You like me! You really like me!

Last night was a huge hit. I read a bit of my book to a packed house attending the SC Gay and Lesbian Business Guild meeting and they were very receptive to my message.

As well as generous.

I was able to sell many copies of my book and give out many more business cards. The most important thing is that my message went out and was received well.

I think I did relatively well seeing that it was my first time doing a book reading. Of course there are a few things I would change. I am not exactly Sidney Poitier or Morgan Freeman when it comes to verbal delivery.

I read somewhere that a great Greek orator used to practice saying speeches with pebbles in his mouth. Of course I am sure pebbles were cleaner back then than they are now.

Maybe I will try the same tactic with ice cream sandwiches.

Seriously though, I read today that our friend Peter is a little bit upset that Diversity Inc magazine co-founder Luke Visconti compared his usage of the Bible to demonize lgbts to slaveholders using the same holy text to justify slavery:

DiversityInc magazine co-founder Luke Visconti (lvisconti@diversityinc.com) showed his own (modern) bigotry and disrespect for people of faith by comparing Americans For Truth president Peter LaBarbera to a 19th Century Christian slavery advocate because LaBarbera opposes homosexuality and pro-homosexual corporate policies.

I'm confused. Apparently Visconti's piece was about Americans for Truth (in name only). So how can Peter take it that it was meant to insult people of faith. I really don't remember reading that part of the Bible that says God had appointed Peter as the new prophet i.e. spokesperson for anyone of faith.

Maybe he was sent a memo. Peter continues to say:

Did you know that in the eyes of some liberal, pro-homosexual advocates, you are the moral equivalent of the KKK? Actually, this is nothing new: radical “gay” activists have been making this absurd and hateful analogy for years. This is why I tell religious people all the time: disabuse yourself of the idea that homosexual activists and their liberal fellow travelers “respect” your faith or your right to live it out in the public square. They don’t; they despise your Bible-centered morality, and are quite willing to demonize you for it.

Let me put my little spin on this.

Peter, your belief that homosexuality is a sin does not make you a bigot like a member of Klan. It is your tactics. You are guilty of the following:

Aiding in the selling of a fradulent video because it featured a man who claimed that he was ex-gay while at the same time potentially infecting gay men with HIV

Spreading the studies of a man dismissed from the APA for bad research tactics, something that you are aware of

Giving an unfair connotation that all gays and lesbians are diseased, sex ridden maniacs by attending subcultural events like Folsom Street Fair and focusing on the gays you see there while ignoring the heterosexual engaged in the same behavior

Engaging in the distortion of credible research in order to demonize the lgbt community.

Your tactics make you no different than slaveholders. They thought their racial heritage justified keeping African-Americans physically shackled. You think your religious beliefs justify the tactics you use to keep lgbts spiritually shackled.

Do you get what I am throwing down? No? Let me put it another way.

I have friends who are very conservative. They home school their children and feel that homosexuality is a sin. But they respect me. They ask me about my life and if I am dating anyone. They even introduced me to their children. Sometimes we even have lunch where we have an excellent conversation about life and everything in between.

The difference between you and them?

When they walk into my office and see a plaque I received as volunteer of the year from the gay and lesbian organization in my city, they don't whine to me or anyone about how their religious beliefs are being "violated." When my boyfriend brought me flowers for Valentine's Day, they did not tell me that I was going to hell nor did they tell me that I had no right to tell where I got the flowers from.

They don't assume that their Christianity gives them the top floor in some sort of superior hierarchy. They don't think that the world revolves around their religious beliefs.

Nor do they stoop to deception in attempts to get folks to conform to their religious beliefs.

You should really try it sometime, Peter.