Superintendent of Schools gives truth behind Angels of America situation . . . and is attacked on a personal level

One of the main things that causes me and others to want to beat our heads against a brick wall is the insistence of the anti-gay industry to engage in lies even after the truth has been revealed, explained, told, etc.

It has to do with plain stubborness and a desire to be right even when you are wrong.

Consider the nonsense published on the Americans for Truth (in name only) page by one Laurie Higgins, a person in the middle of the Deerfield High School controversy.

A little recap first: Laurie, Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber and other members of the anti-gay industry have been telling lies about a reading assignment in Deerfield High School.

They claim that the school is "exposing" students to "racist pornography" by having them read the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-award-winning play Angels in America. The claim is even punctuated by portions of the play cherry-picked to induce shock and rage.

Of course Ms. Higgins and others sounding the alarm minimize other details about the moral panic they have caused.

Such as the book is offered as an "option" in a senior AP Literature Class. And that parents had to sign permission slips in order for their children to be able to read the book

But I guess to them, facts are irrelevant when you are trying to stamp out "godlessness."

Anyway, the Superintendent of Schools, George Fornero, has responded to the allegations in an excellent letter.

Higgins has taken it upon herself to tear apart this letter, including making snide comments about Fornero's sexuality.

But in doing so, she reveals the recklessness of herself and her cause.

Let's look at some choice bits along with my take on what they mean:

Fornero: Students studying the play are second semester seniors in Advanced Placement English.

Higgins: (Translation: “We save the most offensive tripe for the most intelligent.”)

My take: Well that was a mature way to start a conversation Ms. Higgins.

Fornero: The College Board oversees all Advanced Placement testing; the class syllabus, including all readings was approved through the Board’s audit process.

Higgins: (Translation: “Of all the readings offered through the College Board, we’re including the most offensive.”)

My take: Why should Ms. Higgins rely on facts when hyperbole seems to work so much better.

Fornero: Parents received information about Angels in America that specifically addressed the mature content and potential for offense.

Higgins: (Translation: “We’re using the inaccurate euphemism ‘mature’ for the more accurate term “obscene.” Reality: The use of obscene language represents the very antithesis of maturity. It is intemperate, puerile language. In addition, the information given parents did not adequately convey exactly how obscene and perverted the material is.)

My take: please note that Higgins sidestepped the fact that parents were told about the book. I doubt that she has any idea as to what was sent out to parents explaining the book. And I really don't think she cares.

Fornero: Parents were asked to make an informed decision about the text their child would read. Two viable choices were presented: Angels in America and Albert Camus’ The Plague. They were also given the option of having their students read both texts. Letter to parents requested that they provide permission for their student to read the selected text(s).

Higgins: (Reality: Many parents have neither the time nor interest in reading read the entirety of Angels in America; This teacher is much beloved by students, and teens are rebellious, therefore, even parents who don’t want their children to read Angels may feel the force of social pressure, compelling them to allow their children to read the provocative, controversial text. The school has potentially set parents up for conflicts with their own children.”)

My take: Are there any facts behind Ms. Higgins's claim? Where is the proof behind her charges? She is speculating that parents did not sit down with their children to discuss whether or not they could read this book. As seen by the post yesterday (if it turns out to be accurate), there was at least one case where the parent and the child did talk about the book and its subject matter. And I am sure that there were others.

Fornero: Excerpts taken out of context from the play by NSSA are being used to diminish the work’s social and political themes.

Higgins: (Reality: There is no context that can justify or render acceptable the teaching of the most extreme violations of decency and truth that occur in this play. Put another way, can the administration or school board imagine any text in which the sexual vulgarity, obscenity, profanity or sacrilege is so extreme or offensive that its very presence would render a text unsuitable for teaching, no matter what positive elements may also be present? Or will positive literary elements always trump issues of obscenity, profanity, and sacrilege? Are administrators saying they will never, under any circumstances take into account the nature and extent of obscenity, profanity, and sacrilege?)

My take: So if I cherry picked portions of the Bible that talked about castrations, mutilations, rapes, and genocide, would Ms. Higgins be on my side? I really doubt it.

Fornero: According to Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Waller, the reading and discussion of the material is not a violation of the obscenity laws, or any other laws, of the State of Illinois.

Higgins: (Reality: The fact that it may not technically violate obscenity laws does not mean it is not obscene. I guarantee that if I start using Kushner’s language in the writing center where I work, or if students start using it in their classrooms, faculty members and administrators will curtail it due to its obscene nature. And if I or students refuse to cease and desist, we will be disciplined.)

My take: When this controversy started, the organization speaking out against the book (NSSA) said that the State Attorney General's office did say it violated obscenity laws. When Waller said this was not true, the group quickly changed its tone. Not quick enough for other anti-gay industry sites to stop claiming that the book violated obscenity laws, however.

So in one corner, we have an excellent, very thorough letter explaining the entire situation. And in the other, we have bad refutations that reveal the shrill nature of not only the person responding but the parties who have started this entire nonsense.

The sad thing is that new lies are being told. Town Hall columnist Mike Adams claimed that 14-year-olds are being required to read Angels in America:

Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Illinois, recently assigned the pornographic book “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” to students as young as 14 as a required reading. Somehow they didn’t expect parents to be offended by its graphic sexuality and overt racism. But, of course, they were. And that is why I am proud to report that the school has decided to make the reading “optional” over-riding the gay teacher’s original intentions.

And this lie is being repeated on other sites

Deerfield High School did nothing wrong, so I doubt that there will be any dismissals. However, I cringe to think that somewhere down the road, Matt Barber, Peter LaBarbera, or other members of the anti-gay industry will be able to refer to the situation and lie about it unchallenged.

It underscores that these groups and the folks behind them aren't interested in truth or values. Only power and control.

If this isn't the case then why did they rely on hyperbole, distortions, and misdirections to make their case.

Not very Christian, is it?

One more thing. If Ms. Higgins reads this post, I would suggest to her that she read yesterday's post from a student attending the AP Literature class.

She could learn a little something about maturity.

Youth speak out about Sally Kern and Deerfield High School . . . and outclasses the adults

Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern is still getting no defense from anti-gay industry members such as Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber. This silence is interesting since (as seen in yesterday's post) it was their words she used in making her claims, including the one that homosexuality is worse than terrorism and Islam.

You will remember how Peter LaBarbera rushed to Fort Lauderdale mayor Jim Naugle's defense when he made controversial statements about the gay community.

Hell, Janet Folger even gave Naugle an award.

Meanwhile, there is an excellent letter from a senior in an Oklahoma high school addressed to Kern. This student lost his mother in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. The letter has not been verified as legitimate. If this letter turns out to be legitimate, it is a powerful indictment on Kern's ignorance.

Part of the letter reads as follows:

You represent a district in Oklahoma City and you very coldly express a lack of love, sympathy or understanding for what they've been through. Can I ask if you might have chosen wiser words were you a real Oklahoman that was here to share the suffering with Oklahoma City? Might your heart be a bit less cold had you been around to see the small bodies of children being pulled out of rubble and carried away by weeping firemen?

I've spent 12 years in Oklahoma public schools and never once have I had anyone try to force a gay agenda on me. I have seen, however, many gay students beat up and there's never a day in school that has went by when I haven't heard the word **** slung at someone. I've been called gay slurs many times and they hurt and I am not even gay so I can just imagine how a real gay person feels. You were a school teacher and you have seen those things too. How could you care so little about the suffering of some of your students?

The entire piece is here.

And yesterday, I received a comment from someone who claims to be a senior attending Deerfield High School and a member of the AP class embroiled in the Angels In America controversy.

If this post is accurate, then this student puts the entire situation in perspective:

I am in the AP English class in question and have chosen to read the book.

Many of the articles make a fuss about how this book was "required reading." What they fail to point out is that there is ALWAYS the opportunity to opt out of reading a book if you or your parents are truly offended by it. It's not well-publicized, but it's there.

Some articles went as far as to say that forcing this book on us was "child abuse," which I think is patently ridiculous.

1. This cannot be child abuse because we are not children. Everyone in the class is eighteen or close to it. We can see similar things in R-rated movies; why can't we read about them in a class where we can discuss them in a mature and intelligent manner? If we are of legal age to vote for president and to die for the country, I should think we are capable of deciding what we believe and what we want to read.

2. If parents are trying to protect us from the issues discussed in the book, they must know that their efforts are doomed to fail. We all know that homosexuality and racism exist, and any parents who think their darling angel couldn't possibly have used or at least hear the "objectionable language" need to pull their heads out of the sand. These issues are out there, and refusing to let us read this book in class will not change that. If anything, more of us are likely to go out and read this book just to see what all the fuss was about.

For those have or are tempted to connect this to the SAGA Advisory pannel and say that the school is forcing homosexuality down our throats, I disagree. The freshmen are not asked to agree with the panel members and their decisions. They are asked to respect them, as we are asked to respect all of our peers. My English teacher has not told us his views on homosexuality, much less tried to convince us to agree with him. The hate mail he has received is unjustified.

Because we were not allowed to read the book without having a parent sign the permission form, I talked with my mom about the book. Our conversation was very short. She told me that I was eighteen and could make my own decisions. I wish all parents--not to mention the NSSA--had as much faith and respect for their children.

My hat goes off to these two youngsters. But it's also sad when the young act more mature than adults.

Short post today - This brother's tired

My mother got her cast removed today.

For those not keeping up with this situation, my mother broke her ankle in two places two months ago.

It has been an interesting two months as she was confined to a wheelchair and I learned how to cook her version of soul food.

Ewwww.

Seriously though she now goes through rehabilitation in order to learn how to walk with the pins the doctors put in her ankle.

We always need your prayers.


Sally Kern - too hot to handle?

Is it just me or is no one in the religious right rushing to defend Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern's comments.

Short from very few right wing blogs, I have yet to see any major religious right group sound the alarm about "freedom of speech."

There is nothing from the Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, and even One News Now.

Hell, I expected our friend Peter LaBarbera to say a little something.

Apparently he is too busy telling lies about the upcoming Day of Silence.

How convenient.

Could it be that they are scared to defend Kern's comments for fear of being asked about whether or not they agree with her comments regarding gays indoctrinating two-year-olds and homosexuality being worse than terrorism and Islam (and by the way, I neglected to mention how she insulted Islam).

Or could it be that the anti-gay industry actually has a sense of shame and realize that maybe their comments and propaganda can go too far?

What do you think?

UPDATE: One of my biggest bone of contentions over this entire thing was Rep. Kern not being asked to provide proof of her claims. Well now she has.

She gave KSBI-TV "proof" of her claims:

KSBI-TV received copies from Representative Kern of what she calls proof of a homosexual agenda. A document and links to some of those are below.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=68553

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=68457

So her proof are links from the anti-gay news site, One News Now.

Are we really surprised?


One more thing

I neglected to mention that I made additions on my Anti-Gay Lies and Liars webpage. The additions include incidents from last year and this year (featuring our favorite state representative at the moment.)

Check it out and tell me what you think.

We've been here before - Sally Kern

By now everyone knows about Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern's diatribe of lies against the lgbt community.

Let me tell you all how this is probably going to end:

Us gay folks are going to focus on calling Kern a homophobe for what she said but we won’t focus on the specifics of how she is lying.

Kern is going to hide behind the first amendment probably because no one is going to ask her just where did her information come from.

The religious right is going to try and make her a martyr. It’s not unusual for them. Lies and distortions are what they deal in.

Who is going to say "SALLY KERN, THESE ARE THE WORDS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH. LET'S SEE THESE FACTS YOU ALLUDED TO ABOUT GAY PEOPLE."

We all recognize those claims from Kern’s mouth. The lies about gay men and children, the lies about the alleged "gay life span;" they are the lies the anti-gay industry have been throwing at us for years. And no matter how many times these lies are discredited, they are still useful.

Let’s face it. No matter how Kern tries to make herself seem innocent, the fact of the matter is she referred to discredited work. And people need to know that. It probably won’t change some minds but I have a feeling that quite a few won’t exactly feel comfortable with a legislator who cites bad studies about gays.

Especially when that legislator has a history of targeting gays with her bills.

How often does this sort of thing happen across the country? How many legislators are privy to bad information about the gay community via religious right propaganda.

And how often do we NOT engage in “show us where you get your facts from” campaigns. This is what needs to be done in situations like this.

By calling people names and not showing just why they are wrong in their claims, we help out the enemy. When people are angry, they tend to react rather than proactive.

And almost every time a situation like this happens (i.e a legislator attacks the gay community via anti-gay industry propaganda) we tend to react angrily. We aggressively write letters and have marches.

Meanwhile the offending legislator tends to act all innocent and superior.

“I am only debating the issue,” he or she would say, “I am only using my First Amendment Rights.”

It was done in the case of Ft. Lauderdale mayor Jim Naugle and it will be done here.

Rep. Kern was not speaking impromptu. She did not just think of this information out of thin air. Someone fed this woman the information which she is now repeating.

And when we attack those sources, we get to the true root of the lies and the words that causes fear and murder.

And by the sources, I mean the propaganda movies from American Family Association, the pseudo-scientific papers from Concerned Women for American, Family Research Council, and the Traditional Values Coalition, the astroturfing groups pretending to be "parents' rights organizations" across the country.

All have a hand in manufacturing the lies that came from Kerns's mouth. And all must be made accountable.

Update on the Deerfield High School situation - The things the anti-gay industry omitted in their hyperbole

This is from an article by the Lake County News Sun regarding the controversy surrounding Angels in America and Deerfield High School. I bolded the more interesting parts:

North Shore Student Advocacy called for School District 113 Superintendent George Fornero, Deerfield High School Principal Sue Hobson, and all involved teachers to resign or be fired by the School Board.

The group claimed a victory when, after its complaints, the school district made "Angels" an "opt in" book rather than required reading in the Advanced Placement English literature course. Parents and students have to opt in to read that book, "The Plague" or both . . .

Lora Sue Hauser, executive director of NSSA, complained that the book is replete with profanity, overt racism, an explicit description of a sex act involving Mother Theresa, and vivid depictions of sodomy.

"After almost 15 years of school advocacy and reviewing many objectionable books and curricula, I have never seen anything this vulgar and harmful to students," Hauser said.

She said NSSA also talked to the Lake County state's attorney's office and claimed that office concurred that the play violated the state's obscenity statute prohibiting adults from "distributing harmful material to minors.

State's Attorney Michael Waller disputed that claim, saying it did not violate any criminal statute.

Carol Votsmier, school spokeswoman, said there was a problem with NSSA extracting passages of the play out to illustrate vulgarity.

The book and the class curricula were approved by the Advanced Placement College Board, she added. The students who "opted in" for the class will not be reading it until April. The class is limited to seniors, and 51 signed up to take it, but not all have made their choice of one or both books.

Votsmier said the play also has been taught in Highland Park High School.

The school district and NSSA clashed last year over a freshman orientation session where students talked about bullying and other issues and included gay students relating their experience in high school.

Matt Barber, director of cultural issues with Concerned Women for America, said his jaw dropped when he read the book.

"This isn't a First Amendment issue. This is about school officials betraying the community trust. Heads need to roll here. Assigning this racist, pornographic smut to high school kids is nothing short of child abuse," Barber said.

Votsmier said no one has been asked to resign, and there have been no voluntary resignations. She said the teacher of the course feels the students have the maturity and thoughtfulness to read this book and learn from it .

Let's clear up a few things:

No one is required to read Angels in America.

By offering it, Deerfield High School is not breaking any laws.

The class in which the book is offered is an AP class limited to seniors.

The book and the class curricula have been approved by the Advanced Placement College Board.
Now tell me something - just who is pushing a negative agenda? Is it Deerfield High School or someone pushing the following headlines:

Taxes provide free porn to teens

Deerfield High School Promotes Porn

Deerfield High School outside Chicago Offers Homosexual Pornography To Students

My friends, hyperbole and truth just don't mix.

The anti-gay industry beats up on Deerfield High School (again)

Last year (last year this month in fact), members of the anti-gay industry attacked a high school in Illinois, claiming that not only was it "indoctrinating" students into homosexuality, but also that it was "forcing" students to sign a confidentiality agreement to keep said indoctrination from being found out by their parents. Here are the facts:

At Deerfield High School, there is a program that is geared to helping students adjust to high school. One component of this program is a panel discussion that includes speakers from the school's gay/straight alliance. These students talk about such things as being bullied because of their orientation.

Parents were able to opt their children out of the program.

The alleged "confidentiality agreement" was an agreement between the students that they would not discuss the program with other students who did not attend. The agreement said nothing about keeping details from parents. It is as follows:

Confidentiality

Every person keeps what comes up in class confidential, unless it is dangerous to do so - that is unless a situation in class requires us to get outside help.

We do not repeat what someone says in class outside of class except if we have permission of the person that said it.

We will not continue a conversation outside of class without permission from all the people that were involved during the class.

Bottom line: What happens in our classroom stays in our classroom.

Exceptions to the confidentiality in which case (the teacher's name - I will not repeat it) will get outside help are:

If someone in the class reports being hurt;

If someone reports that they are hurting someone else; or

If someone reports that they are hurting or want to hurt themselves

The agreement was a part of a larger list of rules those participating in the program agreed to follow. Other rules included courtesy and respect for other expressed opinions.

Now omitting (who are we kidding - ignoring) these facts, Peter LaBarbera and other members of the anti-gay industry made a huge stink. As far as I know, their lies didn't get far.

So apparently they rested for a year and began attacking the high school again about another matter:

Deerfield High School outside Chicago Offers Homosexual Pornography To Students

And what is this pornography you ask?

Why it's the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, and Emmy Award winning play by Tony Kushner, Angels in America.

Neither Peter nor the group he is supporting in this matter (North Shore Student Advocacy) is giving details as to what exactly is going on. All they are saying is that the school is giving homosexual pornography to students via English classes.

Which is ironic because they are encouraging parents and others to write in to complain based on the miniscule degree of information they are providing them.

And to back up their "claims," they have included graphic portions of the play.

It reminds me of what young girls used to do to Judy Blume's Forever when I was in middle school.

Angels in America is not pornography. It is a thought-provoking moving series of plays about the beginning of the AIDS crisis. And the only problem Peter and company have is with the gay aspect.

In digging more, I found the following information:

The books were part of required reading until NSSA filed a formal complaint with the school, asking the books to be reviewed by committee. The committee decided to remove the books from required reading but continued to offer them in the classroom as an optional title. “Optional Title,” according to the principal, means that the student may select the books to study with peers and be guided by the adult, male teacher. A parental permission slip will be required but without full disclosure of the sexually explicit content. This conclusion is unacceptable to the complaining parent and to NSSA. They are asking that this pornographic book be removed from curriculum completely.

After contacting the State’s Attorney’s office of Lake County, Illinois, they deemed the books “obscene” according to Illinois obscenity laws, violating the “distributing harmful materials to minors” statute. But, state and federal obscenity laws exempt schools and libraries under “affirmative defense” so it becomes impossible to prosecute a teacher or school.

So apparently Peter and company didn't let folks know that the books are optional titles. Can you say censorship?

What's next? To Kill a Mockingbird because it contains racism? Or how about The Chocolate War because of it's unhappy ending?

No doubt folks will try to use this to not only censor high schools but to attack lgbts yet again.

To me, that is the real travesty.

I commend Deerfield for standing firm last year and I hope that the high school will not be bullied this year.

UPDATE: I have just rejected a comment by someone who thought it was thought-provoking to post the graphic comments of Angels in America I alluded to earlier in this post.

I rejected it for two reasons. First, the attempt to get a viceral reaction from me is immature.

The second and most important - to illustrate just why the moral panic over this situation is not necessary. Just as I was able to reject those comments, students were not required to read Angels in America. It was an option.

Again, I repeat, no one was forcing the students to read Angels in America. That's the beauty of this country. No one can force you to do anything you don't want to do.

So to that poster who tried to leave the comment - nice try.

First the good news

We now break from the madness of the anti-gay industry for a nice moment of lucidity:

Apparently the word has come down that the Columbia City Council (located in South Carolina - where I currently reside) has unanimously passed ordinances that prohibits discrimination in housing and public accomodations on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The laws were presented and passed with very little opposition.

In other words, the Columbia City Council passed a law that keeps people from being discriminated against when they are seeking a place to live or eat, etc.

There was no talk about "being forced to accept homosexuality."

There was no talk of "men and pedophiles invading women's locker rooms and restrooms,"

There was no talk of "churches beinig forced to rent to or hire 'she-males' and 'drag queens.'

This, my friends, is what America is all about.

Now the other stuff

According to goodasyou.org, anti-gay industry groups are banding together to protest the upcoming Day of Silence. They are even encouraging parents to keep their children home on this day.

What I want to know is whatever happened to that lovely bullshit they called "The Day of Truth."

This was an attempt to combat the "Day of Silence ." School children were encouraged to "tell the truth about homosexuality."

Of course this translates to reciting anti-gay industry propaganda about gay men and short life spans, probably a little dash of "lesbians have a problem with alcohol and domestic violence," with just a hint of "according to prominent researchers Paul Cameron and John R. Diggs . . ."

Apparently their lies weren't working in that avenue so they are taking a different road. Hopefully it will end up at the same place.

And finally . . .

Box Turtle Bulletin is reporting that Glenn Stanton from Focus on the Family is distorting scientific views.

And this just in . . . the sun is yellow.

Seriously, a Focus on the Family newsletter item said the following:

Glenn Stanton, director of global family formation studies at Focus on the Family, said there’s a clear consensus among anthropologists.

“A family is a unit that draws from the two types of humanity, male and female,” he said. “Those two parts of humanity join together, create new life and they both cooperate in the legitimization of the child, if you will, and the development of the child.”

Now we all know the first rule of dealing with the anti-gay industry. When they make a claim, check on it because it's, more than likely, a misrepresenation or an out-and-out lie.

Well Box Turtle Bulletin did check on Stanton's claim. The site checked with an actual anthropologist.

To read what they found, click here.

This incident will definitely go onto my other site, Anti-Gay Lies and Liars (shameless plug ahead). I will be updating it this weekend.

One News Now - My guilty pleasure

I enjoy reading One News Now.

I'm almost ashamed to admit it but that site is as fun to read as Perez Hilton's blog.

One News Now (formerly Agape Press) is the journalistic arm of the American Family Association. It supposedly gives the "Christian" side of today's news events. This, however, usually translates to one sided drivel which purpose is to scare or inflame people of faith through lies, distortions, and a dash of appealing to their egos.

But the site also has a comments section. And that is the part I enjoy reading.

Anyone can rate an article and to respond to what he or she has read.

In reading posted comments, I can gauge the mindsets of those who choose to believe the junk flowing from One News Now. And that is always fun.

In responding to articles, I, or anyone else, can point out inaccuracies. And many pro-gay comments end up printed, much to the consternation of some One News Now readers.

Some of these folks have even asked why gays read and respond to the site.

Well it's simple.

One News Now usually focuses on gay issues, albeit in an one-sided and inaccurate way. LGBTs have every right to respond. Especially if we are provided a forum to respond.

And I am happy to say that many of us tend to respond in an intelligent manner.

The "fun" article to read right now is the following:

Obama would use 'bully pulpit' to advance homosexual agenda

Some of the comments are "interesting," to say the least:

"Homosexuality is abnormal. This is confirmed by the biological incompatibility of two people of the same gender. No one knows why a person is gay, whether this flaw is of genetic or personality origin. No matter what causes it, it is nothing of which to be proud. Nor should it warrant special laws. I would never condone the infliction of physical harm because of a person’s choice of bedroom partners, but I also do not believe in same sex marriage, and I do not believe that gays should be in the military. Nor do I feel it is proper for gays to adopt children. Homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle; it is an unhealthy perversion. We Christians, who incidentally are not ignorant losers, cannot be expected to embrace a culture adverse to our beliefs. Certainly, we pray for the homosexual, but we are entitled to withhold our approval."

"The church has fathers? Are these fathers supernatural or human?"

"Obama is the trogan horse of the Radical Left. Now we know what the real change he says he represents is. I will be voting for the presidential candidate of THE CONSTITUTION PARTY."

"It is obvious we need to Ask God to change these people or pour out his Wrath.As a Christian I'm just fed-up with these deviates in Leadership in this Country aswell as all over the world. We need to Be Pray Warriors for Revival in Pagan American Politicians"

"Before I became a Christian, I divorced my first wife and then married my current wife. Then I became a Christian. So what you are saying is that if I have sexual relations with my second wife then I am actually commiting adultery against my first wife who in the eyes of the Lord I am still actually married. I don't like the sound of this. Can we go back to talking about homosexuals again please?"

"Someone wrote: "I do not Hate you because you are Gay. I hate the sin , unnatural sex is immorral. You HATE me because I am a Christian. That is where we need to work on the laws in this country. There are many Christians being persecuted by Gays." This is preposterous. Gays are only working to get equal rights under the law. Some Christians are working to deny them these rights. Gays do not hate Christians (in fact most gays ARE Christian), but they are frustrated with the Christians that attack gays in the name of their religion. To suggest that Christians are persecuted by gays is laughable. Just in the last week, I heard of 2 gays that were murdered just for being gay. How often does that happen to Christians? And certainly not by gays."

"I can only say that the Christian voter must truly weep over the Pagan candidates running for the highest office of our land! Sad to say, not even our churches fight for morality anymore. Satan in hell is smiling!"

You mean it was staged? Gasp and swoon!

The situation in Maryland regarding the anti-discrimination law referendum continues to become interesting.

It amazes me how low folks who oppose the law will stoop to scare people.

A while back, an "incident" took place that supposedly proved the opposition's claim that the anti-discrimination law would lead to men being able to invade women's locker rooms and bathrooms.

Allegedly, a man dressed as a woman entered a local gym locker room.

Folks like myself said that it was a nasty hoax, while the opposition beat around the bush regarding it.

Until now:

Shower-Nuts Admit Rio Incident Was Staged

This situation keeps getting better and better. Who needs Marlena, Roman and the rest from Days of Our Lives when supposed "moral people" provides so much better entertainment.

The heel has become the face

Many who read this blog know that I have a thing for pro wrestling. I guess I love the soap opera quality combined with the wanton violence.

My favorite plot device is the changing of a heel into a face. A heel, in wrestling terminology, is a bad guy or the one who is booed because he cheats.

The face is the good guy who generally plays by the rules and tries to overcome the evil of the heel.

Every now and then, there comes a shift. A heel will be done dirty by other heels and will suddenly become a good guy. And the audience, who once booed him will cheer him with much fervor.

It's amazing how much reality can sometimes seem to be similar to pro wrestling.

Many of you know that I'm not exactly an Obama supporter due to that mess last year with Donnie McClurkin. It's not that I wouldn't vote for Obama should he get the nomination, it's just that I don't fully trust him.

But today, the heel (Obama) is slowly becoming a face in my eyes, thanks to a bigger heel - Kevin McCullough.

For those who don't know, McCullough is yet another one of those "conservative columnists" who are long on rhetoric, but short on facts.

I thought McCullough was busy. Many don't know this but he made a stupid comment about a video a while back and proceeded to get his ass verbally whipped from one end of the internet to the other by the gaming community.

So now he is moving back to the gay folks.

Obama had written an open letter to the gay and lesbian community pledging support.

McCullough responded with a nasty slur that can be seen here.

I will say this - I don't trust Obama totally just like I don't trust any candidate. Our community would be stupid if we blindly followed anyone to the White House. Support, yes. Trust, no.

Politics is a game and like all games, the winning comes with strategy and position, not blind allegiance.

But having said that, McCullough's ridiculous comments can only help Obama.

After all, it has folks like me leaning to his corner.

Eight seconds in the echo chamber

Yesterday, I didn't post an entry because I was sidetracked with a touch of the flu.

That doesn't mean that things weren't taking place.

The readers of this blog are aware of my keen interest in a situation in Maryland regarding an anti-discrimination law protecting members of the transgender community.

An organization seeking a referendum against the law apparently got enough signatures to force the vote. They accomplished this by claiming that the law would make it easy for men and pedophiles to enter women's restrooms and locker rooms.

They did this despite the fact that they were told the law would not allow such things to take place.

Almost immediately after they turned in petitions, their credibility came under a huge amount of scrutiny. Local council members went on record saying that the group was misleading people in order to get them to sign the petition.

So the group has now made a claim that they were harrassed by a council member's aide. They even have the alleged event on youtube.

You can see it here.

So was it harrassment? I doubt it. But judge for yourself.

The interesting thing about the entire situation is the echo chamber in which it played. The group's version of events played on World Net Daily, One News Now, and a press release by the Traditional Values Coalition - not necessarily gay friendly places.

And the Traditional Values Coalition was rather ugly in describing the alleged harrasser:

Hillary Clinton She-Male Advisor Harasses Maryland Signature Gatherers

These folks just gotta sneak Hilary Clinton in the situation. Talk about obsession.

And it gets more interesting. Apparently there is a chance that the signatures may be invalid if the petitioners misled potential signers.

It is too early to tell but that lie that bites you in the ass if you tell it long enough sounds like its beginning to sharpen its teeth.

Dawn Stefanowicz again?

It always amazes me how the anti-gay industry constantly complain that they are unfairly called bigots because they "merely oppose homosexuality on a Biblical basis" and then proceed to act out in ways that prove correct all arguments about their bigotry.

Case in point: This thing about Dawn Stefanowicz.

I have talked about this woman a few times here and here but her "story" bears repeating.

Stefanowicz claims that she suffered psychological abuse because of being raised in a same-sex household. She has not only written a book about it but also has a webpage.

The problem is that she (and many people who use her story) blame the gay orientation of her father for her abuse rather than the fact that he was a bad parent.

And it continues today with this link from our friend Peter.

Goodasyou.org breaks down this lie with its usual awesome candor, but I want everyone to check something out. It's something I noticed a while back and wrote concerning Stefanowicz's testimony:

In this article in Agape Press (editor's note -Thanks for the link, Emproph!), she recounts her tale, but using the verbage the anti-gay industry uses against us:

“According to Stefanowicz, the liberal media in Canada has done a ‘very poor job’ of presenting evidence on the influence the homosexual lifestyle has on children. ‘Scientific data and negative personal experiences related to this issue that are obviously relevant — they’re ignored, they’re not discussed,’ she says.”

And what studies are these? I noticed that on her personal webpage, she recounts her life. It is pretty much the same story she repeated in the August 2005 American Family Association Journal.

But there is one difference.

Her American Family Association story contains endnotes and references to studies and columns by various so-called “pro family” groups and spokespeople including Family Research Council’s Timothy Dailey (debunked on this and other sites), Stephen Bennett, and our friend Paul Cameron.

The version of her personal story present on her webpage have the endnotes and references conveniently omitted.

I used to give Stefanowicz the benefit of the doubt, but the more I hear about this woman, the more I am beginning to doubt the veracity of her story.

And constantly repeating her story as a correct indication of life for children in same-sex households says more about the homophobia of Peter LaBarbera and others like him more than we ever can.

The day after the Oscars

Sorry y'all but the Monday blaaaahs have a hold on me and it's the day after the Oscars so I am going to desist from talking about the anti-gay industry (just for today) and focus on what I saw last night:

John Stewart rocked as host and I don't care what anyone says. Of course I say this because a good friend of mine (and a writer on the Daily Show) helped write his jokes.

Jonah Hill is hot. Seth Rogen is hot. So is Philip Seymour Hoffman. You boys can have Colin Farrell. I know what I like.

I love that Tilda Swinton won. She should have been nominated for The Deep End a couple of years ago. Of course it's obvious that she didn't think she was going to win. Geez girl, put on a better dress and make up.

Cate Blanchette seems to be having a fun time even though she has lost her last three nominations. Last year, she was looking at Jennifer Hudson with a smile on her face when her name was called. This year, she practically leaped out of her chair when Marion Collitard won. Now that's an Oscar fan.

So the best picture is about a guy pursued by a psychopath with a bad haircut. Hell that's my life when I used to go to the clubs.

If you look closely at the mass of bling that Nicole Kidman wore around her neck, you can almost make out the phrase, "who the hell is Tom Cruise anyway?"

This message is to Jennifer Garner: Girlfriend, mace is a good friend to have. Gary Busey scares even me. And I'm the one who thinks Jonah Hill is hot.

Where the hell are my Edith Piaf records!

How could they snub Whoopi Goldberg during the montage of Oscar hosts!!!!

If you all think of any others, let me know

Situation in Maryland is nothing new

Peter LaBarbera's exploitation of African-American history (see below) was something I just had to comment on. But the following is the post I wanted to do for today:

The situation regarding the anti-discrimination law in Maryland is nothing new. Those seeking a referendum of the law got enough signatures on their petition because they made the false claim that the law created a loophole for men and pedophiles to invade women's restrooms and locker rooms.

This is an old tactic by the anti-gay industry known as dire consequences, or claiming that a pro-gay law would lead to all sorts of negative consequences. Usually the anti-gay industry relies on hypothetical sitautions and relie mostly on the fears and prejudices of their audience. I thought for today, I would print an excerpt from my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, that talks in detail about this tactic:

One of the most effective tactics of the anti-gay industry is to claim that pro-gay laws will lead to “dire consequences.” They claim that laws created to protect gays and lesbians would either a: cause homosexuality to be “forced” on everyone, particularly children or b: cause those who supposedly speak out against homosexuality to be jailed. Possible coercion by an “aggressive homosexual lobby” is a constant theme in anti-gay industry data.

. . . so-called “pro-family” groups create the same illogical leap to form the same incorrect conclusions. They claim that pro-gay laws would lead to all sorts of bad consequences. Then they list some of the most extreme examples of what could happen while not giving any evidence as to how the hypothetical events would take place.

For example:

“Few public officials and businessmen realize that when they allow the addition of ‘sexual orientation’ to their nondiscrimination codes, they are tying their own hands when it comes to objecting to:

A man in a highly visible sales job coming to work in a dress and high heels;

A woman in a highly visible position coming to work in men’s clothes;

A person of indeterminate sex who insists on using either the men’s room or the women’s room;

A person of either sex who indulges a taste for extreme sexual promiscuity and pornography during working hours despite being charged with representing the company’s tone and character;

A man who frequents prostitutes while on business trips and claims that it is none of the company’s business, regardless of the company’s public image.”—Why Nashville Should Reject the ‘Sexual Orientation’ Law, Robert Knight, Concerned Women for America, March 4, 2003

Knights’ replacement in Concerned Women for America, Matt Barber, made the same claims about the Employee Non-Discrimination Act in 2007:

“Imagine, if you will, a 280 lb linebacker who likes to wear a dress and high heels and lipstick, you know comes to church wanting a job at the front desk as a receptionist and they turn him away because they don’t feel that that represents their values or the image that they’re trying to hold at that church, under ENDA they could be held accountable for discrimination against that individual.”

The anti-gay industry also use the “dire consequences” claim in efforts to kill hate crimes legislation.

Hate crimes legislation already exists. It covers crimes based on race and religion. So-called “pro-family” groups have not expressed disagreements with these laws. They only have a problem with sexual orientation being added to the categories.

In December 2005, 20 so-called “pro-family” groups ran an ad in major newspapers claiming that hate crimes legislation places more importance on gays than those who call themselves “ex-gay.”


Playing up the slavery angle

Our friend Peter LaBarbera continues to attempt to milk the Creating Change conference:

Pastor Ken Hutcherson Calls on DNC to ‘Demand Its Money Back’ from ‘Gay’ Group that Honored S&M Slavery Advocate

“This is Dr. Kenneth Hutcherson responding to a donation made by the Democratic National Committee to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. I first heard from my good friend and fellow conservative, Rush Limbaugh that this had taken place. This has been confirmed by Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth. These are two sources that I trust and believe.

“The DNC gave at least $2,500 to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force so they could award Guy Baldwin, an advocate of sadomasochism and “consensual slavery.”

“As an African American leader and Pastor, I insist the DNC demand its money back. How can the DNC say they stand for African Americans and at the same time support a perversion that belittles and makes a mockery of our suffering under slavery?

“We must make sure we stand against all forms of tyranny and call out anyone who supports this agenda.”

So Peter is trying to push a "how dare the DNC promote something about slavery during Black History Month" angle.

Since when did Peter care about African-Americans. I know he doesn't give a care for African-American lgbts.

Now Hutcherson may be a black pastor but he has a reputation for egotism. This trait leads him to go off half cocked and make outrageous comments, many of which have been chronicled (with much amusement) here.

It was cute at first but his act is wearing thin.

And the inanity of this attempt by Peter doesn't exactly give Hutcherson any credibility. Nor does it help Peter.

Double standard? You got that right

I like to read One News Now because it is one of the best examples of anti-gay propaganda.

It pretends to be a Christian new source, but under the cover of religion, it prints biased and one-sided articles that generally portrays lgbts as predators and such.

But today, something caught my eye:

Attorney: Legal system favors female sexual predators

The lenient sentence handed down to a female teacher who sexually abused five male students is proof of a double standard in America's legal system, says prominent pro-family attorney Pat Trueman.

Allena Ward, 24, of Laurens, South Carolina, was sentenced this week to six years in prison after she admitted to having sex with five of her teenage students. "I wish healing for each person affected by my carelessness. And I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies to these young men," Ward apologizes.

But Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, says Ward's crimes were not the result of "carelessness" but the conscious choices of a sexual predator. Her victims were children, he says, not "young men." And, he adds, things would have been different if Ward had been male and her victims had been girls . . .

What was interesting about this article was what it did not contain. There were no quotes from Peter LaBarbera or Matt Barber or any of the so-called critics of culture.

If the situation had something to do with a man molesting a male child or a female molesting a female child, the article would have been filled with junk science about how gays are most likely to molest children.

I even suspect our friend, Paul Cameron would be cited.

Really, anyone molesting a child is a criminal. But apparently in the eyes of One News Now, a person molesting a same-sex child deserves a special designation as a "homosexual" (even though such is generally not the case). And the article must be an inference as to how "evil" homosexuality is.

But if a woman molests a male child, then attention must be paid to the individual criminal rather than the orientation of the criminal.

How very "fair." (yes that is sarcasm)

The success of a lie

They say that a lie can travel around the world before the truth has time to put its shoes on.

This is very true in Maryland at the moment.

Apparently fear stories of men invading women's restrooms and hoaxes involving men in women's gym locker rooms have their uses.

Opponents of allowing the county's an anti-discrimination law to include transgendered people have turned more than 28,000 signatures into the Board of Elections to bring the legislation up to a vote by county residents.

The group, Citizens for Responsible Government, formed after the County Council passed the legislation last year, needed 5 percent, or 25,001 valid signatures for the referendum in the November balloting.

So if enough signatures are valid, there will be a referendum this November regarding the appeal of the anti-discrimination laws.

Now the way Citizens for Responsible Government went about gathering signatures was just wrong.

I talked about it before and it bears repeating. They told people the law actually allows men to invade women's locker rooms and rest rooms.

I am not kidding. I saw a news program where Lisa Gundling, woman gathering signatures, was interviewed. She actually told the interviewer that the law would allow men to enter women's rest rooms. She even actually said that the men don't have to go to any trouble of dressing up like women.

Don't believe me? Check out this link.

Also, from what I understand, the group was allegedly helped by pastors who told their congregations that the new law would lead to men invading women's restrooms. And to top it all off, it is possible that they staged a hoax involving a man dressed in women's attire going into a local gym's ladies locker room.

Talk about pulling out all of the stops. Very Machiavellian but not very Christian.

I really don't think that any of the people collecting signatures actually believe their own hogwash. Bear in mind that this group began with challenging the area schools' sex education curriculum.

They won at first but then proceeded to be stymied with every attempt to stop the new curriculum from being taught. And with every attempt, the group gave a new and faulty reasoning why the curriculum shouldn't be taught.

With their fight against the anti-discrimination law, they relied on the classic but still effective "this law endangers us all, especially children."

That's right. In many of their pleas, they actually said that the law endangers children.

What they did was to read the law, looking for a loophole. And when they found one, small one that it was, they distorted its implications as much as they could:

The County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) approved the law after removing a contentious amendment that would have also regulated areas like bathrooms and locker rooms. Without the amendment, operators of those facilities would retain authority on who uses them.

But opponents, such as CRG - which initially argued against the bathroom provision - still argue that the law is too vague.

Without question, this group has received help from national anti-gay industry groups. I recognize the anti-gay industry tactic of "dire consequences," i.e. claiming that a law protecting lgbts will lead to negative consequences for the entire community without giving proof as to how.
There is one group fighting their nonsense. And I wish them all of the luck.

One thing about truth: when it finally arrives, it takes care of the situation.

CRG and its supporters would do well to remember that.

You can only lie for so long before it bites you in the ass.

Tuesday blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahs

I hate the Tuesday after a three-day weekend holiday.

They always feel like Mondays.

A couple of things today:

Connecticut state legislator comes out, becomes nation’s first LGBT African American state legislator

Connecticut State Rep. Jason Bartlett publicly came out today during a meeting with The News-Times. The announcement makes Bartlett the nation’s first and only openly LGBT African American state legislator.

Bartlett, a Democrat, claims that he has been open about his sexuality with his family, but decided that now was the right time to make it public.

“For me the decision came down to why not now,” he told the paper. “To me this is about having a conversation with my larger family - the people of Greater Danbury who voted for me.”

Bartlett said rumors about his sexual orientation had circulated during past political campaigns.

That is the good news. The bad news? Watch how the mainstream African-American media and possibly members of the mainstream gay community fall over themselves to ignore him.

I guess Flava Flav and Bobby Trendy are so much more better role models.

I told you I hated the Tuesday after three-day weekend holidays.

Ken Hutcherson, who never met a self-aggrandizement he didn't like is attacking a high school GSA.

This is resulting from and incident that took place when he was invited to his daughter's high school to speak on Black History Month. Now one teacher may have acted irresponsibly (by booing him), but I am totally in the corner of another teacher who questioned him on his statements about lgbts.

The teacher was totally in the right to do this. Some may disagree but that is how I stand on the issue.

Long story short, this has blown over into a huge incident, exacerbated by a poster advertising the school's GSA.

Hutcherson has gone on record calling the GSA a "sex club."

And naturally, that "fair and objective news source," One News Now has gone out of its way to not only defend his nonsense but give him a platform (that naturally does not include questions and statements from folks who disagree) to spout his nonsense.

But all is not lost. A group of concerned parents have gotten together and formed this site (you can read the One News Now article (biased editorial) there.

I wish them all of the luck. And I think Hutcherson may help them. He tends to shoot from the hip.

And shots from the hip tend to miss their target but cause a whole lot of trouble.

Meanwhile, how many more of our lgbt children are going to suffer.

I don't want to go into detail about what happened in California because I don't think that I can add more to what others have been saying.

All I am going to do is pray for guidance, control, and intelligence for us all.

An adendum to the Foreman Barber nonsense

Other than to their own choirs, the claim the Foreman "admitted" that HIV was a gay disease is really not a blessed news item for the anti-gay industry.

But there was something that I wanted to briefly mention about it.

I noticed how all of the right-wing press releases are saying that Foreman's statements "left people in shock" or "stunned gay activists."

That is not true. Please notice how these folks are using hyperbole to further their agenda.

As far as I know, no one was left stunned or speechless by Foreman's comments.

I guess to Barber and company, hyperbole beats out truth. And I am sure that they will knowingly use the same deceptive language when mistating Foreman's comments in the future.

Just wanted to make that short comment there.

Same nonsense, same desperation - stigmatizing a community

"Today, right now, more than 45 percent of African-American gay and bi men in key urban areas are infected with HIV, with a 33 percent increase in new diagnoses among our brothers under age 30 over the past six years. Today, right now, African Americans are nearly 10 times more likely than white people to be diagnosed with AIDS.

The response — internal to our community and external — is appallingly racist. Internally, when these numbers come out, the “established” gay community seems to have a collective shrug as if this isn’t our problem. Folks, with 70 percent of the people in this country living with HIV being gay or bi, we cannot deny that HIV is a gay disease. We have to own that and face up to that.

Even more disgusting is the response of our government. Of the 129 interventions developed and approved by the CDC to address HIV in the African-American community, only one has been designed for gay black men. Twenty-six years into the epidemic and only one out of 129 addresses the group of people most affected by HIV. And, on top of that, funding for meaningful and honest prevention programs has been systematically excised from the federal budget. If these things don’t prove that our government considers the lives of gay black men utterly expendable, I don’t know what does." - Matt Foreman, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

I don't have to tell anyone what happened next. It's an old script and I have seen it continuously:
WASHINGTON: Top 'Gay' Organization Comes Clean: 'HIV is a Gay Disease'

AFA-Michigan, AFTAH Welcome Gay Task Force Admission: ‘HIV Is a Gay Disease’

Amazingly, neither article bothered to ask Foreman to clarify what he meant. They just took his comments and ran with them, as are some folks cited in the articles:

Matt Barber addressed Foreman's admission: "It's extremely encouraging to see Matt Foreman, a homosexual activist who has for so long been in denial about the dangers of the lifestyle he has promoted, publicly coming to terms with the undeniable perils of that lifestyle."I only hope he will now stop promoting homosexual conduct and push for other liberal elites, especially those running our public schools, to do the same. Educators must truthfully address the 'gay' lifestyle's potentially deadly consequences.

And I see that Barber continues to push the MRSA infection line, even though he has been proven wrong by the authors of the study and the CDC.

There is a difference between what Foreman said and what his words are being twisted to mean.
Yes the lgbt community must take responsibility to fight HIV and AIDS. We must view it as a "gay disease" just as other communities affected by it (i.e. the African-American community) must also own the disease. When there is a problem addressing a disease in a community, the community must take steps to fight it, including admitting there is a problem.

What Foreman said is no different than what Phil Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, wrote in this brilliant piece, part of which reads:

There are many reasons why we are so disproportionately impacted by AIDS. But, chief among them is that we've not taken ownership of the AIDS epidemic and responsibility for ending it. Many of us continue to believe that AIDS is someone else's problem. Even as our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, get infected with HIV, develop AIDS and die.

I get the sister from the Black Philanthropy conference's concern about stigma and image. But we can't be more concerned about 'our image' than we are about our lives. Having a raging epidemic run through our community unchecked is actually the last thing we need.

Wanting something to not be so is not the same as it really not being so or doing something about it. AIDS in America today is a Black disease ... unless we do something about it.

Or when Julian Bond said the following:

It is time for the African-American community "to face the fact that AIDS has become a black disease" and find ways to defeat it, the chairman of the NAACP said at the international AIDS summit.

The difference is no one thinks that it is allowable to use the words of Wilson and Bond to attack the African-American community as "unclean:"

Matt Barber addressed (Wilson and Bond's) admission: "It's extremely encouraging to see (Wilson and Bond), two black activists who has for so long been in denial about the dangers of the lifestyle they have promoted, publicly coming to terms with the undeniable perils of that lifestyle."I only hope they will now stop promoting black conduct and push for other liberal elites, especially those running our public schools, to do the same. Educators must truthfully address the 'black' lifestyle's potentially deadly consequences.

Gets you angry, don't it? It should. Stigmatizing communities for the spread of disease is wrong, no matter what community it is.

However, when Foreman made his statement, the prejudices came out in full blaze. There is one main reason why lgbts are affected by HIV and that is because of stigma. And when a gay leader's words on how the community can fight HIV is twisted in order to declare war on the very things that can stop the disease (i.e. more education in our nation's schools regarding sex education and sexual orientation) is creating stigma with a capital "S."

When a gay leader's words are twisted to infer that the lgbt community are "unclean," the stigma which plays a huge role into increasing HIV rates continues.

The bottom line is that HIV affects us all. And as with all negative things affecting the human condition, the communities which do not have as much access to information is affected. And it does not help matters to exploit statements to push forth propaganda and distortions.

To use what Foreman said do this is irresponsible and ugly.

But it is what I have come to expect from members of the anti-gay industry.

A little ranting and raving never hurt anyone

Nothing specific to report on today. Of course there are a lot of things happening and my fellow bloggers are covering them.

I am in a ranting mood today.

It's nothing you haven't heard before but I want to put things in perspective yet again.

It always amazes me how the anti-gay industry omits the fact that lgbts are raising children and that lgbt children exist. Sometimes this intentional omission gets downright infuriating.

Yes, I said intentional.

I am of the belief that when folks like Peter LaBarbera, Matt Barber, Janet Folger, and the rest sit down to write their press releases and work on their verbal talking points, they aren't looking to relate truth.

They are looking to relate fear and ignorance. And what better way than to consistently push the lie that lgbts are outside the mainstream of America and that we have no love of the simple things like decency and family.

Through their words and deeds, these folks push the lie that the lgbt orientation is not indigent of who we are, but what dirty, filthy, irresponsible sex acts they claim that we partake of.

In pursuit of this lie, they won't even acknowledge our families. And if we even dared to seek acknowledgement for our families (i.e. participating in the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt) then we accused of exploiting our children.

Personally I feel that the anti-gay industry and whomever supports them can have whatever opinion they want about lgbts, our children, and our families. But the facts don't bear those opinions out.

The truth is that there are many lgbt led homes and these homes are doing very well.

And more to the point, for every one person (i.e. Michael Glatze, Charlene Cothran, Stephen Bennett) that Dobson and company can claim "freely walked away from homosexuality," we can produce at least 10 (Barney Frank, Mandy Carter, Lance Bass, Melissa Etheridge, Ellen DeGeneres, Matt Foreman, Bayard Rustin, Barbara Jordan, Keith Boykin, Pam Spaulding, Nadine Smith, etc. etc.) who not only embrace their lgbt orientation, but have been instrumental in changing the world for the better.

This "cultural battle" goes beyond laws and personal opinion. The anti-gay industry deals in lies and deception masked behind religious beliefs in order to semantically force lgbts into spiritual bondage.

To them, we the self-hating disease ridden hedonist seeking physical release in our nation's bathrooms, we are the gender confused man wearing a mini skirt and five o'clock shadow, we are the lonely man-hating overweight lesbian with a roll of socks stuffed down her pants.

And to them, we don't have a right to seek a better and more truthful personification of ourselves.

As they attempt to covertly push this image, they simultaneously try to stop laws that would allow us to thrive beyond these stereotypes while claiming that they don't "hate us, but what we do."

Well I don't like the anti-gay industry because of what they do. It's one thing to believe that homosexuality is a sin and that the lgbt orientation brings nothing but sadness, but to try and quantify this lie through deception and propaganda is not only wrong . . .

But very anti-Christian.

Liars and hypocrites don't fade away . . . they just wrap themselves up in religion

I know I shouldn't mention you know who, but what can one do when he makes it so easy almost every day.

Our friend Peter LaBarbera is back attacking the so-called transgender menace:

WATCH IT: Tranny Insanity at CNN — No Other Side on 8-Year-old Boy Gender Confusion Story

It is simply mind-boggling that CNN chose not to include another viewpoint on this story about the Colorado elementary school encouraging gender-confusion in an eight-year-old (biological) male student who thinks he’s really a girl. (Click HERE for the One News Now story citing AFTAH on this.) You will note that CNN interviews only the parent of another gender-confused child — a girl whom the mother refers to as “he” on the CNN video.

Now the thing that stands out in this piece is Peter's hypocrisy.

Apparently he is okay with being able to appear on Hannity and Colmes by his lonesome while attacking the lgbt community

But now he is calling for fairness.

Talk about your hypocrites.

And unfortunately, Matt Barber has not left Concerned Women for America.

But he is getting pathetic. On the conservative Town Hall site, he has published a ridiculous tome, Unmasking the Gay Agenda.

I don't think I need to tell you all what he says. It's the usual "gays are planning to take over" nonsense backed up the usual suspects of distortions employed by the anti-gay industry:

1. In Their Own Words

What you are about to read is just a quick, though disturbing, glance behind the homosexual lobby’s lavender curtain.

Below are two of the central demands put forth by homosexual activists in their “1972 Gay Rights Platform”:

I am not even going to repeat these so-called list of demands. But the fact that Barber mentioned them is lunacy on his part. I have never heard of these list of demands, except on anti-gay industry sites. I think that it is farfetched to claim that lgbt organizations, activists, and bloggers are using these list of demands, especially seeing that they are over 30 years old.

Wait a minute . . .

I do remember that in a recreation of what Hamilcar Barca did to his son, the famous Carthiginian Hannibal (look it up), I was forced in 1973 to lay my one-year-old hand on a copy of Joan Crawford poster and swear that I would do all I can to promote the 1972 platform.

Then it was repressed in my mind until I could become of age.

That was sarcasm, folks. And based on how the anti-gay industry jumps on almost every word that lgbts say to smear us, I feel that it was necessary to say that.

Otherwise the headline to tomorrow's edition of World Net Daily would read:

HOMOSEXUALS PUT REPRESSED SUGGESTIONS IN THE MIND OF THEIR YOUTH

Of course Barber does not provide proof that lgbt organizations, activists, and bloggers are pushing the demands of the 1972 platform. What he does is distort actual events (i.e. schools teaching correct information regarding sex education) to claim that this platform is being pushed.

2. In their manuscript, After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90’s (1989, Doubleday/Bantam), Harvard educated marketing experts Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen meticulously laid out the homosexual lobby’s blueprint for success in what is widely regarded as the handbook for the “gay” agenda.

Here we go again with that book. In 1989, Kirk and Madsen published a book giving their opinions on how lgbts can achieve equality. Since that time, anti-gay industry groups have inferred that almost lgbt activist carry a copy of this book in our hip pockets.

This is a blatant lie. While the book does present excellent ideas, there have never been any meetings or planning sessions around making the ideas of the book a reality.

This is in total contrast as to what happens when the anti-gay industry develops talking points on lgbt issues. The following nonsense do have roots in planning sessions:

Children have a right to a mother and father,

We must protect the union of marriage from unelected judges,

People with "deeply held religious beliefs" will be forced to compromise these beliefs if ENDA is passed.

In mentioning the so-called 1972 Gay Platform and the book by Kirk and Madsen, Barber is employing a very effective anti-gay industry tactic - Conspiracy Theory,

The Conspiracy Theory tactic is taking unrelated events and weaving them together as proof of a conspiracy. The idea of a conspiracy is not based upon any actual proof but by the fears and the prejudices of the audience one is addressing.

If Barber is looking for insidious plotting, he is best served in taking good notes in a future planning session of his group, Concerned Women for America.

3. The push for federal “hate crimes” legislation is another activist tool intended to silence traditional views on human sexuality and sexual morality. Similar laws have already been used around the world, and even right here at home, to persecute Christians and other traditionalists. For example, in 2004, 11 Christians were arrested in Philadelphia and charged with a “hate crime” for merely preaching the Bible at a public homosexual street festival. They could have served up to 47 years in prison.

Talk about your blatant lies. As my post from yesterday clearly said, these 11 "Christians" were not just "merely preaching the Bible at a public homosexual street festival." And the sad thing is that I'm sure that Barber was fully aware of the truth when he sat down to write his column.

Yesterday, I called Matt Barber the William Hung of the anti-gay industry.

Today, I only have two words:

She-bang! She-bang!

Important - Look what happened today -- we win again!!!!

Please check out today's first post about Repent America. This new post just came in a few minutes ago:

Breaking - Judge OKs limits on student speech in Poway case

By: North County Times

SAN DIEGO ---- A federal judge ruled Tuesday in a lawsuit against the Poway Unified School District that school officials can restrict student speech that expresses "damaging statements about sexual orientation" and can limit students to stating their views "in a positive manner."

U.S. District Judge John Houston reached that conclusion in a 12-page decision that affirmed a similar ruling he made a year ago. In January 2007, Houston granted the school district's request for a judgment in its favor on the legal claims Kelsie Harper, 16 at the time, raised in the lawsuit, and dismissed Tyler Chase Harper, 18 at the time, from the case.

The elder Harper, who goes by his middle name, alleged in the federal lawsuit that the district and school officials violated his constitutional rights in their response to him wearing a T-shirt to school in 2004 that said "Homosexuality is shameful. Romans 1:27."

Kelsie Harper was added to the lawsuit later, alleging that she wanted to express an identical message through her speech or clothing, but was prevented from doing so because of school policies.

Court documents stated Chase Harper was sent to the principal's office after he refused to comply with a teacher's directions to remove the shirt. He had to remain in a conference room at the school office, where he did his homework until the end of the day because he would not remove the shirt, court documents stated.

The district argued in court documents that school officials reasonably believed the T-shirt could cause a disruption among students and violated the rights of students and employees to be free from harassment because of sexual orientation.

Chase Harper was dismissed from the lawsuit because he already has graduated from Poway High School.

Attorneys for the Harpers asked Houston to reconsider his ruling from last year because the U.S. Supreme Court set aside an appeals court decision upon which Houston relied in making the earlier ruling.

The school district's attorneys urged Houston to apply a U.S. Supreme Court decision in an unrelated student speech case to the Harper case. The nation's highest court ruled last year that school officials can restrict student speech that can be interpreted as advocating the use of illegal drugs.

Houston wrote that the legal reasoning from that case supported a conclusion that the Harpers' speech "may properly be restricted by school officials if it is considered harmful."

The district properly restricted the "negative speech" on Harper's T-shirt for the legitimate educational concern of "promoting tolerance and respect for differences among students," Houston wrote.

What ugly day - Repent America needs to disappear

This Tuesday has been a drag.

My mother got her stitches from her broken ankle removed and I woke up to a possibly ear infection.

And damn, one of the most annoying bits of anti-gay industry propaganda makes yet another appearance via that bastion of fairness (eyes rolling) One News Now:

Eleven Christians arrested for expressing their beliefs publicly during a so-called "gay pride" festival in Philadelphia several years ago were in court Monday, seeking to have their lawsuit against the city reinstated.

The 11 individuals were arrested in 2004 at Philadelphia's "OutFest," a pro-homosexual event held on public property. The Christian activists were charged with various crimes for quoting scriptures while walking on a public street set aside for the event. Charges were dropped almost immediately against all but five of the Christians, and those five were later found not guilty of all charges.

According to attorney Joseph Infranco, those actions paved the way for a civil suit against the City of Philadelphia and the OutFest participants, claiming that his clients suffered constitutional harm as a result and arguing no one else should be subjected to such actions. "So this is a civil suit now, to make them accountable for their actions -- and filing those criminal charges was part of that," he adds.

The article goes on to make it seem (yet again) that the Repent America controversy was a case of Christians unfairly arrested for preaching the gospel.

For probably the one millionth time (okay it's an exaggeration), let's show the truth of the controversy via People for the American Way:

The story as told by Repent America and other Religious Right groups – most recently in two videotaped ads by grandmothers who participated in the Repent America protest against the festival – is that people were arrested merely for “sharing the gospel” on public property. The arrest of the protestors and subsequent charges against them on several counts – some under Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law – is, in the mythology of Repent America, proof that the goal of gay rights activists in general, and hate crimes laws in particular, is to outlaw the gospel.

The kernel of truth at the bottom of the propaganda pile is that the two grandmothers and others were in fact arrested while protesting Philadelphia’s OutFest, and a local prosecutor did charge them with violations of several laws, including the state’s hate crimes law.

But none of those charges were for “sharing the gospel.” Repent America doesn’t mention that a federal court later found that the women “insulted individual attendees, blocked access to vendors, and disobeyed direct orders from the police, who were trying to preserve order and keep the peace.” The police arrested the protesters only after “their presence disrupted public order.” Unlike the organizers of OutFest, Repent America leaders failed to obtain a permit from the city. The city and the police gave the women great leeway, but they still overstepped the bounds of peaceful protest.

It gets tiring at times to ask this but why do some people think that it is okay to lie in the name of God?

But it wasn't all a bad day. According to Jeremy via goodasyou.org, Matt Barber may be suffering because of the MRSA situation.

It has not been verified as truth as of yet, but it would be nice to see Barber reprimanded, even if it means a short "vacation" from the public eye.

Let's face facts: the MRSA situation proved that Matt Barber was out of his league. He was and is a religious right version of William Hung.

And his notoriety should have been up about 14 minutes and 30 seconds ago.

It's not all about you know who - - Let's not forget our children

So that I don't get Peter LaBarbera'ed out and you all don't get tired me talking about him, I want to direct attention to another subject: our children.

It's no secret that lgbts are coming out at a younger age. Personally, I applaud their boldness. I also applaud the fact that they are not settling for being pushed in the background of their age groups and being seen as loner oddballs.

These children are starting GSAs all over the country and they should be supported. There are a lot of intentional misconceptions regarding GSAs. I know I am preaching to the choir when I say that these are not sex clubs, but places where our lgbt children can get support so that they make intelligent decisions regarding sex and all.

I said all of this to spotlight the following:

DeLand High club 'singularly important' for gay students

By EILEEN ZAFFIRO
Staff Writer

DELAND -- One boy whose hair reaches halfway down his back wore a camouflage tank top, light blue nail polish, blue eye shadow and a thick silver chain around his neck.

Another boy with a hint of a Marilyn Manson look donned bracelets, a ring and jet black nail polish that matched his ebony hair.

A girl sported blue and purple hair, striped leggings, a red plaid skirt and a T-shirt with pastel-colored hearts.

It was the weekly gathering of DeLand High School's Gay Straight Alliance, and a girl that probably would have blended in better playing flute in the band or running laps at track practice was so overcome with emotion she burst into tears.

"This is like the first time I ever felt welcome at anything," she sobbed as she blotted her eyes with a tissue. "I know I look like the redneck or preppie girl. That's just classification. My whole life I've been dealing with this. I always feel like the black sheep, even in my family. You guys just accepted me. You make me feel so welcome."

Another girl in the room sighed, "Oh, group hug," and within seconds teenage arms hugged away the tears and the kids offered a compassionate ear and advice only they knew how to give.

The article goes on and is really good. BUT to me, a crucial part of the story are the comments made about the article.

There are many ignorant people in the world as some of the comments demonstrate. But at the same time, there are many who support our children.

Feel free to read and add your support to the GSA.

Peggy Lee said it best: Is that all there is?

Our friend Peter LaBarbera just won't let it go.

In my last post, I talked (on this site also) about how he (with help from Rush Limbaugh) took an award to be given at the Creating Change conference and exaggerated it to the point of lunacy.

At first, the two tried to link the conference (and the Democratic National Convention) to sadomaschism due to the ties of one of the honorees.

Today it seems, his aspirations have gone down.

Peter is no longer linking sadomaschism to the DNC. He just has a clip of Guy Baldwin accepting his award.

Of course I also noticed that while Peter bragged earlier on the fact that Limbaugh talked about his "discovery," he did not link to Limbaugh's article.

Could it be because Limbaugh straight out lied and said the Creating Change conference was an S&M event sponsored by the DNC?

Who knows. Either, I am unimpressed.

Damn Peter, you must be slipping.

Well that didn't last long - Distorting the Creating Change conference

Truer words were never spoken.

Leave it to the anti-gay industry to wake me up.

Our friend Peter LaBarbera, in attempting to make everyone forget his huge faux pas about the MRSA infection, is on another kick.

This time, he is railing against the Creating Change event put on the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

And knowing Peter, he is taking the "sadomachistic angle:"

Well, folks, the Party of Perversion is at it again. This time the DNC (Democratic National Committee) — as a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s(NGLFT) “Leadership Council” (Advocate’s Circle) — gave at least $2,500 to the Task Force, whose “Creating Change” conference in Detroit is presenting its “Leather Leadership Award” to Guy Baldwin, an advocate of “erotic” and “consensual slavery.” How sick is that?

Please note the fact that while Peter whines about being called "Porno Pete," he has no problems throwing out ugly names.

And apparently, he is proud that Rush Limbaugh is talking about "his discovery." Here is what Rush Limbaugh is saying:

DNC Sponsors S&M Event

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is holding its annual 'Creating Change' conference in Detroit this week. Its sponsors claim to have trained more than 30,000 activists since 1988. Peter LaBarbera with Americans for Truth About Homosexuality has reported on the event in the past. The event's handbook even addresses 'transgender restroom etiquette.'" The Democrat Party is endorsing this event where they will be presenting an award, this is in Detroit, the Creating Change Conference, they will be presenting an award for sadomasochism. "A sponsorship acknowledgement notes that the Democratic National Committee gave at least $2,500 to help pay for the event. The recipient of the 'Leather Leadership Award' is Guy Baldwin."

Of course this is going to elicit an interesting dialogue about certain facets of the lgbt community and such. Already some is happening here.

But here is the thing I am concerned about:

Rush Limbaugh and Peter is distorting the story. The Democratic National Convention is not hosting an S&M event. The Creating Change conference is NOT a sadomaschistic event.

Creating Change is the one and only time each year that more than 2,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates from every corner of the country converge to strategize, socialize and mobilize for LGBT equality.It features top-level trainings, workshops, networking sessions and action-planning with our movement’s best thinkers and brightest innovators — oh yeah, there’s also tons of opportunities for socializing, meeting up with old friends and making lots of new ones.

In the grand scheme of things, the Creating Change conference is no different than that ridiculous gathering where they booed John McCain yesterday. Nor is it different from "Justice Sunday" or any other event where people gather and strategize.

Peter, Rush Limbaugh, and maybe others are taking one possibly objectionable action (i.e. giving an award to Guy Baldwin) and trying create an ugly controversy

Now whether or not it is advisable to give an award to Guy Baldwin would be an interesting discussion and frankly I would like to hear both sides rather than insane caterwauling by Peter and Rush and hasty reactions to this caterwauling.

After all, other folks are being honored:

Barbara Satin will receive the Allan Morrow Community Service Award, for outstanding leadership and advocacy in aging and elder concerns.

Mandy Carter will receive the Susan J. Hyde Activism Award for longevity in the movement. (And I have a personal happiness over this. I know Mandy Carter and she is one of my mentors. She deserves every honor she receives.)

Mia Mingus, a reproductive rights activist, will also be honored with the Creating Change

Jon Stryker, founder and president of the Arcus Foundation, will receive the Creating Change Award...Arcus is a private foundation that supports groups advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights and groups working globally to promote great ape conservation.

I repeat, whether or not Baldwin deserves an award is a good discussion. But please let's not get so caught up in the discussion that we don't recognize Peter's tactics. They are same ones he used to brand all lgbts via the MRSA infection. Remember in that case, he took a portion of a study and used it try and link the infection to lgbts and HIV:

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

In this case, he is taking a debatable award and trying to use it to negatively brand a very good conference and all lgbts in general:

And if he has to backtrack, he will probably create a straw man argument in this case just as he did in the case of the MRSA infection.

I can see it now:

I did not try to say that people would be having sadomachistic sex during the awards banquet, I was merely pointing out that they were giving an award to Guy Baldwin.

Peter's exploits just reinforces my belief that he is a generous person.

The more he opens his mouth, the more he gives away his ignorance.

Bad timing for writer's block

Unbelievable. Or maybe I am just tired.

I was supposed to be posting my black history month column yesterday but I haven't even put it to paper yet.

I am basically tired and it's the worst time for it. This election is promising to be very interesting (i.e. Dobson endorsing Huckabee, "suicide voters?," McCain catching hell) and I am too pooped to do anything.

Bear with my y'all and don't stop reading. I will be over it by this weekend.

Knowing our friends in the anti-gay industry, they will do something extraordinarily stupid that will shake the weariness off of me.