WAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE BIG BAD GAY ACTIVISTS ARE PICKING ON US!!!

I knew that mea culpa was bullshit.

Earlier this week when faced with the reality that they misrepresented a report on a skin infection (unfairly linking it to the gay community), Concerned Women for America and other anti-gay industry groups sent out a press release saying that they wanted to work together with gay rights groups in order to stop the spread of the infection.

And their platitudes were not believed, mostly because they did not mention one word of apology regarding how they first lied about the infection.

Now it is looking like those who didn't believe their bullshit had good justification.

You see the mea culpa was just a tactic strategy. The second part of said tactical strategy came today via a column written by Matt Barber (Concerned Women for America.)

The column blames the so-called gay pressure groups for "bullying" the researchers behind the story. Of course Barber does not go name the pressure groups in question nor does he say how the bullying took place.

He totally mischaracterizes the statement by the CDC about the infection; omitting the part of the statement that says conclusions cannot be drawn about all gay men based on the gay men in the study.

And he cited an book written over 10 years ago as proof of how his original bullshit about the infection was accurate.

But where his column appears is the most important part of the story. It appeared on Townhall.com, a right wing webpage. That in itself may not seem like a big thing, but it is.

You see Barber doesn't have to work too hard there to convince readers of his bullshit. From the comments I have seen (including references to Paul Cameron's research), readers there already have a preconceived notion of homoseuxality and it ain't good.

It only goes to show that Barber's column was written as part of a plan. I hope I do not seem paranoid when I say this, but I am guessing that Barber and other members of the anti-gay industry (i.e. Peter LaBarbera) recognized that they really screwed up here.

So much so that they called in reinforcements. I was surprised to see that Barber's predecessor in Concerned Women for America, Robert Knight, was taking part in some of the damage control.

And joining together (probably email and cell phone), they have crafted this plan of retreat while throwing bombs at the enemy.

Well maybe for Matt, Peter and company, it will have to do. And maybe they can get a little traction by claiming yet again that the "invisible but POWERFUL gay lobby" strong armed them, but a retreat is still a retreat.

And a loss is still a loss. And you may convince minds at Town Hall and other right-wing webpages that you did nothing wrong.

But they are the only ones you can convince of your so-called innocence.

UPDATE 1:

Slowly but surely Matt Barber's nonsensical column is being featured on several webpages including Renew America. How long will it be before Peter features it. In interviews, Barber is playing innocent:

"They're saying that we're saying that this is the new HIV ... gay disease," said Matt Barber, policy director of Concerned Women for America, on Thursday. "We never said that. We simply reported what this study has reported – that there's an outbreak among certain segments of the homosexual community," he added. - Conservatives Fear Gay Outcry Downplays MRSA Outbreak, January 25, 2008

But just a few days beforehand:

“The medical community has known for years that homosexual conduct, especially among males, creates a breeding ground for often deadly disease. In recent years we have seen a profound resurgence in cases of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, rectal gonorrhea and many other STDs among those who call themselves ‘gay.’

“The human body is quite callous in how it handles mistreatment and the perversion of its natural functions. When two men mimic the act of heterosexual intercourse with one another, they create an environment, a biological counterfeit, wherein disease can thrive. Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences.

"In recent years our culture has adopted a laissez faire attitude toward sexual deviancy. Television shows like Will and Grace glorify the homosexual lifestyle while our children are taught in schools that homosexuality is a perfectly healthy, alternative sexual 'orientation.' 'Stay out of our bedrooms!' we're often commanded by militant 'gay' activists. "Well, now the dangerous and possibly deadly consequence of what occurs in those bedrooms is spilling over into the general population. It's not only frightening, it's infuriating.

"Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, 'No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically correct cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle.' - Epidemic Feared - 'Gays' May Spread Deadly Staph Infection to General Population, January 15

True, Matt didn't say that the infection is the new AIDS crisis (way to set up that straw man argument, Matt) but the language he used goes far beyond simply reporting a story.

Nice try, Matt but neither you nor Peter nor Concerned Women for America is going to easily wash THIS egg off your face.

UPDATE 2: Bullshit in action

The following is a perfect example of how anti-gay industry distortions of legitimate science can in fact harm the lgbt community.

Imagine if you will, the MSRA infection brouhaha being used to make the case against lgbts adopting children. I found the following on a blog. Regardless of whether or not this blog has significant readership, the fact of the matter is that it serves as an example of how folks try to manipulate science against us:

In addition, the recent revelation that gay men are much more susceptible to drug resistant MRSA "gay" flesh-eating bacteria because of their propensity for anal intercourse should provoke additional caution. This strain is so virulent that a gay dad could spread it to his kid merely by touch.

Unbelievable.

When so-called good people create media events

I won't post a big entry today because I am resting. Mother goes in for surgery EARLY tomorrow morning and I have to make sure I can get her up when the morning comes.

But I do want point out something courtesy of Equality Loudon. It seems that the anti-gay industry group there is getting so desperate for folks to sign their petition that they are creating media events:

Well, it seems that the story of “the man wearing a blue ruffled skirt” in the ladies’ locker room has badly unraveled. That didn’t take long.

According to two reports on the Teach the Facts blog, here is what folks have discovered:

It turns out that a woman named Theresa Rickman, spokesperson for the group “Citizens for a Responsible Government” (which has previously gone by at least two other names as the group adjusted its mission, so they are now known as CRWhatever) was actually in the lobby of the health club when the stunt happened. One of the many suspicious things about this incident from the beginning was that CRW had apparently called Channel 7, and was being interviewed within an hour of the initial complaint. A manager at the health club confirmed the presence of “an activist” who she assumed to be associated with a group that sure sounds like CRW (”the people at the grocery store with petitions”). It’s not stated why the manager recognized her as such - has she encountered Rickman at the grocery store? Was Rickman distributing propaganda in the lobby? - but she did.

Pathetic mea culpa courtesy of Concerned Women for America

I have been interested in how the anti-gay industry will attempt to quell this new controversy they helped to create regarding the MRSA infection.

After their platitudes that this infection could be the new AIDS crisis and the very verbal smackdown they received from the Centers For Disease Control as well as the authors of the study, just what were they going to do?

We got our answer today, and jeez it's a biggie:

Because Concerned Women for America (CWA) cares deeply for the health and well being of all Americans, CWA is sending letters inviting the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, GLAAD and Lambda Legal to put aside profound ideological differences with CWA — for the sake of the lives and health of their members — and to call for commonsense steps to help curb the spread of a potentially deadly strain of Staph infection.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA bacteria, is infecting men who have sex with men in major cities at an alarming rate. A study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that "gay" men are 13 times more likely to contract the infection.

The study determined that the spread of MRSA, "among men who have sex with men is associated with high-risk behaviors, including use of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, sex with multiple partners, participation in a group sex party, use of the internet for sexual contacts, skin-abrading sex, and history of sexually transmitted infections." But ultimately, the study warned that, "Having male-male sex seems to be a risk factor for [MRSA]."

Dr. Binh Diep, the researcher who led the study, told Reuters, "Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable." The study found that the "[MRSA] epidemic probably started in San Francisco and has been disseminated by the frequent cross-coastal travel of men who have sex with men."

Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, "We now have a wonderful opportunity for ideological opponents to come together for the common good. Steps must be taken to keep this MRSA outbreak, which is occurring within certain segments of the homosexual community, from becoming a more widespread epidemic.

I know I am repeating probably what every gay blog has been saying when reading this press release, but I want to say this to Matt Barber and the CWA in my own way:

YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MOTHER#^&@* MIND!!

Where the hell is your apology? After spending days incorrectly linking this infection to lgbts, you want to all of the sudden take on the form of Florence Nightingale and "come together with us" to stop it.

You will forgive me for not trusting you. I have a sneaky suspicion that this cry to come together is phony. You know damned well that for all of their faults, the lgbt leadership isn't stupid.

And when they either ignore you or tell you to go screw yourselves in a nice, polite way, you are going to act all shocked. Most likely you will send out press releases and appear on Fox News lying about how the gay leadership has no interest in fighting disease in our community.

I beg to differ. And I don't blame the gay leadership (and lgbts in general) for having no interest in coming together with group who tries to fuck us without giving us the courtesy of a reacharound.

Okay that was totally wrong of me but believe me when I say I didn't write half the stuff I wanted to.

But in my defense, come on!!!! I think this is the most galling thing I have ever seen from the anti-gay industry.

And I really thought I had seen it all from them.

I cannot stand that “I Have A Dream” speech.

Every year around this time, Americans come together to celebrate the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And every year around this time, I am overwhelmed people citing that one speech he made in 1963.

You know the speech

What I want to know is why do people want to define Dr. King by that one speech? And why do they always do this while forgetting the fact that if it weren’t for the sacrifices of a dedicated OPENLY GAY BLACK MALE (now there is a phrase you hardly ever see), the speech probably wouldn’t have even taken place.

And I have had enough. In fact, I hate that speech.

Here in South Carolina, we have a march to the state capital every year where we hear speeches from various public officials.

I didn't go this year. I really didn’t want to go mainly because if I hear the call and response of “Fired up! Ready to go” one more time, I am liable to make a detour from the march to nearest mental hospital. Or some other place where I can render myself deaf.

This holiday gets on my nerves. More to the point, I cannot stand how we have simplified King and the effect he had on American society.

I cannot stand the fact that one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century has been whittled down to a single simplistic speech that does not even begin to scratch the surface of the complexities behind the man.

King was more than a reverend. He was more than a speaker. The man was a visionary who was just coming into his own just before he was assassinated.

So in what should be the true spirit of this holiday, let me do something different.

For you see, I too have dreams. And while they may not be rooted in the American Dream, they are rooted in the single universal dream that people will one day stop wasting time bullshitting and get down to the downs that’s keeping us all down.

I have a dream

that when I open a gay-themed magazine, I will not be told how much I should fight for lgbt rights while at the same time be made to feel less than substantial just because I can’t afford some ridiculous doodad like a $300 crocodile leather case for my “ipod."

I have a dream

that the Advocate magazine can get through one year without putting the following on the cover - Melissa Etheridge, Ellen DeGeneres, Lance Bass, Tammy Lynn Sigler, or some “hot”white guy who happens to be straight.

I have a dream

that BET will no longer show the following movies: Soul Plane, Next Friday, Menace II Society, Baby Boy, Leprechaun N Da Hood II

I have a dream

that the media stops paying attention to Britney Spears and her mother takes the guise of a stereotypical black mother and slap some sense into the child.

I have a dream

that our gay children stop emulating and worshipping the next ingenue coming down the pike.

I have a dream

that we get to November 2008 as quickly as possible and elect someone who can begin to start undoing the damage.

I have a dream

that people start recognizing just how overrated and preachy South Park is and pay attention to the Boondocks, a much better program.

I have a dream

that people stop carrying whether or not Clay Aiken is gay

I have a dream

that it will be discovered that more conservative Republicans have out-of-wedlock black daughters.

Finally, I have a dream

that people will pick up a book about Dr. King and read about just how complex the civil rights movement was. Stop simplifying Dr. King. In fact, stop simplifying period. Use your damned brains for once.

Intentionally Causing Chaos

Yeah I know everyone is concerned over Mike Huckabee’s bullshit. And to a degree, I am too.

But I have to say something else about this staph infection mess that been in the news for the past couple of days.

I think the voices in our community have responded well to this nonsense, but I also think more needs to be said.

The first thing is that this exploitation of crucial medical information by the anti-gay industry is nothing new:

1979 - Alan Bell and Martin Weinberg publishes Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women. This was a study looking at gay men in the city of San Francisco in the early 1970s. Over 30 years later, the anti-gay industry cites the book as a correct representation of the sexual habits of the entire gay community. They do this despite the fact that Martin and Weinberg clearly said - “. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator will ever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”

The Gay Report is published. This book, looking at the sex habits of gays and lesbians, was based on 1,900 sex survey responses from gay men; 1,000 from lesbians; and 2,500 responses from a gay magazine questionnaire. The authors even say, “We agreed at the outset not to pretend that these percentages represented the practices and views of all gay people—they reflected only our respondents.” However, just like Homosexualities (see above entry), The Gay Report will be used to generalize about the sexual habits of all lgbts even 30 years after its publishing.

1994 - Joanne Hall, Ph.D. of the University of Tennessee’s College of Nursing publishes a study looking at the patterns of behavior for 35 lesbians who had self-identified alcohol problems. Her study is later used by various anti-gay industry groups to claim that lesbians in general have a problem with alcohol abuse and that gay adoption is not a good idea. Hall later writes a letter of complaint to one of the groups distorting her study (the Family Research Council). Her complaint is ignored.

2001 - Six researchers (Robert S Hogg, Stefan A Strathdee, Kevin JP Craib, Michael V. O’ Shaughnessy, Julio Montaner, and Martin T Schechter) write a letter to the editor to the International Journal of Epidemiology accusing the anti-gay industry of distorting a study they published in 1997 in order to claim that gay men have a short life span. They said they were speaking of a hypothetical outcome that would take place if there were not better practices regarding safe sex in that particular area. They also said that conditions have improved; therefore the outcome they predicted (i.e. gay men not reaching their sixty-fifth birthday) had been averted.

So there is a history of the anti-gay industry distorting credible medicinal information. And I am concerned as to what it can lead to.

Dealing with medical matters is walking a very thin tightrope. There is a fine line between informing segments of the public and demonizing them. And if that line is crossed, it builds mistrust.

For the most part, the medical community have done all they can to inform and educate about this staph infection without demonizing the lgbt community.

Then people like Americans for Truth (in name only), Concerned Women for America and the rest of the phony “pro-family” groups stick their dirty fingers into the situation.

These groups don’t care about the potential danger of the staph infections. Let’s face it; if there was not a gay angle, these groups wouldn’t care. They are only interested in the fact that gay men are affected; the better for them to hint Paul Cameronesque lies about gay man, anal sex, and feces.

I wonder how long it will before they start referring to gerbils?

To tell these groups to keep their shrill voices quiet probably wouldn’t do any good. I hate to say it, but a part of me thinks that they know what they are doing.

Part of me thinks that they are intentionally trying to sow seeds of mistrust between the lgbt and medical communities.

Many studies show that it is the lack of access to good healthcare information that spreads disease in the lgbt community. At the root of this mistrust is a fear coming from lgbts as to how their physicians will react if they out themselves.

Where there is no trust, there is no dialogue. Where there is no dialogue, there is no access to good healthcare. Where there is no access to good healthcare, there is disease.

That old adage about “for want of a nail” plays on an extreme level here.

And meanwhile, the anti-gay industry stands to benefit as they divest themselves from the self-actualizing dichotomy they have caused.

Very Machiavellian, but not very Christian.

UPDATE - Way to go, Centers for Disease Control!!!

The CDC has issued a statement on the staph infection. Part of it reads as follows:

CDC Statement on MRSA in Men Who Have Sex with Men

MRSA is a common cause of skin infections throughout the United States. These infections occur in men, women, adults, children, and persons of all races and sexual orientations, and are known to be transmitted by close skin-to-skin contact. In this issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Diep et al looked at isolates of MRSA - USA300 strains containing a particular plasmid associated with additional drug resistance. The paper shows that multidrug-resistant USA300 has emerged as an important source of disease among men with have sex with men in 2 geographically distinct communities.

The strains of MRSA described in the recent Annals of Internal Medicine have mostly been identified in certain groups of men who have sex with men (MSM), but have also been found in some persons who are not MSM. It is important to note that the groups of MSM in which these isolates have been described are not representative of all MSM, so conclusions can not be drawn about the prevalence of these strains among all MSM.

Anti-gay industry grabs on to story about bacteria and don’t let go
or
Homophobia In Action

To paraphrase one of the most excellent writers of all time, Rod Serling, submitted for your approval, a difference between two agendas.

One encompasses demonizing and other encompasses informing.

It is relatively easy to guess which is which. But just in case you can't guess, I drop a hint or two:

A so-called Christian newswire site in Canada:

SAN FRANCISCO, January 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new medical study appearing in the Annals of American Medicine shows that homosexuals are spreading a new, highly-infectious and extremely dangerous bacteria amongst themselves, most probably through anal intercourse.

The bacterium, called MRSA USA300, is impervious to front-line antibiotics and can only be treated with rarer drugs, primarily Vancomycin. Researchers say that the bug, which is a type of staphylococcus, is primed to develop immunity to that drug as well. Infected patients may have inflammation, abscesses, and tissue loss in the affected areas. Although the bacterium does not literally "eat" the body, it manufactures toxins that can cause "necrosis" - the death of surrounding tissue.

The study's authors note that the strong link between unhealthy behavior, particularly among homosexuals, is the driving force behind the disease. "Spread of the USA300 clone among men who have sex with men is associated with high-risk behaviors, including use of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, sex with multiple partners, participation in a group sex party, use of the internet for sexual contacts, skin-abrading sex, and history of sexually transmitted infections," the authors write.

"The same patterns of increased sexual risk behaviors among men who have sex with men - which have resulted from changes in beliefs regarding HIV disease severity with the availability of potent antiretroviral therapy - have been driving resurgent epidemics of early syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, and new HIV infections in San Francisco, Boston, and elsewhere," add the researchers.

The study, which focused on clinics in the San Francisco area, found that in some cases up to 39% of patients had the MRSA USA300 infections in their genitals or buttocks, although the disease can be spread by general skin-to-skin contact and can even be picked up from surfaces.

Observing that "Infection with multidrug-resistant USA300 MRSA is common among men who have sex with men," the study timidly concludes that "multidrug-resistant MRSA infection might be sexually transmitted in this population," and counsels "further research."

It is estimated that in San Francisco's Castro District, which has the highest concentration of homosexuals in the country, the infection rate is 1 in every 588 residents. One in every 3,800 residents of San Francisco are infected. Homosexuals are 13 times more likely to be infected than others in the city.

The disease is not only spreading in San Francisco, but also Boston, New York and Los Angeles. In addition to homosexuals, people who are ill or have weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible. MRSA and other types of staphylococcus bacteria, often spread in hospitals, kill more than 19,000 Americans each year, a rate higher than deaths due to AIDS.

Peter LaBarbara (yes they mispelled his name), president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, is hoping that the revelation of yet another homosexual epidemic will have an impact on the public's perception of homosexual behavior. "I think that the media, and Hollywood, and a lot of our policy makers and certainly academia are in a world of 'let's pretend' with regard to homosexual behavior and its consequences," he told LifeSiteNews. "They don't want to focus on the special risks that homosexual behavior, especially between men, have in the public health arena, and issues like this keep coming up."

However, LaBarbara acknowledges that the major media will "invariably spin things in a homosexual direction."

"We saw the identical thing happen 25 years ago with the reporting on AIDS," he said, "but ironically the whole AIDS crisis strengthened the homosexual lobby in this country."


The New York Times:

A new, highly drug-resistant strain of the "flesh-eating" MRSA bacteria is being spread among gay men in San Francisco and Boston, researchers reported on Monday.

In a study published online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the bacteria seemed to be spread most easily through anal intercourse but also through casual skin-to-skin contact and touching contaminated surfaces.

The authors warned that unless microbiology laboratories were able to identify the strain and doctors prescribed the proper antibiotic therapy, the infection could soon spread among other groups and become a wider threat.

The new strain seems to have "spread rapidly" in gay populations in San Francisco and Boston, the researchers wrote, and "has the potential for rapid, nationwide dissemination" among gay men.

The study was based on a review of medical records from outpatient clinics in San Francisco and Boston and nine medical centers in San Francisco.

The Castro district in San Francisco has the highest number of gay residents in the country, according to the University of California, San Francisco. One in 588 residents is infected with the new multidrug-resistant MRSA strain, the study found. That compares with 1 in 3,800 people in San Francisco, according to statistical analyses based on ZIP codes.

A separate part of the study found that gay men in San Francisco were about 13 times more likely to be infected than other people in the city.

The San Francisco researchers suggested that scrubbing with soap and water might be the most effective way to stop skin-to-skin transmission, particularly after sexual activities.

MRSA, for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, was once spread chiefly in hospitals. But in recent years, a number of healthy people have acquired it outside hospitals.

Nearly 19,000 people died in the United States from MRSA infections in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported.

The infection can cause unusually severe problems, including abscesses and skin ulcers. The bacteria can invade through the skin to produce necrotizing fasciitis, giving them the popular name of flesh-eating bacteria. They can also cause pneumonia, damage the heart and produce widespread infection through the blood.

Among gay men in the study, MRSA was spread by skin contact, causing abscesses and infection in the buttocks and genital area.

The new strain is closely related to earlier ones. Both are known as MRSA USA300.

The strain is much more difficult to treat because it is resistant not just to methicillin, but also many more of the antibiotics used to treat the earlier strains, said Dr. Henry F. Chambers, an author of the new study.

The new strain contains a plasmid called pUSA03.

"This particular clone is resistant to at least three other drugs, clindamycin, tetracycline and mupirocin," Dr. Chambers said in a telephone interview.

Of the alternatives recommended by the C.D.C. and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim), clindamycin and a tetracycline, "this strain is resistant to two of those three," he added. "In addition, the new strain is resistant to mupirocin, which has been advocated for eradicating the strain from carriers."

Going for blood out of the gate

My mother is doing well.Thanks to everyone expressing concern.

In the middle of yesterday's drama, I noticed the following:

A new variety of staph bacteria, highly resistant to antibiotics and possibly transmitted by sexual contact, is spreading among gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, researchers reported Monday.

The study released online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found the highest concentrations of infection by the drug-resistant bug in and around San Francisco's Castro district and among patients who visit health clinics that treat HIV infections in gay men in San Francisco and Boston.

My eyes rolled for two reasons. First I get spooked when I hear of any new calamities that are out and could potentially affect us all.

The second reason is because I knew what would happen next. I was just telling a friend today that we can expect an one-sided article from One News Now. The article will most likely cite quotes from a so-called "pro-family" leader while omitting comments from any lgbts or anyone directly involved in the situation.

But of course our friend, Peter LaBarbera, had to be first on the list with his comments. I imagine him chomping at the bit as he wrote the following:

Is this not an eerie reminder of the initial stories about AIDS — then called GRID (Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease) – 25 years ago? It is unfathomable that after that plague, disease specialists and the media are now surprised at the correlation of new infections with homosexual behavior.

Wake up, medical and political establishment: homosexual behavior is unhealthy — no matter how many secular sermons you preach against "homophobia." Due to liberal political correctness, which insists on treating aberrant — even deadly — behaviors and lifestyles as a "civil right," we as a society don’t seem to have learned much from the AIDS pandemic. This latest news begs some serious questions:

Why aren’t all schoolchildren being taught that there are special health risks associated with homosexual behavior and that they should "just say no" to homosexuality? (Instead, schools are willy-nilly working to spread the PC idea among youth that certain people are naturally "gay," and that this is a harmless identity);

Why won’t the news media make the common-sense connection between these frequent stories about (male) homosexual behavior and disease — to the idea that perhaps it’s probably not smart for society and pop culture to celebrate homosexuality and bisexuality ?;Why isn’t there a concerted government effort — akin to the current anti-smoking campaigns — to reign in homosexual promiscuity – beginning with closing down all sex businesses (bathhouses) that facilitate homosexual perversion? (Of course, we favor closing down straight prostitution businesses as well.) We know that bisexual behavior (men on the "down low") help spread dangerous diseases to the general population: how many deaths and illnesses have to result from "second-hand sodomy" before authorities take corrective action? (Curiously, even President Bush’s White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, recently abruptly cut off a question by reporter Les Kinsolving critical of homosexual bathhouses);

If any other behavior were as closely linked to death and disease as male homosexuality, would we be so careful not to criticize it – or would we offer healthy alternatives to it like abstinence and the ex-"gay" movement?

Well I am one never to get alarmed at a snake when he acts like a snake, so Peter's exploitation of this situation to promote his political bullshit does not surprise me.

But it does bother me a little.

I would suggest everyone read the entire San Francisco Chronicle article and not just Peter's rehashing of it. Amongst other things, it says the following:

Just why the new, more drug-resistant variety is concentrated among gay men is not yet known. Patients infected with HIV appear to run a higher risk of infection, but the study suggests that gay men are being infected with the staph germ regardless of whether they are HIV-positive.

One factor that could be in play is a medical history of heavy use of antibiotics, which creates conditions for breeding drug-resistant strains. Any patient, HIV-positive or not, who has had high previous exposure to antibiotics might be more susceptible.

The good news is that, once the public is aware of the risk, there are ways to prevent the spread of drug-resistant staph. It can be as simple as soap and water.

"Taking a shower after sexual contact may minimize contamination," said Dr. Chip Chambers, director of infectious diseases at San Francisco General, a co-author of the study. "Ordinary soap will do. It dilutes the concentration of bacteria. You don't need antibacterial soap."Chambers stressed that some people, no matter how fastidious, could be more prone than others to staph infections.

They could have unknown genetic traits or a history of antibiotic use that raises the risk. "Despite one's best efforts, it is still possible, of course, to get a staph infection," he said. "This is why if one has a cut or open wound that it is important to clean it out and keep it clean."

Peter is quick to point out the early history of AIDS and HIV.

He, however, conveniently omits that the demonization of lgbts via Anita Bryant's crusade, the Briggs Amendment, and various other petty correalations between homosexuality and anti-social behavior were small but crucial factors in the spread of HIV.

Some gays beaten down by those lies had no credibility in objetive information coming out telling them about HIV and AIDS. They viewed them as yet another attack.

And this a huge problem when it comes to lgbts and disease prevention, particularly in the case of STDs. Many times, while heterosexuals are given adequate care to prevent sexuallytransmitted diseases (STDs), the gay and lesbian community finds itself being blamed for the outbreak of STDs.

The anti-gay industry, in particular, blame gay sexual orientation rather than the sexual behavior of individual people or how societal rejection contributes to the sexual behavior of individual gay men.

This can contribute to a stumbling block to gay men receiving adequate health care.

According to the article Health Care Screening for Men Who Have Sex with Men, gay men can be at a high risk for preventable diseases for a number of reasons, including:

the patient being fearful to come out to his or her doctor, the personal discomfort the doctor may feel about having a gay or lesbian patient, possible open hostility of the doctor to having a gay or lesbian patient, and concern that the patient’s employer may learn his or her orientation and terminate their employment.

I would sincerely hope that no one takes Peter's nonsense seriously. No one, that is, except for the usual suspects. After all, isn't that what we have come to expect from them?

UPDATE - And it looks like all of the dipsticks are coming out the woodwork.

Okay, who the hell has roots on me . . .

I would love to address several things today, including the following I found on goodasyou.org

And I would like to announce and further elucidate on the fact that I posted a huge update on my other web page's time line.

But I won't.

My mother and I just came back from the hospital. She slipped earlier today and broke her ankle in two places.

She is fine right now. She is at home and resting. And I am very grateful that her injury wasn't worse.

So please forgive me for taking a break tonight. I will be back tomorrow.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters featured in Carolina lgbt publication

Q-Notes, a newsmonthly dealing with lgbt issues in the Carolinas, ran an article about my book. .

Click here if you are curious as to what I look like.

Don't laugh too long.

S.C. author takes on the anti-gay industry

Alvin McEwen’s new book details the Religious Right’s distortion tactics

by Jack Kirven . Q-Notes staff


Alvin McEwen put years of research into the tactics and strategies employed by the anti-gay industry to exploit misinformed and religion-based stereotypes about LGBT people.

There is a distinction between spirituality and bigotry based on “sacred” prejudices. This point is the focus of author Alvin McEwen’s new book, “Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry.”

Boiling the work down to a central thesis, McEwen says “there has been a consistent war waged on the gay community by people who hide behind their pseudo-religious beliefs.”McEwen posits that because it is not possible in this country to create laws that purely further religious thought, opponents of LGBT equality seek other means to demonize our community.

“Once these groups dehumanize LGBT people it then becomes easier to create a sense of need for regulations based on assumed religious justifications.”

In other words, by creating a notion that there is a “dangerous lifestyle” present, a need is then created to suppress that “danger.”McEwen does not use the term Religious Right. He prefers “anti-gay industry.” For good reason, too. The people and organizations who campaign the most furiously against LGBT equality make large amounts of money doing it. It is an industry, one that caters to fear and sells discredited research to people of faith who often do not have a chance to put a human face on LGBT family, friends and colleagues. Professional gay-bashers generate enormous amounts of cash to repay their efforts at fostering hate.

McEwen decided to examine the issue of institutionalized homophobia after he read a magazine article that quoted an hysterical mother who expressed concern for her children’s safety. In the middle of his own coming out process, McEwen was “upset that a woman whom I didn’t know would spout that kind of hate about me. She was telling lies about me. I was vulnerable at that time and I thought about it a lot. I realized how dangerous misinformation can be to LGBT people.”

After following stories in such publications as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and various medical and scientific journals reporting that researchers are upset by the ways their studies are misused by hate mongers, McEwen realized that the anti-gay industry employs six primary distortion tactics. As detailed in his book, these deception tactics include: misinformation, repetition, conspiracy theories, dire consequences, phony experts and dehumanizing semantics.

“Understanding how the industry deceives people gives us a means to counter their tactics,” he says.

Misinformation
This includes taking studies out of context, purposefully misreading information, applying data to unrelated topics and other forms of abusing reputable studies by respected scientists.

One example that employs all of these strategies concerns a study that focused on approximately 35 lesbians with pre-existing alcoholism. The findings were misused by the anti-gay industry to argue that lesbians are more likely to develop addictions and express violent behaviors. This was, in turn, used to argue that lesbians should not be allowed to care for children.

Repetition
This tactic requires little explanation. As George W. Bush said in Greece on May 24, 2005, “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.”

Conspiracy theories
This tactic is commonly used as the dreaded “Gay Agenda.” “By telling people that our country is a Christian country, and telling them what good Christians believe, it then becomes possible to say that someone who does not believe as you do is trying to take all that away from you,” says McEwen.

This tactic plays on social and political fears and usually focuses on extrapolations with no basis in reason or fact (i.e., the argument against same-sex marriage that says people will then be able to marry their dogs).

Dire consequences
This is a strategy that seeks to predict a terrible outcome after a chain of cataclysmic events arise from some undesirable change. An example might include the claim that the Roman Empire collapsed because homosexuality became universally practiced and accepted. To further the distortion, homophobes would equate current problems in the U.S. with that completely unrelated historical situation.

Phony experts
This tactic is exactly what it sounds like. Discredited researchers, outdated studies and disgraced leaders are quoted incessantly, despite the fact that they have no authority or credibility. An example is Michael Johnston’s continued appearance on the cover of the American Family Association’s (AFA) “ex-gay” video “It’s Not Gay.” In 2003, after the video’s release, Johnston was revealed to be participating in unsafe sex at drug-fueled, same-sex orgies without disclosing his HIV-positive status. He is still the “ex-gay” face used to sell the AFA video.

Dehumanizing semantics
The anti-gay industry’s use of language plays on assumptions and is tailored to exploit ignorance concerning the LGBT community. “If someone says, ‘…and this is because gay men live a destructive life,’ it is based on the assumed notion that God created heterosexuality, He disapproves of homosexuality, homosexuality is evil and therefore gay men are destructive,” explains McEwen.

In his book, McEwen highlights quotes from religious leaders that utilize dehumanizing semantics. Such as one evangelist who claims that Christians have been “bullied into submission” by the “aggressive homosexual agenda” that’s taking over public schools.

“Ultimately,” says McEwen, “as a person of faith I would tell people to not take the word of an outsider. Pray, talk directly to God yourself to find out what He has to say about your sexuality. We can’t dialogue with the anti-gay industry, but we can talk to other people of faith. The bigots will expose themselves soon enough. People can hear a lie only so many times before it begins to sound untenable to them. We need to educate ourselves and be informed about our enemies.

“For my part, I am documenting our history so that one day a young person can pick up from our first steps and go even further.”

info: For more information, visit http://www.holybullies.com/,

http://www.holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com/

AntiGayLiesAndLiars.blogspot.com

“Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters” is available for purchase at http://www.amazon.com/.

Why can't Peter LaBarbera stop misrepresenting

I have talked to Peter LaBarbera via email and I can tell you this: he truly believes that homosexuality is a sin.

And there is nothing wrong with believing this.

However, Peter crosses the line when he stoops to misrepresentations to further his beliefs.

Today's post on his Americans for Truth (in name only) page further accentuates this point.

Peter takes a bunch of quotes from gay authors and columnists (many over 10 years old) to further the lie that lgbts on the whole are promiscuous and that we want to destroy the institute of marriage.

First of all, the opinions of a few lgbts do not speak for the entire community. Anyone with a small shred of common sense knows this.

But I guess Peter thinks that common sense don't matter when one is fighting a "holy war."

And to make matters worse, he misrepresents big time. I want to talk about two.

The first is when he pulls a quote from noted gay author Micheangelo Signorile:

“[Legalizing “same-sex marriage”] is also a chance to wholly transform the definition of family in American culture. It is the final tool with which to dismantle all sodomy statutes, get education about homosexuality and AIDS into public schools, and, in short, usher in a sea change in how society views and treats us.”–Michelangelo Signorile, “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do,” OUT magazine, May 1996, p. 30.

The misrepresentation of this quote is nothing new and Peter is not the first to do it. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition used the same quote to claim that lgbts want to destroy marriage:

“Traditional marriage is under attack. Homosexual activist Michelangelo Signorile, writing in Out! in its Dec./Jan. 1994 issue, says that homosexuals should ‘fi ght for same-sex marriage
and its benefits and then, once granted, redefi ne the institution of marriage completely to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution.’”—Lou Sheldon, Traditional Marriage Is Worth Protecting!, The Traditional Values Coalition

Signorile was quick to cry foul. The following passage is from my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters:

As it turns out, Sheldon’s usage of Signorile’s quote is a distortion. Signorile complained about it in a column entitled Opponents Peddling Selective, Defective Readings. He said the quote in question was written about a same-sex marriage controversy in Hawaii in 1993.

Signorile said he had interviewed people in the gay community with different opinions on same-sex marriage. He also said he quoted those who said same-sex marriage was oppressive and that gays should not attempt to partake in it. Others he talked to said marriage is a good way for gays to civilize and assimilate themselves.

He further said:

“Both of these positions, I found were pretty extreme. I looked at still other points of view and I also proposed what ‘might’ be a compromise— I didn’t even say whether or not I agreed with it or not—stating that redefining the institution of marriage to change its negative aspects while demanding full marriage rights was one way to go.”

In other words, Sheldon (and LaBarbera) took Signorile's comments out of context.

Now let's look at this second misrepresentation:

“Take sex. Traditionally, a commitment to monogamy — to the extent that it was not simply an adjunct of property law, a vehicle for guaranteeing property rights and succession — was the chief mode of sacrifice imposed upon or adopted by married couples as a means of showing their sacred valuing of their relation. But gay men have realized that while couples may choose to restrict sexual activity in order to show their love for each other, it is not necessary for this purpose; there are many other ways to manifest and ritualize commitment. And so monogamy (it appears) is not an essential component of love and marriage. The authors of “The Male Couple” found that:

[T]he majority of [gay male] couples, and all of the couples together for longer than five years, were not continuously sexually exclusive with each other. Although many had long periods of sexual exclusivity, it was not the ongoing expectation for most. We found that gay men expect mutual emotional dependability with their partners [but also believe] that relationship fidelity transcends concerns about sexuality and exclusivity.

The big question here is what exactly is The Male Couple and why didn't Peter give more information regarding the book.

Probably because The Male Couple was published in 1984 (over 20 years ago), which would make it an out-of-date source.

Also, the authors of The Male Couple, McWhirter and Mattison, said that their book should not be generalized to represent the entire gay community:

“We always have been very careful to explain that the very nature of our research sample, its size (156 couples), its narrow geographic location, and the natural selectiveness of the participants prevents the findings from being applicable and generalizable to the entire gay
male community.”

Maybe Peter missed that part.

Or maybe he just doesn't give a damn. You tell me.

Now his last quote is a hoot:

Make Anti-Gays Look Nasty

“We intend to make the anti-gays look so nasty that average Americans will want to disassociate themselves from such types.”–Marshall K. Kirk and Erastes Pill, “The Overhauling of Straight America,” The Guide (homosexual) magazine, November 1987.

Well Peter, when you lie as pathetically as you did in this column, you make our jobs easier.

Oh Lawd, not again!

No this column isn't about Ken Hutcherson.

Some may think that in light of the election primaries, what I am about to say is trite, but I disagree.

This Friday, there will a movie starring rapper Ice Cube and comedian Tracy Morgan entitled First Sunday.

It is a comedy about two men who decide to rob a church. It looked interesting.

And that is saying a lot from a person who has seen his share of African-American comedies.

But then comes the "required scene."

Not too many folks are aware of this but there seems to be an ugly standard of operation in many African-American oriented comedies to make fun of lgbts.

If the character is a gay man, then he is usually an oversexed man with a name like "Flame" or "Peaches" and he is portrayed as a nonthreatening flamboyant entity who is a part of the congregation of women gathered at either the hair saloon or other places that black women hang out.

If the character is a lesbian, she is portrayed a threatening figure who cannot figure out that she is a woman and therefore is required to wear something flimsy that highlights her tits or ass. In other words, she is a "threat" to "true black men."

But the worse stereotypes are reserved for our transgender sisters.

They are portrayed as deceivers who are always trying to "trick" black men into being intimate with them. The joke is that when the "luckless victim" discovers the ruse, he rushes out in disgust, eliciting extreme laughter from the audience.

This last degree of disrespect features prominently in the previews of First Sunday.

Now I could say something that is long, thoughtful, but I am too tired.

I am too tired from work and am especially tired of being asked to support movies that make fun of my orientation.

I don't care if the screenplay writer is black, the director is black, the majority of stars is black, etc. etc.

As I am concerned, First Sunday will never be on my menu.

And I sincerely hope that one day, more lgbts of color will feel the same way I do.

That "sweet" smell of politics in the air

Even Robet Duvall would probably gag if he ever took a whiff of the air when an election season rolls around.

Even though it's only the primaries, the 2008 election promises to be very interesting.

I am taking a sort of Machiavellian outlook on the entire process. I won't say who I am supporting.

But if you think I am support anyone Republican, you are insane.

After eight years of Super Shrub, I echo the tone of the Obama campaign (which when you really think about it, is rather smart) - change.

I will, however, admit that it is fun to watch the Republican candidates cannibalize each other. Teflon Rom and Bibleman Huckabee seems to be an excellent match.

But seriously, unless something serious happens, I am going to post as I always do on this site, but the majority of my energy will be devoted to updating my other webpage.

I will be updating that page at least once a week. And news of updates will on this blog as well as on the other page.

Look for a big update to come this weekend.

I tend to think that the Republican candidates are too busy attacking each other to focus on any interesting attacks on us.

By the time they put it in their heads to amass their base by telling lies on lgbts, I should have a good time line ready to throw truth on their claims.

The day after . . .

Thanks to everyone who made my new webpage a success.

But apparently not everyone is happy. Our friend Peter LaBarbera (who swore up and down that he would not read my "silly" page) is high HIGHLY upset over the comparison I included of Anti-Semitic speech and homophobic speech.

Get over it, Peter. No matter how angry you get, it still holds up.

(UPDATE - My bad! Apparently Peter is not mad at the comparison on my webpage. He is upset over what I said to him via email. You see, Peter and I had been emailing each other last night concerning my page. I wasn't about to give him the last word. He got angry about my following statement:

That truth will come out and nothing will ever change that. You made mention to Nazis in your response. When it is all said in done, in the eyes of many, people won't know the difference between you, your cohorts and them. Because really there is no difference, is there?

Well I stand by that comment. And looking at the rhetoric that Peter and his side uses, I can back it up.

And speaking of our friend Peter, apparently he is not done exploiting that 14-year-old who wrote him recently. Another pal of Peter, Laurie Higgins, wrote the child a letter.

Naturally Peter prints it on his site.

She repeats the usual nonsense about homosexuality. But there is one thing she said that I found hilarious:

Our bodies are not designed for homosexual sex. They are exquisitely designed for heterosex.

Apparently Higgins is channeling that same nonsense that is repeated constantly in anti-gay language (and I make reference to it on my other page):

That anal sex is "homosexual behavior." That train of thought is a serious lie.

All gay men do not have anal sex. But some heterosexuals do.

Does that make those heterosexuals gay?

And Higgins claims that she cares that others are teaching children lies.

Apparently she is not above telling a few herself.

I now present:

‘Holy Bullies’ author expands fight against anti-gay lies

New webpage will include a time line of distortions

January 2, 2008—South Carolina author Alvin McEwen is taking his fight against anti-gay rhetoric to another level with the launching of a new webpage.

In August 2007, McEwen published Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry. The book chronicled how the religious right, or anti-gay industry as McEwen refers to them, distorts studies and semantics to demonize the gay community.

"I have had tremendous success with my book," McEwen said. "But I want to create a wider understanding of the tactics of the anti-gay industry and their history of distortions.

The webpage page, Anti-Gay Lies and Liars, spotlights six distortion techniques of the anti-gay industry, the top lies they use against gays and lesbians, as well as a comparison between Anti-Semitic and homophobic language.

Central to the webpage is a historical time line of distortions, scientific complaints about religious right data, faulty media campaigns, and other things that McEwen say is crucial to the religious right’s war on gay America.

"And the time line isn’t done yet," he said. "It will be a continued work-in-progress. I want to include every lie and every distortion the anti-gay industry commits. I want to include information about Anita Bryant , Paul Cameron, every distorted study, every discredited study. If the anti-gay industry has lied about it, I want to include it."

McEwen calls the webpage a handy guide for anyone looking to disseminate religious right propaganda.

"The next time a press release or statement comes from these phony pro-family groups, I challenge anyone to not find at least two points of propaganda from my list," McEwen said.

He also said knowing religion right propaganda techniques are crucial if the gay community wants to win this so-called culture war.

"Simple functions like an office worker putting a up picture of his significant gay other or a child reared in a same-sex household writing a report about her family take on sinister undertones of an alleged conspiracy to shut down values," McEwen said. "And that is the big lie the anti-gay industry tries to sell to America. That ordinary things gays and lesbians do, things which make us no different than anyone else, are somehow insidious points of attack in a huge plan of invasion.If we are to refute this lie, then we need to educate ourselves on their tactics."

The address of McEwen’s new webpage is http://antigayliesandliars.blogspot.com/

Anyone wanting to reach McEwen can email him at CharleKenghis@aol.com

(Bear with my page guys because it is a work-in-progress which I hope can be used to educate and inform. By all means look it over, take the information in, and spread the word. Thanks!)

From the department of stupidity . . .

Still working on my project. Hope to have it finished by tomorrow evening.

But something I noticed today, that I have to put down something on.

Our friend Peter has reprinted a letter sent to him by a 14-year-old:

Please read the letter below, which we received Saturday from a 14-year-old atheist boy who hates Americans For Truth. Nothing makes my heart grieve more than a confused young person rejecting God and embracing an unnatural sexual identity (”gayness”) built around ungodly behavior that up until a few decades ago was viewed as so immoral that it wasn’t even discussed in public. I don’t know Joe, but I can safely say that his tragic life choice was made easier by the organized homosexual movement. This is the saddest end result of “gay pride” — corrupting the hearts and minds of young people and helping to put them in grave physical, emotional and spiritual danger:

To put it bluntly, I probably hate you more than anything else in the world. Like many others, I believe you have the moral equivalent of a modern-day KKK: hating people for being different and having opposing beliefs. I am a liberal, gay, atheistic 14 year old boy, and I believe I have more morals than you. You are a disgrace to humanity. I’m sorry that I am being so childish in my "argument” which is turning out like hate mail, but I just cannot put in words how much I disagree with you. Homosexuals should have rights because they are humans, capable of thinking logically and making decisions, just like you and me. And why does what other people do sexually concern you at all? I want you to tell me, from a non-religious standpoint, exactly how homosexuals are hurting you? Because if they are not negatively affecting you in any way (which is what a suspect) then you should have no problem with them. Most of America knows the truth about homosexuality, which is that it is a preference, not a choice, just like a favorite food to put it in simple terms. You like it, because it pleases you, not because you choose to like a certain food. I’m sorry that this message has stretched so long, and I would like a reply and a rebuttal to my claims. USING LOGIC, not religion. -Joe [————-]

The letter is not as dramatic as Peter makes it out to be. Seems to me that the child is just venting, as all children do.

I do kind of feel sorry for the child because I recognize a little of myself in him. When I was just coming out, I used to call the 700 Club, yell at the person on the other line and then hang up.

Such behavior is juvenile. This is not to say that the letter was inconsiderate. I am sure that it is more polite than some of the other letters Peter has been sent.

My point is that Peter refuses to recognize the fact that his rhetoric and lies created this situation. Don't blame gay pride or the "homosexual movement."

It isn't gay pride or the "homosexual movement" that dehumanizes and attacks the lives of lgbts on daily basis.

That's you, Peter. And that young boy's anger is your fault.

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

It has been a good year . . .

but I don't have time to recap now. I am working on something that I hope will help get information to our community about the lies of the anti-gay industry.

I hope to have it done by January 2.

Keep your fingers crossed and have an excellent new year!!!!!

Peter LaBarbera's homophobia bites him in the ass

In recent pleas for money, Peter LaBarbera has claimed that we lgbts unfairly brand him as homophobic. Peter further claims that all he is doing to speak the "truth" regarding homosexuality:

Yes, they absolutely HATE us because we stand unapologetically against their sexual ideology as one that a holy Creator can have no part of. This “culture war” is not about us — it’s about right versus wrong . . .

To say that he is full of shit would be the overstatement of the decade. So how about a demonstration courtesy of his actions today.

This morning, he published an article spotlighting a hideous crime perpetrated against a gay man:

The victim, a gay man, was raped, attacked, and "sodomized" with a broomstick after leaving a party Friday night -The attacker, Felipe Rivera, had also been at the party. However, he was asked to leave because he had punched the victim in the face after, according to Rivera, the victim winked at him.

After being booted from the party, the attacker waited outside for the vicim to leave. The attacker claims the victim propositioned him for sex, but the victim denies this. In fact, the Chicago Tribune reports that "the victim alleged he had refused an offer from Rivera to pay him $50 for sex later in the evening." But regardless of who truly wanted sex from whom, the attacker proceeded to punch, rape, and stick the broom up the victim's rectum.

When asked why he did it, the attacker is alleged to have said, "because he hates 'faggots,' and this is what they get." The attacker is also said to have shouted anti-gay epithets at the victim while he was attacking.

That is awful. But here is what Peter said about the crime:

Our question: what percentage of “anti-gay hate crimes” are actually committed by people who themselves are involved in homosexual behavior? If this Chicago Tribune report is accurate, then this is no typical ”gay panic defense” – whereby a man blames his assault on a homosexual by claiming that the victim first made an unwanted sexual advance toward him — because the alleged perpetrator here offers to pay his victim for homosexual sex and then sexually assaults him.

We also know that some men may secretly (or even not so secretly) engage (or desire) homosexual perversions yet eschew the “gay” label for themselves – so the fact that Rivera told police that he “hates homosexuals” tells us little. He may hate that part of himself drawn to deviant homosexual acts.

Behavior, not self-labels, is what counts: we wonder how many cases like this end up on the FBI’s list as an “anti-gay” “hate-crime” statistic — to be exploited later, ironically, by “gay” activists lobbying for dubious pro-homosexual “hate crimes” laws … We’ll follow this story closely. — Peter LaBarbera

And the interesting part of the entire situation - later this day, Peter's post was "mysteriously" deleted from his webpage.

If you asked me, I think Peter slipped and showed his homophobia.

Here is an ugly crime committed against a gay man by an individual so psychotic that his mother called the police (i.e. that is how he was caught. Apparently his mother had an order of protection against him even before the alleged crime was committed.).

But the only thing Peter cares about is exploiting this crime as further proof of how "ugly" homosexuality is.

To Peter, the fact that someone was the victim of a crime ranks lower than the fact he can brand the perpetrator as gay.

How is that truth?

Sounds like homophobia to me.

And to make matters worse, when caught, he tries to make a quiet exit.

The Bible says that when you do wrong, you should apologize.

Peter's deletion of his article seems to be a small admittance of wrong. But Peter, if you are a true Christian, then perhaps you owe the lgbt community a public apology.

We are waiting.

Big thanks to goodasyou.org for this story.

UPDATE - Apparently Peter has apologized for his sloppy work. But he has reprinted his nonsense. The following analyzation is from goodasyou.org, who have been on top of this story:

One interesting note about Pete's new post: He reprints his old post with a line stricken through the part that he nw considers erroneous. However, in a curious move, he added a passage to his original post, as if it had been there all along. The new paragraph reads:
"One more question: if same-sex sexual assaults are classified as “hate crimes,” what about men who rape women (or vice versa)? Shouldn’t these sex crimes also be labeled “hate crimes” against women, as they are typically motivated by contempt and misogyny (hatred of women)? We’ll follow this story closely."

And as you can see from both our quoted text as well as the Google Cache of his original post, this paragraph was never in the original article. Why the duplicity, Peter?

And then Peter just can't seem to help himself but tell another deception:

We know there is a problem with homosexual-on-homosexual violence (hence the book, Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them). It seems ludicrous to call such crimes “anti-gay hate crimes” — for use in the “gay” propaganda cycle that feeds off exaggerated spinning of FBI data to imply an outbreak of (straight) “anti-gay violence” that doesn’t exist.

Men Who Beat the Men Who Love Them was a book written 13 years ago. If there is a "big" problem with same-sex relationship abuse, then why couldn't Peter have found a more current source than a 13-year-old book?

More importantly, the book dealt with relationship violence. So why does Peter make reference to this book that deals with relationship violence when talking about a crime in which there was no relationship between the victim and the perpetrator?

Because Peter seems to be trying covertly insult the nature of lgbt relationships in general. He seems to be inferring that what happened to that young man is indicative of lgbt relationships.

Damn Peter, even when you apologize you make things worse.

No matter how you try to cover it up, your homophobia comes shining through.

The perpetuation of dehumanization (Gotta love that title)

I'm back and I am still tired.

Not to mention almost burnt out. But leave it to the anti-gay industry to muster enough anger in me to post something.

Check out this gem from One News Now and Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America:

A spokesman for Concerned Women for America warns that yet another piece of legislation being promoted in the Democrat-led Congress would force taxpayers to subsidize immoral and dangerous behavior.

Senators Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) have introduced a bill that will extend domestic partner benefits to homosexual federal employees. The measure would allow an employee and his or her same-sex partner to be eligible for federal health benefits, the Family and Medical Leave program, long-term care, insurance, and retirement benefits. Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), who is an open homosexual, and Tom Lantos (D-California) have introduced the bill in the House and included foreign service workers for the first time.

Matt Barber is policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America in Washington, DC. He says the bill is the camel's nose in the tent for a litany of pro-homosexuality legislation, along the lines of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.

"For the government to take a moral stance here [regarding] people who engage in homosexual conduct is essentially equating that conduct to natural sexual relations between married, heterosexual couples," states Barber. "This really introduces us to the whole idea of gay 'marriage' at the national level to federal ENDA."

I bolded Barber's statement because it emphasizes the same nonsense I talked about the last time I posted. That time, it was a statement by columnist John Derbyshire along the same vein:

I know myself well enough to be sure that I am not cruel, or bigoted, or intolerant. Nor am I aware of anyone who knows me that believes me to be any of those things. Like Thomas More: "I wish none harm, I say none harm, I do none harm." Do as you please in the privacy of your chambers . . .

As usual, when talking about lgbts, Barber, Derbyshire and their co-horts seek to dehumanize and reduce our lives and families to sexual acts. This is not an accident, but an intentional tactic; an appeal to fear and ignorance.

To them, we are not raising children and we do not have families. Our lives are defined by hedonistic sexual thrills. And we had better not do anything to change that image.

Not because it is the truth, but because it is how they think it should be.

I have noticed that members of the anti-gay industry get most angry at us when we don't reduce our lives to their low expectations.

It is when we want to break their stereotypes of the oversexed, pathetic gay man or the man-hating, violent lesbian, or the confused transgender that they come out blazing with their complaints as to how we are "in their face."

They seem to think that they are not only entitled to tell us how our lives are but to correct us when we don't pattern ourselves after their lies.

Not very Christian, it is?

I nearly make it out, but John Derbyshire pulls me back in

Yeah I know I said that I was taking a break. But I just can't resist responding when I read stupid shit.

For example this lovely piece by John Derbyshire:

All that aside, though, I can't say I care much about homosexuality one way or the other. If I examine my own motivations for saying anything at all on this subject, the main thing I am aware of is just contrarian cussedness. I get so goddam sick of all the movies, TV shows, and, yes, e-mails telling me how goddam wonderful homosexuals are, and how goddam normal homosexuality is, and how goddam cruel and bigoted and intolerant it must be not to whole-heartedly approve of homosexuals, and cheer them on, and applaud the things they do. Well, I know myself well enough to be sure that I am not cruel, or bigoted, or intolerant. Nor am I aware of anyone who knows me that believes me to be any of those things. Like Thomas More: "I wish none harm, I say none harm, I do none harm." Do as you please in the privacy of your chambers, but for heaven's sake stop pushing it in my face, stop telling me how wonderful you are, stop lying about the fact that the things you do have health consequences (were in fact responsible for introducing a horrible plague into our society), stop mucking up my language by introducing illiteracies like "homophobe" and imposing the stain of salacity on perfectly decent old English words like "gay", stop telling me that the things I say might be taken as incitement to crimes of violence. (What words that anyone says about anything might not be thus taken by some lunatic somewhere? What would we be permitted to talk about, on that criterion?) And don't even think about proselytizing your "lifestyle" to my kids.

I don't know Mr. Derbyshire well enough to know for sure whether or not he is cruel, bigoted, or intolerant. But from what I am reading, he is ignorant.

Consider these facts:

As of 1990, 6 million to 14 million children in the United States were living with a gay or lesbian parent. (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, a service of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.),

Same-sex couples raising chidren live in 96% of all counties nationwide in the United States. (2000 U.S. Census analyses by the Urban Institute and Human Rights Campaign),

As many as 7.2 million Americans under age 20 are lesbian or gay,

45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians experience physical or verbal assaultin high school; 28% of these young people feel forced to drop out of schooldue to harassment based on sexual orientation.

But yet and still, people like Derbyshire are obsessed with defining the issue of sexual orienation to that of kinky bedroom habits.

That, my friends, goes beyond hatred. It is more diabolical than hatred. It is willful ignorance.

Of course Derbyshire can think of homosexuality in any way that he likes but the kicker is that he seems to demand that those of us who are lgbts conduct our lives in accordance to his ignorance.

And that will probably be the final fight over sexual orientation. Behind all of the lies about dangerous health consequences, behind all of the Biblical admonitions, behind all of the deceptions and distortions are people who cannot accept the fact that being an lgbt goes beyond sexual intercourse and stereotypes about leather and sadomaschism.

So rather than to accept the fact that maybe they are wrong, they rail against the rest of the world for daring to interrupt their stupid notions.

Well they, Mr. Derbyshire included, need to get over themselves. No matter how freaky they try to make us out to be, we are normal people who lead normal (and in my case - boring) lives. And we should not have to edit out any part of these lives.

The fact of the matter is that no one can tell the story of lgbt lives better than those who are living them. In matters of the media, we have every right to push for positive and correct stories about who we are. And we have every right to influence all facets of this country, from the media to our legislative bodies.

That is what being an American is all about

And one last thing to Mr. Derbyshire: if by chance any of your kids turn out to be gay, don't blame us. Be a good parent. Listen to that child, don't make assumptions, and by all means don't desert your child.

Maybe you will learn something for a change.

I am taking a break

I am burnt out.

With doing what I do almost every day, working at my regular job, and keeping tabs on how my book is selling, I am at my wits end when it comes to energy.

And keeping my ideas fresh.

So I am taking a break from it all until December 27.

During that time, I will be planning goals for 2008. I have big plans that I want to see come to fruition.

But before I go, I want you to read this excellent post from Jeremy at goodasyou.org

He has caught the anti-gay industry (yet again) telling a bunch of lies. (You mean they lie? So what else is new?)

Barring some incredible event that pushes me to post, I will see you all on December 27.

Happy Holidays!!!