Linda Harvey and Gary Glenn - the sad meeting of two homophobic people

Linda Harvey

According to People for the American Way's Right-Wing Watch, a very nauseating but interesting incident recently took place.

Two homophobes conducted a radio interview and agreed the gay community is full of disease-ridden folks who should be discriminated against:

Linda Harvey of Mission America interviewed Gary Glenn, the head of the American Family Association’s Michigan chapter, during her radio show on how the Religious Right should respond to gay rights victories. Glenn, a prominent activist that Mike Huckabee calls his “very special friend,” warned that companies should be wary of hiring lesbian and gay employees because of what Glenn calls the “severe medical consequences” of being gay. Approvingly, Harvey argued that employers should take note that gays lives unstable lives and added, “I would not think of a homosexual person as a good employment risk”.

People for the American Way has the audio, but I won't pollute this blog with that mess. I will just post the pertinent part of the transcript:

Gary Glenn

Glenn: What ridiculous folly to suggest that only those individuals who engage in homosexual behavior given all of its severe medical consequences constitute the best and the brightest. It’s not really bright to engage in behavior that puts you at dramatically higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse and AIDS and cancer and hepatitis, and according to various sources, premature death. So to suggest that engaging in that type of behavior defines someone as the best and brightest, which seems to be the line coming out of corporate America, is just ridiculous.

Harvey: You’re right. And higher rates of domestic violence and unstable relationships. I would not think of a homosexual person as a good employment risk, I just wouldn’t.

First of all, let's get Harvey out of the way. She is a woman masking her ignorance behind a religious identity. She is merely a former ad executive who "found Jesus." Of course in her supposed "discovery of Jesus," Harvey seems to have intentionally forgotten his comments about love and truth.

NOM takes silly cheap shot at Gov. Cuomo's mother

Some may disagree but I think this recent bit on NOM's blog is simply stupid:

Gov. Cuomo's Mom: Don't Redefine Lasagna

We love how Andrew Cuomo's Italian mom loves him no matter what, even for passing gay marriage. But we could not help noticing Mrs. Cuomo's firm belief that some things just cannot be redefined.

... no, not marriage, lasanga:

"I did not criticize her lasagna," [Matilda] Cuomo said. "All I said is it's not Italian. Cottage cheese and tomato soup might be low on calories, but it's not Italian lasagna."

The original article in question consisted of Gov. Cuomo's mother praising her son's persistence in getting marriage equality passed in New York, so maybe some folks would consider her "fair game."

But I still say that NOM's little cheap shot was dumb and unnecessary.

First NOM's president acts like a spoiled child when marriage equality is passed. And now the organization has taken to immature shots at Gov. Cuomo's mother.

What's next? Shooting spitballs at Governor Cuomo during his next public speech?

How the 'ex-gay' lie led a young man to embrace his homosexuality

Recently, an ugly incident - which I didn't cover at the time - took place. A preacher by the name of Damon Thompson had this hideous revival which he talked about "deliverance from homosexuality"



It's an awful thing to watch when one considers just how many young lgbtqs are lured by a charlatan like Thompson to hate themselves.

But in the case of one in attendance, Thompson's madness backfired. A young man by the name Ashton Elijah Pittman attended the services and learned, because of it, to embrace his God-given sexual orientation. He wrote an excellent piece about it here.

And later on The David Pakman Show, he went into detail about Thompson's lies:



No matter how homophobes dress up their lies in religion, the things they say are pure hatred. And hatred always has a way of backfiring against the one who slings it.

Rick Santorum hates same-sex families and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Santorum: Marriage Equality And Civil Unions Would Destabilize Society, Men, Women, And Families - Oh sure. Rick Santorum isn't a homophobic bully. He simply likes to pick on same sex families.

In an unrelated but very appropriate aside: Rick Santorum’s Math Fail: Blasts Obama For Creating ‘Only 240 Million Jobs’ - Who knew being a "God warrior" involved so much stupidity?

Social conservs still denying Cuomo's religious freedom, still missing the irony - So gays are the bullies even though some folks on the other side are slyly implying to some Catholics that they should intimidate NY Governor Cuomo. Okay.
  
Tehachapi schools to revise policies after gay student's suicide - Good, yes. But still a child had to die before they got off of their behinds and did something.

Barber: "GLSEN Tacitly Advocates Child Sexual Abuse" - It's always good to clean one's eyes with holy water before and after reading something coming from the mouth of the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber.

Young, gay, and excommunicated from your church

This is a video of a friend of mine, Justine Wise, telling how he was excommunicated from his church and ostracized from his community for simply being a gay man. His story is taken from I'm From Driftwood - true stories from gay people around the world:




Hat tip to Matt Algren

Picture of NOM's Brian Brown crying over NY loss is simply pitiful

It's been said that when marriage equality passed in the New York Senate, National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown openly cried with sadness in the galley.

Thanks to Rich Murray, an activist with Queer Rising, we now have proof of this:

Now some may think that I am simply gloating over this but my reason for posting this picture is a bit more complicated. I have a few questions

Just why in the hell is Brian Brown crying? His marriage isn't affected by what happened in NY. His money situation hasn't been hurt. If anything - based on the ridiculous "we may be down but we aren't licked yet" tone he and the rest who are against marriage equality have taken in a recent New York Times article, one can easily predict some financial raises in Brown's future.

And don't give me that existential, hypothetical crap that "marriage has been redefined for the worse." It's a cute boardroom argument which has absolutely no basis in the real world - and the Prop 8 ruling last year (in which neither Brown nor any of the other "traditional marriage defenders" from NOM bothered to testify) backs me up on that point.
 
There is no getting around the fact that Brown's weeping - an action comparable to that of a spoiled, petulant child throwing a tantrum because he simply can't get his way -  epitomizes the entire movement against marriage equality so far. 

To prove the supposed "dangers" of  marriage equality, (there are no dangers by the way), the opposition  has had to rely on either ridiculous arguments with no basis in concrete fact (same-sex couples will taint the "truthiness" of marriage), lies bordering on vicious group slander (marriage equality is a way to recruit children), or horror stories about religious exemptions (churches will be "forced" to marry gay couples).

Their lack of a true argument says a lot about their position. And the tears of their leaders when they don't win says a lot about their maturity - or lack thereof.

How can one weep in sadness over the fact that NY same-sex couples will be able to legally declare their love for one another and protect their families?

In life, there are moments we should weep about with sadness. Your fellow American gaining a measure of equality is NOT one of those moments.

Hat tip to Pam's House Blend.

NOM sinks into 'Porno Pete' territory

How desperate is the National Organization for Marriage to put up some of defense after its loss in New York?

This desperate.

 On its blog, NOM features a video from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show showing scenes from a New York gay pride parade.

The point of the clip is to laugh at stereotypes, but NOM tries desperately to wring some serious negative social commentary from the clip:

We warn you that you may not want your kids to see this gay pride parade. But of course Jon Stewart has a huge audience of young people:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The irony is that NOM is now heading directly into the crazy territory of long-time homophobe and anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera, or as he is affectionately known by many of us in the community - Porno Pete.

LaBarbera got his nickname for his penchant of going to subcultural events, such as leather conventions, and going into detail about the alleged acts of gay men there while pretty much ignoring the behaviors of heterosexuals attending the same events.

If NOM keeps doing stuff like this, then nicknames may be order for its leaders.

How about "Brown-Eye Brian Brown" for starters?