Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Mar 26, 2010

Friday, March 26, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Once Bitten

There were portions of this early Jim Carrey movie which I found funny. And I didn't mind the late Cleavon Little's portrayal of a gay man (he played it rather subtlely).

But one very offensive scene keeps me from making this movie a part of my video library.

First some background. Once Bitten (1985) is a comedy about a female vampire (Lauren Hutton) who must bite a virgin three times in order to keep her eternal youth. Carrey portrays the "lucky youth" because his girlfriend won't give him any play.

By the way, the virgin must be bitten on the thigh, which is very important to the ugly scene you are about to see.

Hutton has already bitten Carrey twice, inducing strange behavior in him which causes his friends to seek answers. They are told that if Carrey has been bitten, there will be a mark on the inside of the thigh.

Of course this means that they will have to look for the mark and they do - while they are taking a shower after gym class.

I suppose someone would think what happens next is funny but it isn't, particularly the response of the other guys in the shower.

Man, look what gay and lesbians have had to deal with when it comes to movie portrayals:

The noose of truth tightens a little more around the Vatican and other Friday midday news briefs

9 reasons for teaching children not to lie - Why is it that these so-called pro-family groups repeat the same anti-gay lies and fear stories repeatedly. Sooner or later it's going to blow up in their faces.

Watch: survivors of abuse point the finger of blame directly at Benedict - The Pope faces more trouble over cover-ups of the abuse of children.

‘Ex-Gay’ Michael Glatze Attracted To Spotlight Like A Mosquito in June - The story of a racist ex-gay spokesperson who said he would stop being an ex-gay spokesperson but then changed his mind.

Matt Barber adds names to Hate Group list - Mark your calendars and check for the Apocalypse. I partially agree with Matt Barber here.

Trans Student Suspended from Same School in Mississippi That Canceled Prom, Later Hounded Out of Town - There is NO excuse for this.

McDonnell - Virginia law protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination not needed

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell continued his war of schizophrenic subtleties against the state's gay community yesterday by claiming that anti-discrimination laws protecting gay and lesbians in Virginia isn't needed:

“I don’t know that we need it based on the numbers that I’ve seen.“

“There really isn’t any rampant discrimination on any basis in Virginia,“ he said. “If you’re going to have a law, it needs to actually address a real problem.“

Since his election into office last year, McDonnell has had a, shall we say, non-friendly relationship with Virginia's gay and lesbian community. It was discovered that in college, he wrote a thesis slamming gays, unwed mothers, and no-fault divorce. McDonnell attended Regent University, a public institution founded by Pat Robertson, who isn't exactly considered a friend of the lgbt community.

While running for office last year, he said that he wouldn't renew the executive order banning discrimination regarding the sexual orientation of state job applicants.

Earlier this year, he issued an executive order that "specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities."

You will notice that omitted from that list are lgbts.

Then Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, sent a letter to the state's public colleges and universities claiming that state law prevented them from including lgbts in their non-discrimination policies.

The furor over that was so great that McDonnell, according to Time magazine, issued an executive directive that clarified his earlier executive order, contradicting Cuccinelli's previous statement and specifically prohibiting discrimination "based on factors such as one's sexual orientation."

This new statement about non-discrimination laws not being needed ought to make things very interesting for McDonnell. He is definitely playing a balancing act and it will be a short matter of time before he falls off of the wire.