Michael Sam, race, sexual orientation, and commodities

Earlier today, I read (and subsequently posted a link to) a Huffington Post article about the 18 worst reactions to the coming out of Missouri College football player Michael Sam.

I posted a comment in answer to someone who took it upon themselves to use the situation to play armchair psychologist and proclaim the African-American community intrinsically homophobic. My response got some people not exactly happy at me. I rolled eyes when reading their responses while thinking "here we go again."

I hardly talk about how some lgbts take situations like Sam's coming out and combine anecdotal evidence (in this case the number of ugly tweets coming from African-Americans) to suddenly declare black people to be the standard of community homophobia. I find these individuals' lack of common sense to be annoying and their immediate reaction to be indicative of how unfortunately some in the lgbt community are always so ready to react rather than think things through. And you know how it is when some of us lgbts get into that mode of "righteous indignation." Even Jesus can't calm us down.

One would think that folks would refrain from making rash generalizations in lieu of the aftermath of the 2008 Prop 8 vote in California. Back then, the false story that black folks led the way in passing that awful law led to an awful community clash and by the time the truth came out, both communities were nursing hurt feelings coming from the exchange of ugly words. And why shouldn't they?  Being called a "ni - - -ger" by an lgbt hurts as equally as being called a "fa---ot" by an African-American

I asked myself why were some folks so quick to attack the black community today over the words of a few ignorant tweets. I think it's all about a matter of mindsets and priorities. Some lgbts who are quick to call the black community homophobic will easily point to the times in which the anti-gay right is able to corral the black community to oppose marriage equality and other issues of lgbt equality.

''Right to discriminate' laws will be new threat to lgbt equality' and other Monday midday news briefs

Wave of new state bills: Religious freedom or license to discriminate? - This is the warning and the lgbt community should pay heed. With the push of "right to discriminate" laws, anti-gay groups and their supporters seem to be surrendering on the fight against marriage equality and instead trying to push a legislative virus in our victories. 

Robert Oscar Lopez parlays Woody Allen's heterosexual behavior into attack on gay parents - Tune in next week when Lopez will no doubt parlay the loss of the Denver Broncos in the recent Super Bowl into an attack on gay parents.  

The Christian Right's Bizarre Delusions of Persecution - If there is one thing from this article you should remember, repeat, and send amongst your friends, it's the five steps the Christian right use to pretend victimhood: 

1) Enter into a community that is, by its nature, inclusive of people of various faiths and beliefs.
2) Break some common rule everyone is expected to follow. 
3) Get corrected or punished for breaking the rule. 
4) Squeal about how it’s because you’re a Christian and they’re bigots and oppressors. 
5) By the time the truth gets out, your story will be an urban legend spread far and wide, and your fellow conservative Christians will never really know the facts.  

Why Conservatives Defend Ex-Gay Therapy: Gay People ‘Entrap’ And ‘Groom’ Children - Give the anti-gay right time and they will do something monumentally stupid. In this case, it's the Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver. The Liberty Counsel is leading the court charge against states who outlaw the discredited practice of "ex-gay" therapy for minors. But forget the arguments of parents rights and such the group will most likely use in court. What Staver said in a recent interview about gays "entrapping and grooming" children is a good reason why he should be called to testify by those defending the laws against "ex-gay" therapy. 

18 DISGUSTING Responses To Michael Sam, Gay Football Star, Coming Out - Like I said, it's not easy being a pioneer. The irony is that I bet none of these cowards would say this stuff to Mr. Sam's face.

Top NFL prospect Michael Sam comes out. What will happen next?

All of the talk yesterday was about top NFL prospect Michael Sam, defensive lineman of the Missouri Tigers, coming out of the closet and his desire to be in the NFL. For those who have not seen, the following is the interview:



I support him tremendously, but now comes the million dollar question. Just how will his coming out affect his draft prospects. Before coming out, he was a top pick. What's going to happen now?

While everyone is toasting Sam for his courage, according to an interview with eight anonymous football executives and coaches in Sports Illustrated, he will now face a hard road and that's if he is even picked for a team:

“I don’t think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet,” said an NFL player personnel assistant. “In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it’s still a man’s-man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It’d chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room.”

All the NFL personnel members interviewed believed that Sam’s announcement will cause him to drop in the draft. He was projected between the third and seventh rounds prior to the announcement. The question is: How far will he fall?

“I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down,” said a veteran NFL scout. “There’s no question about it. It’s human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote ‘break that barrier?’”

My opinion? I think Sam has a good shot, if he is chosen, to be an excellent player and I also think he can withstand the machismo and nonsense which comes with being in the NFL.

But like all pioneers, he is going to have to deal with a lot of flack and bad assumptions.

Know Your LGBT History - Black, LGBT, and Christian

Let's be blunt. If it weren't for lgbts, the black church as we know it would not exist. From the customs to the songs, the lgbt community is ingrained in the Black Church experience and no misplaced criticism or misreading of Scripture is going to erase that fact. The problem is we don't talk about it enough. And when the black community does talk about the issue, it's in a scandalous fashion.

Enough of the scandal crap. Being black is a blessing from God as well as being an lgbt. The videos below spotlight an excellent campaign - the Many Voices Video Campaign  - which shines a positive light on the issue:

 



 Go here for more information about the Many Voices Video Campaign

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'Plaintiffs in marriage equality suit want to exclude testimony from discredited professor' and other Friday midday news briefs

Regnerus

Plaintiffs in gay marriage suit seek to exclude ‘expert’ witness Mark Regnerus - An incredibly gutsy and brilliant move by those defending marriage equality in Michigan could have devastating consequences for those who oppose marriage equality nationwide, seeing that Regnerus' discredited study is used widely in several of their court cases. 

T.a.T.u., Pop Duo with Lesbian Image, Set to Play Opening of Winter Olympics - And in a country - Russia - facing heavy criticism for its anti-gay laws. Oh the irony is just delicious.

House panel passes gay marriage response to protect refusal of benefits - This situation in Kansas doesn't look good for us at all.

Four LGBT Activists Arrested At St. Petersburg Olympics Protest - You have to give props to these brave individuals.

 Piers Morgan’s Meltdown: Five Ways To Be A Bad LGBT Ally - I LOVE this piece.

The lies which bind homophobia in Russia and America

As the Olympic Games begin, let's take a look at the rhetoric which binds American and Russian anti-gay prejudice and probably had something to do with those awful anti-gay Russian laws. Representatives of the World Congress of Families held a news conference at the National Press Club on Wednesday to talk about their 2014 summit, which will be held in Moscow in September.

You can read the about this press conference on Right Wing Watch and watch different video clips This particular one caught my attention and frustration. Forty-four seconds in this video, Alexey Komov, World Congress of Families' representative in Russia, begins talking about how homosexuality is supposedly not a healthy lifestyle and the supposed statistics which show that gays have a shorter lifespan and suffer from depression and such.

First of all, there are only two known statistics which talk about the supposed life span of gay men. One is by Paul Cameron, a highly discredited researcher who has accused gays of stuffing gerbils up their rectums. And the other is a distortion of a 1997 Canadian study. We know that the study was distorted because in 2001, its authors complained that anti-gay groups were misusing their work.

As far as depression and the like, the Centers for Disease Control have linked negative health in lgbts to homophobia and having to deal with an unaccepting society:

Homophobia, stigma, and discrimination persist in the United States and negatively affect the health and well-being of gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men (MSM), and other members of the LGBT community. Homophobia, stigma, and discrimination are social determinants of health that can affect physical and mental health, whether MSM seek and are able to obtain health services, and the quality of the services they receive. Such barriers to health need to be addressed at different  levels of society, such as health care settings, work places, and schools in order to increase opportunities for improving the health of MSM.

But more to the point, we've heard these lies before. They have flowed from the mouths of American anti-gay groups and spokespeople such as Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council or Bryan Fischer and the American Family Association.

Blogs such as this one are doing what we can to point out that the anti-gay arguments of religious right groups are partly rooted in cherry-picked or junk science. But blogs can only do so much. We are like mice in the corner making inconsequential noises when compared to the ability of the liars who can seize the world stage.

Heavy hitters - i.e. media and larger groups -  in the lgbt community is going to have to specifically address this issue and until they do, our problems with homophobia disguised as "love" will continue.

Refuting anti-gay lies about President Obama before they are repeated

Part of the ability of calling out conservative and anti-gay rights groups is understanding their "talent" - as it is - of creating a phony moral panic based upon cherry-picked information or the sin of omission.

With that in mind, in the above video snippet from this morning's National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama speaks out against BOTH religious persecution and anti-lgbt persecution in the name of religion.

Now, if I know my anti-gay hysterics like I think I do, in the coming days, we may either hear the conservative and anti-gay talking points that President Obama "labeled Christians as persecutors" or he had the nerve to "compare religious persecution with countries simply attempting to stop homosexual indoctrination."

I have been wrong before with my predictions and I wouldn't mind being wrong now.

But don't be surprised if I'm not.

'Janet Mock rejoins Piers Morgan to take care of business, still gets disrespected' and other Thursday midday news briefs

The Daily Caller is a piece of trash.

Janet Mock Rejoins Piers Morgan Following Controversial Interview - Janet Mock returns to Piers Morgan to T.C.B. (take care of business) 

Daily Caller Uses Transphobic Slur Against Activist Janet Mock - And when she does, she still gets disrespected. There is absolutely NO excuse for this. We simply MUST demand more integrity and class from our news publications. What's next? African-American or Anti-Semitic slurs?

Beelzebub the wedding planner: Franklin Graham says Satan is behind marriage equality - In so much less of the time it took the Rev. Billy Graham to build his reputation, his son Franklin is destroying it. 

  World Congress of Families: Criticism Of Putin Is Liberal Media Hysteria - So the stories and images we see coming from Russia - which is the result of Putin's anti-gay push - is a sign of mass hypnosis, huh? Bull.

  How Russia's Ban On 'Gay Propaganda' Is Being Enforced - These are the stories the above anti-gay group will conveniently omit.

United Nations Condemns Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws - Speaking of which . . .

Common sense on marriage equality from Scotland

Scotland recently became the 17th country to allow marriage equality. This video from the Scottish government regarding the passage of the legislation should be required viewing for everyone, particularly those folks who are always whining about being called bigots for opposing marriage equality.

Anti-gay spokesman says those not going to Heaven should not have rights protected under law

Only an anti-gay spokesman (in this case, Gordon Klingenschmit. You'll be wanting to call him Gordon Klingen - it rhymes with "schmit" after hearing what he has to say) can move from a lie about ENDA to a slur about the transgender community to finally saying that people who aren't going to Heaven shouldn't have their rights protected under law all with a straight face.

Certainly Gordon doesn't represent the views of all Christians, but it would be nice for some of those moderate ones to stop allowing folks like him to dominate the conversation.

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.

'Clay Aiken already slurred by possible Congressional opponent's campaign team' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Aiken

Equality NC Responds to Anti-LGBT Ellmers' Statement on Aiken - This morning former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken announced his intention to run for Congress. And already his possible opponent - and present holder of the Congressional seat - Renee Ellmers’ campaign team makes a slur about his sexual orientation. Is that a record of what?

 
The debate is over when anti-LGBT activists compare LGBT families to slavery - Especially when said anti-lgbt activist is moonlighting as an author of violent pornography.

 How Piers Morgan Screwed Up His Interview With Transgender Advocate Janet Mock - Simple answer - he got exploitative and focused too much on her life before her transition. Transgender people are not circus freaks and they shouldn't be focused on because of what they "did" instead of who they are.

New ‘Ex-Gay’ Group With Same Tired Old Faces - Oh joy! Rapture! (heavy, heavy sarcasm implied).

Renew America Calls For Anti-Gay Secessionist Movement…Again - Instead of the states, why don't just a bunch of these folks leave. How about if I stand on shore wearing a long billowy white dress which whips in the wind while I wave at them with a white handkerchief. Will that make them leave?

Utah State Attorneys Argue Gay Marriage Puts Children At Risk - And here we go again. Do these folks EVER win in court with that antiquated argument?

Clay Aiken is running for Congress

Former American Idol contestant and openly gay Clay Aiken has just announced that he is running for Congress in the above video. When rumors surfaced about Aiken's possible run, some folks scratched their heads or rolled their eyes.

I say give the young man a chance. He may surprise you.

Anti-gay publication pushes misleading headline on lgbt youth

We know that some anti-gay groups and spokespeople are so determined to demonize the lgbt community that they at times push cherry-picked studies or publish comments taken out of context.

But in the case of the American Family Association's One News Now, giving  one's own article a misleading headline has to be a first. The following is the body of the article:

The journal Pediatrics has released a study showing that homosexual and bisexual boys are using illegal steroids at a rate six times greater than heterosexual teens. The motivation is partly to improve their male physique and also to fend off bullying. 

 Dr. Andre Van Mol of the Christian Medical and Dental Association says physical dangers include liver damage, tumors, damaging the reproductive system and hormone-producing organs, and high blood pressure. Vol also cautions about 'roid rage, when people become aggressive after taking large doses, and taking several performance-enhancing drugs, known as "drug stacking." 

 "If these steroids are being purchased on the black market, which they quite often are," says Vol. "There's no guarantee of exactly what else might be in them or if they're actually steroids in the first place. So the toxicity risk becomes even greater at that point." The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a statement saying teens and steroids are a bad combination.

It reads like a standard story with no bias on behalf on One News Now, right? However, one wouldn't get the impression from reading the article's headline and subhead, which reads nothing like the context of the article itself:

Homosexual lifestyle has another danger: Steroids

Homosexual teenagers are destroying their future to appear appealing to other homosexuals.

 Other than the misleading headline, One News Now nearly posted an unbiased article on lgbts.  What is this world coming to?

'NOM speaker publishes violent, pornographic novel while speaking against marriage equality' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Robert Oscar Lopez

“Lust, Intrigue, And Terrorism… Latino Style”: Robert Oscar Lopez Wrote Another Bizarre Gay Erotica Novel - A huge scandal just waiting to happen. Last week, anti-gay speaker and continuous attacker of same-sex families Robert Oscar Lopez spoke at a NOM rally against marriage equality in Utah. THIS WEEK, Equality Matters just learned that he recently published a violent pornographic novel, The Melville Affair, in which one of the characters has an "elastic anus." My eyes literally popped in my head when I read one of the scenes this novel entails:

Many of The Melville Affair’s sex scenes are non-consensual. Dodson is drugged and raped by strangers at sex parties and even by Austan’s close friend. After Carmela and Dodson’s attacks, a female character is gang raped and then killed by interrogators. Another character is forced to watch his wife be raped and impregnated by her own gay brother at gunpoint until he confesses his knowledge of the terrorist attacks. And in a scene that highlights Lopez’s twisted fascination with gay rape, three male friends – all heterosexual – are forced by their interrogators to rape each other until they confess to being terrorists. The lead interrogator calls off the experiment once he realizes that the men are actually enjoying raping each other.

I am not a psychiatrist but is someone trying to exercise personal demons?

One Million Moms Responds To Lesbian Couple On Disney Channel's 'Good Luck Charlie' - And what are other anti-gay groups saying about this? Why nothing because some of them are too busy raising hell with the Disney Channel for (gasp and swoon) having the nerve to show a normal lesbian couple.  

Tony Perkins Rails Against Disney For Including Same-Sex Couple On 'Good Luck Charlie' - Second verse. Same as the first.

  9 States With Anti-Gay Laws That Aren’t That Different From Russia’s - Yes this is spooky.  

Activists occupy Idaho Senate entrances to protest lack of LGBT protections - While this isn't my cup of tea, I certainly admire the group for taking action.

Fifty famous lgbts of color they don't tell you about

I ran this video some time ago, but this morning I say what the hell, run it again. I always like to brag about my people, especially during Black History Month.

Anti-gay ad or parody of anti-gay ad? How can you tell the difference?

If one would compare an actual anti-marriage equality ad to a parody of an anti-marriage equality ad, the main issue is not guessing which one is which, but noting how eerily similar they both are:

'Spooky claims about CA transgender student law proven to be wrong' and other Monday midday news briefs

One Month Later: How California's Transgender Student Law Is Affecting Public Schools - This is so shocking . . . that anti-lgbt lies have been proven wrong YET AGAIN. All of the nonsense they spun about men and boys "invading girls' bathrooms and locker rooms haven't come true and it simply won't. 

Daily Caller: "Transgender Dudes" Are Forcing Their Way Into Female Bathrooms - Not that it matters when there is a good lie to sell.  

Focus on the Family's resident 'ex-gay' equates marriage inequality with eliminating slavery - Dear predominantly white anti-gay group, your efforts to sow discrimination against same-sex couples (many of them being African-American) is NOT comparable to ending slavery, no matter how many times you claim that it is.  

Brookdale to offer same-sex spousal benefits in response to lawsuit - Excellent! Equality wins again!  

Agema: Stop 'Shoving This Idea Down Our Throat' Of The 'Homosexual Lifestyle' - The semantics of the language here is not accidental but carefully planned.

News Flash - Prop 8 WAS about hate . . . and fear . . . and exploitation

I was reading comments on various issues last night and ran into something which got me angry.

I forget where but the commentator was running that line about how the fight for Proposition 8 was not about hatred but to "protect marriage." And then the commentator segued into the same talking points about how "unfair" it is that those who don't support marriage equality are considered as "haters."

And it got me angry because I realized just how much lgbt brothers and sisters let pass when we are besieged by these arguments. We seem to be put on the defensive by this argument only because we don't get specific.

Whenever I hear someone whine about how the opposition to marriage equality is not about hatred, I make it a point to remind them that if it weren't, then why is there any need to push the false idea that somehow marriage equality will harm children:

 

How marriage equality opponents exploited the argument against marriage equality to appeal to people's fear about their children is a subject we haven't talked about enough. It's a very appropriate subject because this exploitation was used not only in the Prop 8 ballot initiative but others as well, including that in Maryland. And remember, according to Mark Mutty, organizer who worked against marriage equality in Maryland (unsuccessfully I might add), this is argument is untrue and is used to garner attention via fear:



Maybe it's just me, but from where I come from, it is rather bigoted imply that lgbt equality will somehow harm children. It's an implication which those who oppose marriage equality have used time and time again. And unfortunately, we don't do enough to remind them of this fact.

Know Your LGBT History - 'You Are My Friend'

Nowadays, the younger set of gay men fawn over singers like Beyonce and Lady Gaga with their outrageous costumes and dance moves as well as their voices.

Of course, at the risk of sounding like an old queen, in my day it was all about the voice. The pipes. And nothing could move a black gay man like someone who could bring the audience to their knees with a strong vocal delivery.

I've talked about the late singer Sylvester on many occasions in my "Know Your LGBT History" posts, but this is a special one because it emphasizes cultural differences in our community.

The song "You Are My Friend" was written and recorded in 1978 by Patti Labelle and it remains a favorite in her concerts. However, in his 1979 album Living Proof, Sylvester actually did the impossible - he took the song from Patti and made it his own.

Listen to this live recording of the song with Sylvester accompanied by his two back up singers, Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes (who later became the Weather Girls and recorded the classic "It's Raining Men" in the 80s).

For many gay black men of my generation, to listen to this song  or to see a live lip synch performance was   considered as a rite of passage. It combined so many things that we love - a good song, excellent singers, and the foot stomping, shoe removing, self-wig snatching of a good church service.

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

Anti-gay rapper needs to be set straight on black, lgbt history, identities

 According to the Huffington Post:

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's marriage equality anthem "Same Love" may have rocked the Grammy Awards, but one Texas-based Christian rapper has condemned the track in a very disturbing way.

As The Houston Chronicle is reporting, Bizzle refutes the popular comparisons of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement to the civil rights struggles of the African-American community.

At first I was going to ignore this monstrosity but after reading Bizzle's lyrics, I felt that a gauntlet had been thrown down and it's my duty as an lgbt of color to pick it up. These lyrics in general:

"You'd rather fight God than fight sin," Bizzle rhymes on the track. "The Bible is alright until it calls what you like sin/And I feel so disrespected that you were so desperate/You would compare your sexual habits to my skin."

He then adds, "You can play straight, we can never play white ... 

So apparently Bizzle belongs to the contingent of African-Americans who proclaim the lgbt civil rights movement isn't the same as the African-American civil rights movement. I'm familiar with that bunch, especially of the fact that they scream so loud that no one else with a differing opinion can get a word edgewise in the conversation.

Let's go to school, Bizzle. Any African-American who chooses to use the Bible to bash lgbts are woefully ignorant of their own history in this country when that same book was used to justify slavery and segregation. Furthermore, any African-American who even pushes the idea that "gays can pretend to be straight but blacks can't pretend to be white" show more ignorance. As it was, there were some African-Americans who were light enough to pretend to be white. The term was called "passing" and just like lgbts who seek to hide in the closet, some African-Americans "passed" in order to sidestep hate and discrimination.

So basically, if one would look at the collected history of the lgbt community and the black community in America, one would find many similarities. Both of our communities have been the victims of spiritual, emotional, and physical violence based upon antiquated concepts of inferiority.

I am so damn tired of the ignorance expressed by folks like Bizzle and I am so tired of their need to sacrifice historical reflection for the sake of being bombastic or self-righteous. Lastly, I am tired of being their whipping boy, of having my life psychologically dissected for their benefit. I am not a dead frog in science class that you can cut open and remove the parts that you don't like.

I am an African-American lgbt, I will not be muzzled or forced to choose between two identities. I cannot choose to be black or gay. Hell, I DO NOT want to choose to be black or gay. Both identities provide the crucial, cultural ingredients which make me the fascinating and unstoppable uncrowned male diva that I am.

I am person who is uncompromisingly black and unapologetically gay. Deal with it.