Wednesday, March 05, 2014

All of the 'evil and dirty' things that the gays do

Phil Burress
Yesterday, courtesy of People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, I read Ohio anti-gay activist Phil Burress make a claim that gay men have "as many as 200 sex partners."

A day later, Burress' outrageous claim continues to haunt me not only for its inanity but because it brings to focus something which has been dwelling in my mind for a long time in little bits and pieces.

I've read and heard so accusations against the lgbt community by the religious right that I've now come to the conclusion that these folks are just sloppy with what they say. Seriously, it's as if they don't care that eventually, someone will demonstrate just how incoherent their claims are.

So with that in mind, bear with me here. The following are the claims made about the lgbt community over the years by religious right and anti-gay activists:

Gays are sick people:

 Their [gay] minds are perverted, they’re frankly sick people psychologically, mentally, and emotionally.” – Bishop EW Jackson 

 Yet almost all gays make lots of money:

 “You know, I saw yesterday how much -- how much money the homosexual community has. I mean, good gracious, the average homosexual makes four times more than I do . . . I mean, they're not -- these people are not in poverty or hurting or denied or anything else.” – Donald Wildmon, American Family Association 

Gays are only a small part of the population: 

“Relying on three large data sets: the General Social Survey, the National Health and Social Life Survey, and the U.S. census, a recent study in Demography estimates the number of exclusive male homosexuals in the general population at 2.5 percent and exclusive lesbians at 1.4 percent.” – Family Research Council in its inaccurate brief “Homosexuality and Child Abuse” 

 Yet gays “control” the culture: 

“Homosexual activists in many ways, drive our culture, they decide what’s going to be in a movie, we see all the portrayals, homosexuals are the most positively portrayed in the movies and on television.” – Peter LaBarbera, Americans for Truth 

 Gays “bully” all of those who oppose them: 

“Instead, what we have is the gay Gestapo who go out and try to intimidate morally, economically, professionally, and personally anyone who speaks out against the homosexual agenda.” – Jeffrey Kuhner, The Washington Times 

Gays “Recruit” children:

 “. . . Folks who cannot reproduce want to recruit your children. What we are facing is a radical force of people who want to change what America looks for the next twenty years . . .” – Bishop Harry Jackson 

And are plotting to either destroy or change America and “silence” Christians:

 “Those special gay rights would require Christians not to speak against –would require us Christians not to speak against homosexual rights . . . because if we did, we could be charged with bullying or censored for it.” – Buster Wilson, American Family Association 

“Through a carefully crafted, decades-old propaganda campaign, homosexuals have successful cast homosexuals - many of whom enjoy positions of influence and affluence - as a disadvantage minority” – Matt Barber, Unmasking the “Gay” Agenda 

And while generating all of this mayhem, gays still manage to find time to have all sorts of mind-boggling wild sex with multiple partners:

“One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population.” – Matt Barber, The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values, December 12, 2004 

“Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?“ – a question on Dr. James Dobson's web page. Dobson is the former head of Focus on the Family.

Allow me to surmise.  According to the religious right, the lgbt community is comprised of sad and sick individuals who make a lot of money, who are only a very small of the population but yet control the culture, bully those who oppose us, recruit children, and work to silence Christians and alter America while finding the time to have lots and lots and lots of sex.

Wow! How do we find time to do all of that? How do we find time to be all of that? But what boggles my mind even more is the claim by Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel that we have been engaging in a "propaganda campaign" for decades. Barber is neither the first nor the only anti-gay activist claiming that the lgbt community has been engaging in a long-term Machiavellian plan to control America and supposedly cast ourselves as victims.

How come this is the first time I've heard of such a plan?

Seriously, who's in charge of this thing? Is it the Gay Mafia or, as some anti-gay activists call us, "Big Gay?" How do I become a member? And if I do, can I be given a super cool alter-ego.

No joke. I've always imagined myself as sort of a James Bond villain with a alter-ego name like "Coochie Everlasting" or "Baron von Superbitch." I can just see myself leading an army of killer drag queens who wear razor blade studded wigs like actress Pam Grier wore in Coffy. Or better yet, they can convert their stiletto heels into miniature machines guns and shoot heat seeking missiles from their false brassieres.

It could totally work.

In all seriousness, while it is fun to laugh at the ridiculous lies anti-gay activists say about us, let's not forget that  there are people who take these claims as fact. And unfortunately, as we have seen in places like Russia and Uganda, these people generally act upon that ignorance.

So let's not spend so much time laughing that we forget to call out anti-gay propaganda  for the lies that they are.

Editor's note - My list of anti-gay comments is a semi-brief rehashing from a larger list in How They See Us: Unmasking the Religious Right War on Gay America.

'Drag show, gays blamed for Putin's invasion of Ukraine' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

AFA's McCullough: Putin Invaded Crimea As A Result Of Military Drag Show, US 'Sissification' - We've been blamed for floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and 9/11. Is it any surprise that we are invaded for this? 

Anti-gay pastor makes false claim about GLAAD's CAP - Those defending Michigan's law against marriage equality is having a seriously rough time at it. First their "expert witness" is totally humiliated and now their "religious leader" is totally dogged online. Guys, you don't tangle with my friend Jeremy Hooper without back up and even then you are still outgunned.

The Washington Times Is Concerned About The "Sexual Proclivities" Of Wedding Cakes - Because apparently the first thing on our minds when getting married is getting folks to create obscene wedding cakes.

Illinois Attorney General: Marriage Equality Can Begin In All Counties - Well it's about time. 

Editor's note - This evening, if all goes well, I am going to be posting a very interesting but logical piece tentatively called All of the 'evil and dirty' things that the gays do.   Look for it. You will enjoy it.

I almost feel sorry for discredited professor Mark Regnerus. Almost but not quite

Regnerus
To say that things don't look good for discredited University of Texas professor Mark Regnerus would be an understatement. Apparently the paradox of  your own university denouncing your work while at the same time you are testifying in a trial as an "expert witness" seems to be an angle which has the media humming.

That's all folks have been talking about and no doubt attorneys for the state of Michigan - who called Regnerus to testify in defense of  the state ban on marriage equality and second parent adoption - cannot be pleased.

The press coverage has been more ugly than those pictures of celebrities without their make up. And naturally because I don't like the machinations of anti-gay groups or their supporters, allow me to feature snippets from two of the most brutal articles.

The first is from Brad Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press. The headline, Defense of Michigan's same-sex marriage ban rests on scholar scorned by peers, should give one an indication of the article's direction:

Academics have been running from Regnerus since 2012, when he reported that a broad-based population survey he had conducted at the behest of the conservative Witherspoon Institute supported the institute’s contention that children are more successful when they grow up “with their married mother and father.”

Opponents of same-sex marriage immediately began citing Regnerus’ study as scientific proof that laws banning such unions were justified by concern for the welfare of children raised in same-sex households.

But fellow academics have taken issue with everything from the origins of Regnerus’ study (two conservative groups that oppose gay marriage paid the associate professor $785,000 to commission it) to his population sample (which was limited to children born long before same-sex marriages became legal anywhere in the U.S.).

The most damning criticism centers on Regnerus’ admission that he deliberately structured his study to compare children whose parents had a same-sex relationship with those who grew up in opposite-sex households undisturbed by separation or divorce.