The Five White Characters in every Tyler Perry movie

Today marks my blog's fifth anniversary. That's five years of talking about and exposing the religious right. I've made some headway in accomplishing my goals. But I am not even halfway there in terms of the things I am trying to get done with this blog. Still, I am immensely proud of the stuff I have churned out and the progress I have made in helping to educate folks about religious right lies.

However, in honor of this blog's fifth anniversary, I am not going to talk about the religious right. I want to do something more relevant in terms of what I feel people need right now.

I want to make people laugh. I just feel that every now and then, folks need to laugh. It clears up the clutter in your heart. So enjoy!:

The 5 White Characters in Every Tyler Perry Movie -- powered by Cracked.com

Rap artist urges those in the closet to come out

In an interview with website VLADTV.com, The Game says he believes there are a number of big-name rap stars who are homosexual and he feels they should be out and proud about their sexuality.

“I think there are several rappers that are in the closet and gay. They are the only type of gay people that I have a problem with,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with gay people. Gay people are everywhere and rightfully so, it’s a free country.

“Game has no problem with gay people, Game has a problem with people who are pretending not to be gay. The number one issue with that is that you can be fooling somebody and you could give them AIDS and they can die. So that in the closet s**t is real scary.

“We got to get into the seriousness of it. If you’re gay just say you’re gay, so be cool and be proud.”

Asked if he thought he had recorded with any secretly gay rappers, Game said: “Possibly, yeah. And not being just full-out gay, just pretending he loves girls and lives the rap lifestyle, but really he’s a man fan.

“There’s a lot of man fans out there in hip-hop. I see how you n****s be looking at n****s you’re around too. They be looking at n****s crazy.”

Now some folks may get offended by the comment he made about being in the closet and catching AIDS. He does seem to be saying that being gay is the same as having AIDS.

However, I beg to differ. I think he is saying that if you are closeted, you are more likely not to be as careful in regards to sexually transmitted diseases. Just like you are more likely not to be honest with your physician about your sexual history.

And there are studies which bear this out.

I sincerely hope that the comments by rap artist The Game causes a much needed discussion about the need for not just gay rappers but African-American members of the gay community to come out whenever they can. I also hope that this discussion actually includes African-Americans lgbtqs for a change instead of us being conveniently omitted by African-American media voices.

Whenever there is a discussion regarding gay issues in the African-American community, African-American media voices - i.e. Roland Martin, Tavis Smiley - seem to go out of their way to exclude us lgbtqs of color while talking about us like dog dirt.

I have a hard time thinking this is accidental or that they can't find lgbtqs of color to interview.

But that is a subject for a future post.

Hat tip to Eurweb.

Religious right group having serious money problems and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Financial Troubles For Anti-Gay Focus On The Family Persist - Liars always end up getting bitten in the ass. Focus on the Family is the same group which houses Tom Minnery - the same bozo who Sen. Al Franken embarrassed at a Congressional hearing this year .

Tammy Baldwin Announces Senate Run In Wisconsin - This is BIG. If Baldwin wins, she would be the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate in history.

Perkins Assails ABC For Having Chaz Bono In 'Dancing With The Stars'- Chaz Bono will appear on Dancing with the Stars and the religious right lose their collective little minds.

Religious Groups Push for Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Revival - This ain't good AT ALL.

Gay, Straight Couples Becoming More Monogamous - Here is a study the religious right won't talk about.

The dumbest comment Maggie Gallagher ever uttered

Maggie Gallagher

How do you brighten up a boring debate? Apparently Maggie Gallagher of NOM thinks that a comment about terrorists killing South Carolina government officials will do the trick.

I know that there was a Republican debate in South Carolina yesterday. And I also know that the National Organization for Marriage had a hand in putting it on.

I was trying to avoid it. After all, why ruin a good holiday.

From what I understand, in spite of all of the hype, it was the run-of-the-mill debate. Although, NOM claims that "the issues of marriage took centerstage," that's really not true.

But what caught my attention was a comment published by Maggie Gallagher on NOM's blog. I think it gives an indication why she has settled herself into the background of the organization:

The debate will go live in 5 minutes. The panelists just walked in. Sen. DeMint is introducing the honoraries in the audience (like the NH Speaker of the House).

The South Carolina delegation is particularly impressive. Let me put it this way: if the terrorist attack the convention center right now, it looks like the South Carolina government would be decimated!

Geez, Maggie. Way to go with the dumb comments.

My guess is that she meant to highlight Sen. Jim DeMint supposed political power in South Carolina. What she accomplished, however, was giving folks another reason to wonder about her callousness.

I guess when you push the "oh please pity us because we are being targeted" card so long, it's hard to stop even when such a thing is unnecessary.