WAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE BIG BAD GAY ACTIVISTS ARE PICKING ON US!!!

I knew that mea culpa was bullshit.

Earlier this week when faced with the reality that they misrepresented a report on a skin infection (unfairly linking it to the gay community), Concerned Women for America and other anti-gay industry groups sent out a press release saying that they wanted to work together with gay rights groups in order to stop the spread of the infection.

And their platitudes were not believed, mostly because they did not mention one word of apology regarding how they first lied about the infection.

Now it is looking like those who didn't believe their bullshit had good justification.

You see the mea culpa was just a tactic strategy. The second part of said tactical strategy came today via a column written by Matt Barber (Concerned Women for America.)

The column blames the so-called gay pressure groups for "bullying" the researchers behind the story. Of course Barber does not go name the pressure groups in question nor does he say how the bullying took place.

He totally mischaracterizes the statement by the CDC about the infection; omitting the part of the statement that says conclusions cannot be drawn about all gay men based on the gay men in the study.

And he cited an book written over 10 years ago as proof of how his original bullshit about the infection was accurate.

But where his column appears is the most important part of the story. It appeared on Townhall.com, a right wing webpage. That in itself may not seem like a big thing, but it is.

You see Barber doesn't have to work too hard there to convince readers of his bullshit. From the comments I have seen (including references to Paul Cameron's research), readers there already have a preconceived notion of homoseuxality and it ain't good.

It only goes to show that Barber's column was written as part of a plan. I hope I do not seem paranoid when I say this, but I am guessing that Barber and other members of the anti-gay industry (i.e. Peter LaBarbera) recognized that they really screwed up here.

So much so that they called in reinforcements. I was surprised to see that Barber's predecessor in Concerned Women for America, Robert Knight, was taking part in some of the damage control.

And joining together (probably email and cell phone), they have crafted this plan of retreat while throwing bombs at the enemy.

Well maybe for Matt, Peter and company, it will have to do. And maybe they can get a little traction by claiming yet again that the "invisible but POWERFUL gay lobby" strong armed them, but a retreat is still a retreat.

And a loss is still a loss. And you may convince minds at Town Hall and other right-wing webpages that you did nothing wrong.

But they are the only ones you can convince of your so-called innocence.

UPDATE 1:

Slowly but surely Matt Barber's nonsensical column is being featured on several webpages including Renew America. How long will it be before Peter features it. In interviews, Barber is playing innocent:

"They're saying that we're saying that this is the new HIV ... gay disease," said Matt Barber, policy director of Concerned Women for America, on Thursday. "We never said that. We simply reported what this study has reported – that there's an outbreak among certain segments of the homosexual community," he added. - Conservatives Fear Gay Outcry Downplays MRSA Outbreak, January 25, 2008

But just a few days beforehand:

“The medical community has known for years that homosexual conduct, especially among males, creates a breeding ground for often deadly disease. In recent years we have seen a profound resurgence in cases of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, rectal gonorrhea and many other STDs among those who call themselves ‘gay.’

“The human body is quite callous in how it handles mistreatment and the perversion of its natural functions. When two men mimic the act of heterosexual intercourse with one another, they create an environment, a biological counterfeit, wherein disease can thrive. Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences.

"In recent years our culture has adopted a laissez faire attitude toward sexual deviancy. Television shows like Will and Grace glorify the homosexual lifestyle while our children are taught in schools that homosexuality is a perfectly healthy, alternative sexual 'orientation.' 'Stay out of our bedrooms!' we're often commanded by militant 'gay' activists. "Well, now the dangerous and possibly deadly consequence of what occurs in those bedrooms is spilling over into the general population. It's not only frightening, it's infuriating.

"Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, 'No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically correct cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle.' - Epidemic Feared - 'Gays' May Spread Deadly Staph Infection to General Population, January 15

True, Matt didn't say that the infection is the new AIDS crisis (way to set up that straw man argument, Matt) but the language he used goes far beyond simply reporting a story.

Nice try, Matt but neither you nor Peter nor Concerned Women for America is going to easily wash THIS egg off your face.

UPDATE 2: Bullshit in action

The following is a perfect example of how anti-gay industry distortions of legitimate science can in fact harm the lgbt community.

Imagine if you will, the MSRA infection brouhaha being used to make the case against lgbts adopting children. I found the following on a blog. Regardless of whether or not this blog has significant readership, the fact of the matter is that it serves as an example of how folks try to manipulate science against us:

In addition, the recent revelation that gay men are much more susceptible to drug resistant MRSA "gay" flesh-eating bacteria because of their propensity for anal intercourse should provoke additional caution. This strain is so virulent that a gay dad could spread it to his kid merely by touch.

Unbelievable.