Last weekend, over 10,000 folks attended Charlotte Pride in North Carolina and for the most part, had a very good time.
This happened despite the fact that over 500 protestors came out to try and spoil their fun. As you can see by the pictures, the red-shirted protestors came out to talk about "God has another way;" no doubt some nonsense about God didn't make people gay and stuff like that.
The leaders, Michael Brown, director of Coalition of Conscience had this to say:
“We’re praying to make them know that god, he loves them, that they’re not cast out, rejected and hated, and that there is a better way than gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, and that’s found in Jesus,” Brown said.
There is an old saying which goes "beware of Greeks bearing gifts."
Let me amend that to say "beware of religious right figures talking about sharing Christ with lgbts."
Simply because right before that statement of "love" and "sharing," Brown rambles about "boys going to school dressed as girls" and lgbt families intentionally denying children homes with both a mother and a father.
All of the religious right propaganda speech in other words.
In a full statement to the media, Brown lists anecdotes of how the so-called gay agenda is hurting America. You've heard them all before. But one stands out in my mind due to the way that Brown phrased it:
We believe it is outrageous for the media to cover up the gay identity of a sexual predator who repeatedly raped his adopted, five-year-old African American son and offered him for sex through the internet - for fear of making homosexual couples look bad.
This statement is referring to the Frank Lombard situation. For the benefit of those who do not know, Lombard is a gay Duke University official arrested for molesting his five-year-old adopted African-American son and offering him for sex via the internet.
An awful crime. But what's more awful is how members of the religious right and conservative movement have been implying that there was some sort of conspiracy by the media to obscure the fact that Lombard is gay for fear of attacking lgbt couples.
This is a lie. And it is no different than racist David Duke saying that the media covers up an alleged fact that black people supposedly commit more crimes so as to not make African-Americans look bad.
The irony is that members of Brown's protest had to sign a pledge to be nonviolent.
That's all well and good but something should be said for Brown's hypocrisy. He comes to the lgbt community talking about peace and love while repeating religious right anti-gay propaganda and lies designed not to start discussion but to make people fear lgbts
Brown actually makes me miss Fred Phelps and the "God hates fags" crowd. At least they didn't smile in your face while holding the knives behind their backs.
What's really bizarre is the way they act as if we have no access to the kind of horrible anti-gay rhetoric they spew when they're not around us. As if all the horrible shit they say IN PUBLIC about LGBT folk will never find its way back to us.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost funny, too. They actually think they can earn the trust of people who already know what they REALLY think of them.
Alvin,
ReplyDeleteA quick note from Dr. Brown here. First, just a reminder that I'd love to take you for lunch the next time you're in Charlotte. The invitation stands.
Second, I'm quite baffled by your charge of hypocrisy. I've been forthright and consistent in the five years I've been addressing these issues in Charlotte. (And Bill S., FYI, what I say in public is what I say in private, and my public comments and lectures and writings are all available, most of them for free on my websites.)
I have consistently said that the church has often been insensitive to the struggles faced by LGBT individuals, and that we have sinned against you by making homosexuality out to the worst of sins, and I apologized for that (publicly, in 2006, 2008, and 2009).
I have consistently proclaimed God's transforming love to the LGBT community in settings too numerous to mention (most recently at Pride Charlotte).
And I have consistently stood firmly against many of the goals of gay activism.
What has now been revealed that wasn't known before? Where is the hypocrisy? I'm genuinely baffled by the charge.
You can question my love, doubt my sincerity, call me an enemy of your rights, judge me however you choose -- but to charge me with my hypocrisy? Really, Alvin!
Your statements speak for themselves. And by statements, I mean your original words to the media, especially concerning the Frank Lombard situation.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to clarify that because I noticed in your long comment to me just now, you did not address what you said regarding the alleged conspiracy by the media to not call out Lombard's sexual orientation.
How convenient of you.
He also completely missed my point-I never said there was a discrepancy between what he said in public and what he says in private. I said that he made statements in public that any LBGT person would rightly be offended by, yet still expects us to believe he LOOOOVES us.
ReplyDeleteHis remarks about the Lombard case are a perfectly good reason to doubt his sincerity.
Bill S., I tell people to their face what I write and publish elsewhere, and this has actually opened for the door for dialog with LGBT folks because there's no duplicity on my part.
ReplyDeleteAlvin, I do not have the time to interact with your entire post, so I focused on your headline, exposing its falsehood. So, please drop the "how convenient" stuff, OK?
As for my statements, yes, they speak for themselves, loudly and clearly, and so there is no hypocrisy or duplicity, only forthright speech.
As for the Frank Lombard situation, I agree with what Dr. Mike Adams and others have pointed out in their writings on the subject.
Just for the record, a friend asked me to take a minute to respond to your article here after he spotted it, and I was happy to do so, but I don't have time for extended dialog in this setting, especially when your whole premise of "hypocrisy" is false. Talk about headless monsters! How about meaningless headlines?
Mr. Brown,
ReplyDeleteYou haven't exposed anything but your duplicitous nature. My headline speaks for itself but your evasiveness gives it creedence.
Don't blame Mike Adams or anyone else for what you said regarding the Frank Lombard situation. Again, I notice how you are not willing to talk about the lie you repeated about a media plot.
Your comments were false, totally un-Christian, and by their very nature insults the same sex parents who go far and beyond the call of duty to provide for their children. Furthermore, your continued sad attempts to sidestep your comment reveals not only to me but to everyone else who reads this blog as to how utterly false your declarations of love for the lgbt community are.
Again, how very convenient.
Mike Adams is a bigoted asshole. Citing him as a reference doesn't lend one credibility. Especially considering the what he wrote about the Lombard case was just repulsive:
ReplyDelete"The only good news coming out of this story is about Frank Lombard's live-in homosexual partner. The affidavit in support of Lombard's arrest warrent shows that he made special arrangements when molesting the child-sometimes even by drugging the child-to make sure his partner did not find out."
For someone who claims to object to insensitive treat of LGBT people, you certainly seem untroubled by the level of gross insensitivty above (which, by the way is typical of Adams). Lombard's partner discovers that the man he loves and trusts has been secretly molesting the five-year-old they're raising together, and Adams calls this GOOD NEWS?
And you agree with that?
If so, you don't have an ounce of empathy for LGBT people.