Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Sep 18, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

Know your lgbt history - Come Back Charleston Blue

I know the Values Voters Summit is going on now and I will have postings on it tommorrow.

But it's Friday, so it's time for another episode of Know your lgbt history.

For this particular posting, I continue my unofficial look at "Psychotic Queens" by going into movie obscurity.

Come Back Charleston Blue (1972) is an obscure but interesting motion picture about two detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, investigating a string of murders supposedly perpetrated by the ghost of a 1930s gangster, Charleston Blue.

Their investigations lead them to a photographer-cum-community leader who has secretly organized a taking over of the Harlem drug trade.

All in all, it's a blase movie, but it does have it's moments.

And the majority of them has to do with one of the photographer's henchman. His name is not known but he is referred to as "freak," soley because he likes to dress in women's clothing, particularly nun habits.

In this first scene, he is recounting to his prisoner (the photographer's former girlfriend who he is holding hostage) how he met the photographer during Vietnam. He also hints on a relationship between the two but since it's 1972 so he has to be as vague as possible. But I think you get where he is coming from:

Now I personally like this second scene. He and a bunch of other henchmen wipe out a hearse full of gangsters.

More news from Maine and other Friday midday news briefs

Bangor Daily News editorial slams anti-gay side's falsehoods. Slams them. - The anti-gay marriage forces are called out on their lies. Awesome!

Video: Going rogue - More news from Maine. Goodasyou.org is in rare form today. And it's a good question Jeremy asks - just what are these people afraid of?

Insurance Company Must Pay $10 Million For Revoking Policy Of Teen With HIV - and it happened in my "proud Christian state" of South Carolina.

Draft Anti-Gay Bill Circulating In Uganda - I just know some religious right folks in America are drooling in their socks over this.

Meet the Religious Right's Newest Target - It was a short matter of time but here we go with targeting President Obama's lgbt appointees.

Values Voters hot mess starts today

For those who like live train wrecks, the so-called Values Voters Summit begins today and offers a live telecast.

Amongst the usual "Obama, the illegal immigrants, global warming, and the rest of the Godless folks are out to get us" hysteria are two things of interest to me.

A showing of that dreary propaganda movie, Speechless:

SPEECHLESS - SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS:

Americans are at a greater risk of losing their basic freedoms today than ever before in the history of this nation. Political correctness and the voice of the liberal minority are undermining the morals and values of main-stream America. Christians are being silenced all across America: in the political debate, the public square, the schools, the workplace, and even in the sanctuary of their own churches. Through video, renowned author and commentator, Janet Parshall, takes you on a journey across the country to meet citizens who have been arrested for speaking out at a public rally, students who are being forced to attend classes that require them to recite verses from the Koran and to stage their own Jihad and activists pushing social tolerance to such an extreme that the Bible itself is being labeled "hate speech."

Just like all propaganda videos, this one centers on half truths and lies.

The problem with Speechless is that it exploits the feeling of entitlement that some Christians have in this country. They have had their minds filled by James Dobson and company with the idea that America is their country and the rest of us are here by their will and pleasure.

That idea of entitlement makes them susceptible to any anecdote or lie that comes down the pike about them being silenced.

We have seen this so many times with the religious right taking incidents and manipulating them to claim that lgbts are out to get Christians.

A perfect example is the Ocean Grove Pavilion. The religious right claimed that the church who owned this pavilion was "forced" to allow gays to have marriage ceremonies there. However the true story was that the church was getting tax breaks for the pavilion and a requirement of those tax breaks was that the facility should be open to all.

If I were a Christian, I would be less worried about being "silenced by lgbts" and more worried about the untruths put out by those who claim to also be Christians.

God never likes ugly.

Then there is this session:

TRUE TOLERANCE: COUNTERING THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

With the recent tea bagging craziness and attacks on Obama appointed officials, I'm sure this session will focus on Kevin Jennings, GLSEN and assorted nonsense.

All in all, the so-called Values Voter Summit promises to be interesting, if not truthful.