Let me reiterate - we don't need another national march

I want to go into more detail about why I am totally against another march for lgbt rights.

For one thing, I am an eccentric idealist when it comes to national marches. I even refused to attend the Million March. In fact, I was set against it. The reason was that I figured why should I go to Washington, D.C. to make a commitment to my family and community when I could honor that commitment by staying home and working at my job like always. I didn't need to go to Washington to make a show of it.

The second reason is because of the memories I have of the 1993 Gay march in Washington. It was my first and last national march. I remember being disgusted by the vulgarity of some half naked individuals and mostly by the lack of a coherent plan other than demonstrating how mad we were.

I also remember the words of a gay-friendly columnist who said that based on the march, he couldn't tell what the lgbt community wanted. The problem with the 1993 March was that there were so many groups, factions, and different interpretations of lgbt rights that it was difficult to get all of those groups unified.

My guess is the same thing will happen with this march. Hell, the only folks who may benefit from this march will be religious right figures who will no doubt film the lack of discipline that many of us will probably demonstrate.

The idea that the lgbt community should have a huge march only underlines our huge problem. It seems like we are trying to end the fight for lgbt rights with a quick knockout rather than a strategic dismantling of discrimination and ignorance.

I fail to see how a public showing of our anger will do us any good if we can't articulate that anger into something productive. All a March on Washington would demonstrate is that we enjoy transitory visibility and symbolic anger but don't have the wherewithal to translate that symbolic anger into positive action.

Maybe it's time that we start looking at things on a state-by-state basis. The Christian Coalition began by taking over area school boards. Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America are connected by statewide organizations.

Why can't we do the same thing? With so many statewide lgbt groups in existence, have we ever thought of meeting, sharing resources, and drafting plans for our individual communities?

That would make more sense than a useles public showing of anger.

Monday midday news briefs

Oklahoma: Teacher asserts he was terminated for advocating for LGBT youth - From Sally Kern land. Why doesn't this surprise me?

Gay rights activist calls for march on Washington - NO,NO, NO, a million times NO!! Why do we always pick visibility over brick-by-brick planning. I would rather work with my South Carolina community and surrounding state communities on strategies to further lgbt rights and understanding. I would rather trade resources with these communities. AND NOT UNDER THE GLARE OF CAMERAS!! Why is it that folks want to come together for a march but can't seem to be able to work with other lgbts in THEIR OWN community.

Head of San Diego Pride attacked, beaten - What the hell?

Entercom Communications Corporation: When Big Business Demonizes Innocent Children - I didn't mention this last week and I really should have. On a Sacremento radio show, the hosts made ugly uncalled for comments about our transgendered children. They are now finding out what happens when they say rude things about these babies.

Down to the Wire In Albany on Marriage, GENDA - Possible good news from New York

State Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex foster parents - More good news from last week

More right wing lunacy on Kevin Jennings courtesy of Kevin McCullough

President Obama's decision to appoint GLSEN(Gay Straight Lesbian Education Network) founder Kevin Jennings as Assistant Deputy Secretary in the Office of Safe Schools has really brought out the wolves.

Aside from the nonsense emanating from Concerned Women for America, Peter LaBarbera, and wannabe activist and expert Linda Harvey comes more nonsense from an old friend of mine, Kevin McCullough via the conservative Town Hall.

McCullough has written a column, Why Obama's Elementary Queering Must Be Stopped, that says less about our President and Jennings and more about the lunancy of those who continue to attack Jennings.

McCullough, who, based on some of his past writings, obviously thinks of President Obama as the Second Coming of Damien Thorne (i.e. The Omen) doesn't hold anything back:

While President Obama was in Cairo preaching Islamist propaganda to the ears of Muslim students this last week, his administration was carrying out an even more sinister agenda.

McCullough of course attacks Jennings for his activities at GLSEN. It disappointed me a little that he didn't pull the "fistgate" card. But not to worry, because McCullough still doesn't disappoint those who have come to anticipate his bizarre ravings:

Kevin Jennings is not just your normal activist nominee. He is a firm advocate of mandated affirmation of approval of homosexual actions by school children, and to this end, his involvement with the GLSEN's "Day of Silence" has moved them to go beyond that to demand "Queer Proms" in the local public schools, and to lobby for legislation in each state to change the definition of marriage to make it mean something it has never meant.

With Jennings' support, the GLSEN chapter in Connecticut has begun pushing not just for "tolerance" or "acceptance" of those who choose to engage in homosexuality in the public schools, but they have actually created an "activity" for the school systems which pushes "positive levels of attitude" such as mandated "admiration" and "nurturance."

In his past, Jennings has left quite a swath of destructive choices as well. He authored the forward for the book titled Queering Elementary which argues for the teaching of sexual "identity" (what you could easily call "indoctrination", "initiation", or "brainwashing") to the children in the elementary education stage of life. The book is so disturbing that it reportedly includes a description of how to "properly" teach a seven year old girl to masturbate.

Because we all know that seven year old girls don't already have enough challenges in this world without being quickly inducted into the "get yourself off" stage of life.

McCullough also proceeds to go into detail about an alleged incident involving Jennings counseling a young boy who was molested by an older teacher. McCullough charges that Jennings should have alerted the authorities but did not.

Now I don't know what exactly happened because McCullough does not give enough details, except for ones that cast Jennings as the bad guy (surprise surprise), but I do know Kevin McCullough enough to know that before I believe anything he says, I would first want two lie detector tests and an affadavit from Jesus Christ himself.

McCullough is not above stretching the truth to fuel his own agenda, such as his behavior in the David Parker controversy. I've talked about the phony claims of Parker before. The gist is that Parker falsely claimed to be persecuted because he wouldn't allow his son's school to teach him about homosexuality. The truth is a bit more complicated.

McCullough entered the situation when he helped to spread a phony story that Parker's son was attacked by a gang of students angry at his father's stance. He wrote a column about the incident - New liberal strategy: Assault 7-year-olds

When the truth came out (Parker's son had gotten into a fight with a friend over a cafeteria seat), McCullough issued no apology for his claim.

In April of last year, McCullough claimed that ENDA(Employee Non-Discrimination Act) would protect pedophiles; a baffling lie:

So stifling would ENDA be in fact that if a Youth Pastor who works with young boys in a church program got caught in an inappropriate relationship with them, ENDA would make it nearly impossible for the church involved to fire the youth pastor. ENDA would directly challenge and seek to limit religious expression, doctrine, theology, and practice.

And then there is my favorite McCullough piece in which he slanders the entire lgbt community:

The “alphas” in homosexual relationships, be they men or women, are many times recruiting younger partners. A vast percentage of those who enter the homosexual life do so after having been sexually initiated by an older person of their sex—be it consensual or not—it usually has the feel of enticement or seduction.

For the record, Jennings has done a lot of positive stuff with GLSEN. I support his appointment and hope he carries that energy into his new job.

The question is not who will protect children from him, but who will protect all of us from the lies of McCullough and company.