My possible FINAL word on the gay vs. black conflict

As you all know being an lgbt of color, this constant conflict between black community and the lgbt community over civil rights and such exhausts me every time it comes up. I hate it. At times, I get angry at the black community for it's willful ignorance on the matter and other times, I get angry at the lgbt community for the ignorant assumptions it makes on the matter.

And in the long run, I can't seem to communicate to either community just what exactly is going on, i.e. that they are both being exploited by a third party (the religious right). So now I will issue my "possible final word" on the matter. I say "possible" because you never know. I may have something new to say in the future.

My "possible final word" doesn't come from me, but the legendary teller of fables, Aesop:

An Eagle had made her nest at the top of a lofty oak. A Fox, having found a convenient hole, lived with her young in the middle of the trunk; and a Wild Sow with her young had taken shelter in a hollow at its foot. The Fox resolved to destroy by her arts this chance-made colony. She climbed to the nest of the Eagle, and said: "Destruction is preparing for you, and for me too. The Wild Sow, whom you may see daily digging up the earth, wishes to uproot the oak, that she may, on its fall, seize our families as food." Then she crept down to the cave of the Sow and said: "Your children are in great danger; for as soon as you shall go out with your litter to find food, the Eagle is prepared to pounce upon one of your little pigs." When night came, she went forth with silent foot and obtained food for herself and her young; but, feigning to be afraid, she kept a look-out all through the day. Meanwhile, the Eagle, full of fear of the Sow, sat still on the branches, and the Sow, terrified by the Eagle, did not dare to go out from her cave; and thus they each, with their families, perished from hunger.

Moral - Gay folks and black folks can argue all day as to who gets to be the  "sow" and who gets to be the "eagle." But both groups better damn well recognize who the hell the fox is.

Cancer study reinforces dangers of homophobia and other Monday midday news briefs

Will Money Help Gingrich Win Over The Religious Right? - You actually to ask that question? Is a pea green? Could James Brown get down?

Navy gives thumbs-up to same-sex couples to marry on base in states where its legal - Good for the Navy!

Gay Republican Activists Still Really Not Looking For Dignity - No comment necessary.

Trans Woman Attacked at McDonald's Meets Woman who Saved Her - This is an awesome story.


Study finds gay men are more likely to have had cancer - A study we need to get in front of before the religious right exploits it. If and when folks like Peter Sprigg do exploit this story, they will most assuredly omit this passage:

Liz Margolies, executive director of The National LGBT Cancer Network, told Reuters that more information is needed to plan care and prevention strategies.

She pointed to research which suggests gay men, lesbians and bisexuals are more likely to smoke and abuse alcohol than straight people and said that LGB people are less likely to visit doctors for health check-ups, partly because of stigma.

One more thing - this morning I said that I would be publishing a quick guide on how to refute NOM's phony talking points on marriage equality. It's coming. And here is another preview. A little bit of the prologue:

As evidenced by their talking points, the National Organization for Marriage is taking a highly deceptive tone in its supposed "defense of marriage." The idea that "marriage has to be defended" is nothing more than a cynical talking point designed to take attention away from the true issue - the lives of same-sex couples and especially the livelihood of their children.

And it is a talking point which fuels NOM's tactic of creating division on many levels - same-sex households vs. heterosexual two-parent household, the lgbt community vs. the heteroexual community, and so on. This "divide and conquer" strategy, created in a passive/aggressive manner, is designed to appeal to people's fears, jealousies, and ideas of religious superiority rather than their belief in basic fairness.

The truth of the matter is marriage is not "under attack." It has never been under attack. But what is under attack is truth, integrity, and basic fairness for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples and especially their children who seem to be nothing more than chess pieces in NOM's game of exploitation and manipulation.

Defeating the National Organization for Marriage is easier than most think

The Chinese general Sun Tzu once said:

All warfare is based on deception.

That fits this video to a tee. I'm posting it because minus the ominous music, it's the National Organization for Marriage's whole argument for opposing marriage equality. It's the argument the organization has used across the country and now in New York.

Why am I posting it? Because Sun Tzu also said:

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

Winning wars comes down to one point - studying those who set themselves up as your enemy so that you know their arguments and tactics.

And whether we realize it or not, the right to achieve marriage equality is a war.

Coming soon - How to refute NOM's talking points on "marriage."

Preview:

NOM - "Gays and Lesbians have a right to live as they choose, they don’t have the right to redefine marriage for all of us."

Answer - That statement is a diversion. Allowing gays and lesbians to marry does not "redefine marriage" because they are not forcing heterosexuals to engage in gay marriage.