commandments was "thou shalt not bear false witness."

Perhaps the Family Research Council has special permission from God to ignore this commandment. Today in an email, the organization smeared Colorado judge, Robert Spencer, simply because he ruled against Masterpiece Cakes owner Jack Philips. Philips was sued by a gay couple, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, when he wouldn't sell them a cake. Craig and Mullins were going to use the cake to celebrate the wedding they had in Massachusetts since gay marriage is illegal in Colorado.

In his decision, Spencer outlined several very good reasons why Philips broke Colorado's non-discrimination law, including the fact that baking a cake does not constitute religious conduct and selling cakes does not constitute speech.

However, the Family Research Council has pushed all of these reasons aside because apparently the real reason why Spencer ruled against Philips was because he is an "activist judge" :

 Like most activist judges, Spencer tries to equate sexual behavior with skin color, a comparison with no basis in science -- or logic. What's more, he tied the case to a Supreme Court suit involving Bob Jones University, in which the justices stripped the college's tax status over its rule against biracial relationships.

I don't have to tell anyone that FRC offered no proof of its charges against Spencer. That goes without saying. Right now, the organization is simultaneously playing defense while exploiting its followers' fears and sense of entitlement via buzzwords. And the phrase "activist judge" is a powerful one to those on the right.

It's a phrase they use when they lose court cases.  It's akin to a football team blaming the referee after it loses the game. And in this case, it sends a message to FRC's supporters to not consider the fact that perhaps their positions are wrong. God forbid that these folks would do a little introspection. No, they are not wrong. The entire system is rigged against them because the system is evil and supposedly against Christians.

While FRC's caterwauling doesn't change Spencer's decision, it still makes me sad because it has the potential of changing many people's idea of Christianity. I know many Christians and they consider their faith as one of love and hope. The Family Research Council reduces Christianity to paranoia, fear, lies and a false sense of superiority.  Perhaps those who truly consider themselves followers of the Christian faith should ask themselves just who is their friend. And their enemy.

Open letter to Christians who claim that they are being 'persecuted'

Dear  Christians who think they are being persecuted,

I don't expect you to be swayed by my open letter. I don't expect to change your mind with my words. But certain things have to be said.

Now I understand how some of you don't agree with marriage equality (some of you call it gay marriage, I call it marriage equality) and I respect your opinion. I have tolerance for your opinion.  I even have tolerance for your opinion that homosexuality is a sin.

However, please note - and don't take this the wrong way -  that every time you gripe about being persecuted for simply for being ordered to treat gay couples like you would heterosexual couples by the rule of law, you make damn fools of yourself.

I'm serious. I don't say this to be mean or nasty. I mean no malice intended.

But don't you think that automatically seizing the "persecution card"  simply because you have to treat gays the same as heterosexuals in accordance to the law is just a bit too much? Don't you think that you are taking dramatic license a little too far?  Or at least overacting just a little?

Let's talk about this. When I think about "religious persecution," I think about the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witchcraft Trials, how Mary I of England had over 280 people burned at the stake for supposed heresy, the mass slaughter of the Huguenots.

When I think of persecution in general, I think of mutilated corpses littering the streets, screaming victims being dragged away by brutal soldiers to suffer harsher fates.  I think about vandalized places of business, burning homes, mobs throwing rocks at innocent folks, the smell of death, violence, and anarchy in the air.

I fail to see how having your day in court and losing your case fairly as a result of due process and then being interviewed on the most watched news programs in the country by a leggy - if slightly scatterbrained - blonde in a tight dress fits amongst the images of violence, death, and the general mayhem which comes with religious persecution.

I fail to see how being the cause celebre of various multi-million dollared morality groups (and getting a decent income with a speaking gig if you can get a good "Christian" agent) ranks up there with being slaughtered.

Come on guys. In the early days of your faith, the Romans fed you to lions. They crucified several of you. They dipped you in tar and set you on fire. They even distorted the words of the Holy Communion to claim that you practiced cannibalism (which kinda reminds me to later mention how some of you distort science to demonize gays, but that's for another time.)

Do you think God will punish you for simply making a cake for a gay wedding or even marrying a gay couple if you are elected to do such a job?

After all, it is gay tax dollars who is paying the police force to keep your business safe or the fire department to save your business if it should catch on fire.

And it is gay dollars which is paying your salary as an elected official who oversees weddings.

So it seems to me that you are already deep with us as it is. Do you hear any voices above asking you to cease?  Have you been struck by lightning yet?

Well then that should tell you something.

Lgbts aren't out to persecute you. We aren't asking that you like us or that you "endorse" us. All we ask is fairness in accordance to the law.  After all, this is our country too. And when we appear in public with partners or families or when we talk about issues that affect us, we certainly aren't shoving anything in your faces. We are merely acting like normal human beings going through the regular process of existing on this Earth. You know that process, don't you? It's called having a life.

I hope I haven't bored you or gotten you so upset that you don't consider what I'm saying.

Because next time, I want to talk to you about this "War on Christmas" thing.

Yours truly,

Alvin McEwen

'Fairness vs. so-called religious liberty' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Presenting both sides of the religious liberty argument. In one corner we have:

Discriminatory cake baker posts editorial on bakery's website; goes after 'illegal' weddings that are 'contrary to biblical teachings' - A bakery owner who thinks he has the to discriminate in accordance to his personal religious beliefs. 

And in the other corner:

It Was Never About the Cake - The mother of the man who sued a bakery who points out that it's not about a cake, but about dignity and fairness. 

Fox News: It’s ‘The Death Of Free Enterprise’ If Bakery Can’t Discriminate Against Gay Couples -  And speaking of  the 'Christian' baker, he is now on his 'I'm being persecuted' tour with the first stop being 'Fox and Friends.' Maybe it's just me but baking a cake for a gay couple doesn't exactly rank up on the persecution chart next to being burned at the stake by Mary I of England.
 
Georgia Falls In Line With Providing National Guard Same-Sex Benefits - And Mississippi is all alone in NOT doing the right thing for our fighting men and women.  

Klingenschmitt Kindly Informs Us That He Recently Obtained A Concealed Carry Permit - After losing in his attempts to ban Right Wing Watch's videos of him acting like a fool from youtube, anti-gay activist Gordon Klingenschmitt (forgive me but I just can't get the desire to call him Klingenshitt out of my head) now informs us all that he recently obtained a concealed carry permit. In street terms Mr. Klingenschmitt, allow me to put it this way - "ain't nobody want you."

Elton John denounces Russia's anti-gay laws during Moscow concert

I'll be honest.

 I have on many, many occasions railed against the extensive fascination of celebrities in the lgbt community. I have called out how many of us don't seem about important issues until someone like Lady Gaga or Ellen DeGeneres talks about it. And there is a reason why this blog will not talk about the alleged relationship between a certain young Olympic athlete and an older, Oscar-winning screenwriter.

But I also believe in giving credit where its due and for Elton John to speak out against Russia's anti-gay laws during concert in Moscow took a lot of chutzpah.

Why I Get a Nagging Feeling Every Time I Hear the Phrase 'Religious Liberty'

Editor's note - From time to time whenever the opportunity presents itself, I like to repost pieces I published. In light of the discussion regarding those who feel that discrimination against lgbts should be allowed on the grounds of "religious liberty," I am resposting this piece from 2011:

Those who are my friends know that I am a serious fan of the 1970s detective drama Columbo. The thing I really love about this show is how police detective Columbo never considers a murder case completely simple. He never buys into the idea of an "open-and-shut" case if he has a nagging feeling, no matter how insignificant it is.

That nagging feeling is what I get when I hear about marriage clerks, hotel owners, Catholic adoption agencies, and, recently, cake bakers who refuse to serve gay couples. No doubt you have heard about them and will probably hear a lot more as religious right groups trying to hinder marriage equality canonize these folks as "saints and martyrs" besieged by so-called radical gay activists supposedly trying to force them to choose between their livelihood and religious freedom.

In fact, they have a term for this sort of thing. They call it "religious liberty."

There is a certain simplicity to these cases, which garners them a degree of support. Some of these folks (excluding Catholic charities, who have no right to taxpayer money if they discriminate, and marriage clerks, who should put the needs of constituents over their own desires) seems to have a right to serve whomever they wish. And one could even make the case that they are in fact forced to choose between their livelihoods and their "religious liberty."

But then there goes that nagging feeling again. These cases aren't as simple as they are made out to be. What about the rights of couples refused service? No matter how you attempt to soften the blow, the idea that someone will not serve you because of how they inaccurately view you still hurts. It's dehumanizing, it's cruel, and it's embarrassing.

In a recent situation in Iowa, a cake baker scheduled an appointment with a lesbian couple who desired her services, only to use that time to not only tell them "no" but also criticize their sexual orientation.

Then that same cake baker made several news appearances to complain about how she was a victim, backed by several religious right groups spinning the same talking points.

And I haven't even talked about what a message of "I will not serve you" would send to a child in a same-sex family who may be present at the time. Nor have I mentioned the unnecessary inconvenience same-sex couples will have to endure if they live in an area where the so-called religious martyr is the only one who can address their needs.

Then you have to consider just how gay couples will tell who will or won't serve them. How would they be able to tell without the courtesy of signs saying, "We don't serve gays." Of course, if such signs did exist, I'm sure those who put them up wouldn't think that they were being cruel -- just like folks who put up "No Irish Need Apply" signs didn't think they were being cruel.

And then you have to ask yourself just how far the argument of "religious liberty" will go. Today it's hotels and cake shops. Tomorrow it may be restaurants or apartment rentals.

So I almost understand the "religious liberty" argument, but then comes that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that just won't go away, the feeling that "religious liberty" is just another way of saying "allowed discrimination," and that some folks will use the phrase "religious liberty" to deflect attention from the victims of this "allowed discrimination."

Lastly, the thing that bothers me the most is the sad fact that the phrase "religious liberty" has less to do with religion or liberty and more to do with telling gay couples that they are inferior.

Judge: 'Baking cakes is NOT religious conduct' and other Monday midday news briefs

Colorado Judge: Bakery That Refused Wedding Cake To Same-Sex Couple Broke The Law - Even if you already read this awesome post, read it again. "Baking Cakes Is Not Religious Conduct" should be put on a t-shirt. 

The Ruth Institute: Photographing a same-sex marriage like tattooing a swastika - The above ruling will have consequences for other rulings and the anti-gay Ruth Institute is working on an argument against it. It kinda stinks if you ask me.

 Lawyer: Murdering A Transgender Prostitute Not Such A Big Deal - And then the judge went OFF on his trifling ass.  

Our YouTube Page Has Been Restored And Klingenschmitt Has Been Warned To 'Cease And Desist' - Anti-gay activist took on Right Wing Watch and got nailed for his lies.

North Carolina's Myrtle Grove Christian School To Refuse State Money Over Anti-Gay Policy - That's right. You discriminate then you get NO tax dollars.

Reminder - Peter LaBarbera has NO problem knowingly using junk science against lgbts

According to Buzzfeed, anti-gay activist "Porno Pete" LaBarbera was invited to a rally in Jamaica where he encouraged the country to keep its anti-gay law (against "buggery") illegal.

The article said he and another spokesperson at the rally made much use of the discredited claim that homosexuality and pedophilia are connected:

LaBarbera, a longtime activist opposing LGBT rights in America, said he was working on a book on the connection between “homosexual activism and pedophiles.” He said that after winning rights like marriage and protection for gay kids in schools, U.S. activists were now championing the rights of MAPS, or “minor-attracted persons.” “Homosexuals are always on offense,” he said. “It’s another secret that American activists don’t like to tell is that NAMBLA, the North American Man-Boy Love Association, used to march in gay pride parades.” 

If LaBarbera is truly working on a book - rather than boosting his credentials by claiming to be "working on a book" - one could only guess what information he would use to connect homosexuality and pedophilia. Several medical groups, including the American Psychological Association, have proven that the two aren't connected.

However, as the above audio interview from 2010 demonstrates, LaBarbera has been known to not only ignore information that doesn't match his worldview, but also embrace information that backs up his beliefs no matter how discredited the source. In an interview with Concerned Women for America's Martha Kleder, LaBarbera freely admits to using the discredited research of Paul Cameron in order to demonize the lgbt community.

 Cameron is a researcher who has made a name for himself by creating studies designed to demonize the lgbt community.  These studies for the most part have been published in "vanity" or "pay-for-publish" journals and they are not "peer-reviewed" in the normal sense. No "peer" who objects to Cameron's work has the right to remove it from the journal.

He is a major proponent behind many wild arguments such as gays will molest their fellow soldiers in the military, lesbians get into more car accidents, gay men stuff gerbils up their rectums, and - of course - the false link between pedophilia and homosexuality.

He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.

Even Barbera's claim in the interview that another researcher proved Cameron's thesis about children in same-sex households is also incorrect. LaBarbera failed to mention that the researcher, Walter Schumm, used the same bad methodology Cameron used to come to his original thesis.

Of course who needs facts when you are "working for Jesus," right Peter?  LaBarbera obviously doesn't care about stoking the fires of homophobia in a Jamaica, a country where lgbts are viciously attacked and murdered by anti-gay mobs,  so why should he care that the information he uses to stoke those fires is wrong.

If LaBarbera is truly writing a book, then it deserves to be in the fiction section.

Know Your LGBT History - Culture Club

Back in the 80s, I loved me some Culture Club, an English band fronted by George Alan O'Dowd, or rather Boy George, whose androgynous appearance and incredible voice set many tongues wagging but also created a multitude of teen imitators.

If you want to read the history of Culture Club, go to Wikipedia. I prefer to post several of their videos and enjoy my memories:

  
 

And let's not forget when Culture Club won the 1993 Grammy for Best New Artist:



Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'Family Research Council's credibility problem needs more attention' and other Friday midday news briefs

16 reasons why the Family Research Council is a hate group - Past reference material to go with this morning's post about the Family Research Council's latest deception. It all goes to question FRC's credibility. A Christian organization has absolutely no business using such tactics and lies. 

Credible science vs. Peter 'I'd prefer to export homosexuals from the United States' Sprigg - And speaking of FRC distortions, their spokesman Peter Sprigg is a former actor and present-day pastor. He has no business having as much credibility on any issue as the American Medical Association.  

FRC's Sprigg Desperately Tries To Justify Discriminating Against Gay Blood Donors - More on Sprigg's lack of expertise from Equality Matters.

 Gay Weddings Now Make Up 17 Percent Of Marriages In Washington State - Not bad at all for the first year of its legality.  

Transgender cop in Conn. files complaint - And I hope she wins.  

Truth Wins Out Praises Congresswoman Jackie Speier For Reintroducing Resolution Protecting Minors From ‘Reparative’ Therapy - This would be so awesome if we get it through Congress.

Anti-gay group distorts researcher's work a decade after he demanded a retraction

Simple question. If the Family Research Council's opposition to lgbt equality is rooted in Biblical foundation rather than animus, why does the organization distort scientific data to attack the lgbt community.

On the FRC webpage is an original "study" entitled Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse. This piece of "work" was published by former FRC employee Timothy Dailey.

It puts forth the theory that:

Pedophiles are invariably males: Almost all sex crimes against children are committed by men.

Significant numbers of victims are males: Up to one-third of all sex crimes against children are committed against boys (as opposed to girls).

The 10 percent fallacy: Studies indicate that, contrary to the inaccurate but widely accepted claims of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, homosexuals comprise between 1 to 3 percent of the population.

Homosexuals are overrepresented in child sex offenses: Individuals from the 1 to 3 percent of the population that is sexually attracted to the same sex are committing up to one-third of the sex crimes against children.

Some homosexual activists defend the historic connection between homosexuality and pedophilia: Such activists consider the defense of "boy-lovers" to be a legitimate gay rights issue.


Pedophile themes abound in homosexual literary culture: Gay fiction as well as serious academic treatises promote "intergenerational intimacy."

These points are junk.  More credible sources, i.e. the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America, all say that gay men are not more likely to molest children than heterosexual men.

I'm glad that Nelson Mandela was here

Nelson Mandela

Today the world mourns one of our greatest heroes.

Nelson Mandela died today at the age of 95. Mandela's fight against the awful system of apartheid in South Africa led to his 27-year imprisonment after which in 1994, he became the first black president of the country, helping to dismantle apartheid and inequality.

Mandela never gave in to the demons of revenge or resentment, choosing to use his time as president as well as his status to be a statesman for peace and equality for all, including lgbts.

The Human Rights Campaign issued the following statement:

Nelson Mandela tore down oppression, united a rainbow nation, and always walked arm-in-arm with his LGBT brothers and sisters—and with all people—toward freedom. Though every man, woman and child who seeks justice around the world mourns this loss, his vision of an equal future lives on undimmed. Mandela, who was South Africa’s first post-Apartheid president, was an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality. He appointed an openly-gay judge to South Africa's High Court of Appeal and during his presidency, South Africa became the first nation in the world to constitutionally prohibit sexual orientation-based discrimination. Mandela will be remembered for his social justice activism and commitment to equality for all people. 

While there is sadness over Mandela's passing, I'm not really mourning. I never met him but I am so glad that he wasn't taken from the world before he could fully impact it like other leaders such as John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mandela lived a long life and leaves a great legacy. And now he is at peace, taking his well-deserved rest. So while there is a void in our hearts, let there also be a bit of contentment and gladness. Let's not waste so much time mourning the fact that Mandela is gone that we forget how thankful we should be that he was here in the first place.

Magic and Cookie Johnson's unconditional acceptance of their gay son is wonderful

The following snippet is from an interview that former basketball superstar Magic Johnson and his wife, Coookie, had with Oprah Winfrey. I was very happy to see this because we don't hear conversations about African-American lgbts and our families. Instead we hear the lazy narrative about how the African-American community is supposedly more homophobic than other communities.

That's really not the truth. What Magic Johnson said about accepting his son is not an anomaly in the black community. In fact, it mirrors how I came out to my father and I'm sure it mirrors experiences of other African-American lgbts.

While it is true that some African-American families do not accept their lgbt children, let's not forget that many others do with no conditions at all.

That's something which should always be kept in mind