Black Love - The Quest for Marriage Equality

In an earlier post, I mentioned that when it comes to marriage equality and the African-American community, there is a tendency to ignore the certain complexities of the issue and paint all blacks with a homophobic brush. One of those complexities is basically simple - those of us in the black community who benefit from marriage equality and support marriage equality can't get a word in edgewise in the discussion because of the loud bleating of the black folk who don't support the issue, the white-dominated religious right eager to exploit these voices, and the media too damn lazy to not allow themselves to be bamboozled by a false narrative.

The following video previews demonstrate my point. From youtube:

"Black Love: The Quest for Marriage Equality" follows four gay and lesbian couples on their quest to marry and demonstrates how their commitment to love impacted their lives. The film examines the special rewards and challenges of same-gender relationships, how marriage equality can be a part of the solution to the structural and economic issues faced by many Black families, and the strategies that are needed to bring full acceptance of gay and lesbian people to the Black community. In this video, Rev. Dr. Christine Wiley and her husband, Rev. Dr. Dennis Wiley, co-pastors of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, discuss the risks they took to become an inclusive and affirming church. They were among the first Black clergy in DC to support marriage equality.

And then there is this clip - Ivan Walker and Wymond Satterwhite were married on August 27, 2011. In this clip they discuss the joys of raising their kids and being a family.




There are a LOT of African-Americans who support marriage equality. We just have to elbow our way to the microphones.

'Jon Stewart skewers 'war on religion' lie' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

This Jon Stewart clip about the so-called war on religious liberties have to do with objections to President Obama's compromise on contraception. However, it's so exceptional that you can put it to any situation, particularly when the religious right pulls out the "war on religion" card against the lgbtq community:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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In other news:


Anoka-Hennepin Gender-Neutral School Policy: Minnesota School Board Ends Policy Blamed For Bullying - I hope the new policy is much better than that awful one they had before pertaining to our lgbtq kids.

Clause by Clause With Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill: Anyone Can Be “Liable To Suffer Death” - That nasty bill still haunts us. It needs to die.

Valentine's Day 2012: Best Gay And Lesbian Kisses From Movies, Stage And Around The World (PHOTOS) - Happy Valentine's Day, folks.

'Porno Pete' LaBarbera oversteps his bounds with attack on NAACP

'Porno' Pete LaBarbera

I apologize in advance if folks get offended by this post.

 Porno Pete LaBarbera (so named for his tendency to attend subcultural gay events such as leather conventions, take pictures and describe actions in lurid details) seems to be "enamored" with interviewing North Carolina "diaper pastor" Patrick Wooden on the so-called "mechanics of gay sex."

As you all know, LaBarbera had that silly failed press conference a while back protesting the Southern Poverty Law Center's designating him and several other religious right organizations as hate groups because of the propaganda they spread about the lgbtq community.

It was there that he and Wooden seems to have "bonded." Since that time, LaBarbera and Wooden have conducted an interview so long that LaBarbera had to break it up into five parts.

It was during one of these this interviews in which Wooden made the false claim that gay men have so much anal sex that they require surgery and diapers and also that they use baseball bats, gerbils and cell phones as sexual instruments. Other tidbits of these interviews had Wooden making all sorts of nasty comments about Chaz Bono, legendary blogger Pam Spaulding (Wooden said she needs to find a man who will rock her world), and of course the transgender community.

'Diaper pastor' Patrick Wooden

I should also note that Wooden is instrumental in helping the National Organization for Marriage push for an anti-marriage equality amendment in North Carolina. NOM has been silent on Wooden's radio commentaries.

As I said before, LaBarbera became infamous for his past activities at subcultural events, such as leather conventions. But now he seems to have abandoned attending these functions. However, based on his interviews with Wooden, he has not abandoned his lurid imagination when it comes to gay sex. He seems to have traded one vice (taking pictures of gay men) for another (regaling his audience about gay sex).

An email LaBarbera sent talking about the fifth part of the interview he conducted with Wooden caused me to momentarily, shall we say, forget that I'm a child of God:

Below is the final installment of my five-part interview with Pastor Wooden -- a bold and courageous Truth Teller who has become a good friend. Please take 45 minutes to listen to this lively discussion and pass it on to your friends. Patrick nails it on how liberal Black leaders like Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, and NAACP President Ben Jealous are utterly out-of-touch with rank-and-file, churchgoing African Americans on the issue of homosexual sin. That's why ever since Patrick's first interview with AFTAH, he has become a huge target for bigoted and often vicious "gay" militants.

Poor Patrick Wooden for being "a target."  Whatever happened to the good old days when you could get away with accusing gays of wearing diapers and stuffing gerbils up their rectums?

I got slightly angry at LaBarbera for his comments regarding Sharpton, Jealous, the NAACP, and President Obama. You see these folks have been attempting to create a much needed conversation in the African-American community regarding lgbtqs of color.

In addition, The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and a coalition at North Carolina Central University - a historically black college have come out against that awful anti-marriage equality amendment.