Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Friday, April 09, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - The Children's Hour

A controversial play Lillian Hellman became a controversial movie in 1961, The Children's Hour.

Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine portray the owners of a private school for girls in New England. One of the girls (Karen Milkin) is a hateful little monster who is punished when she is caught in a lie. So she tells a bigger lie to her aunt (Fay Bainter), a wealthy and prominent member of the community, that the two women are lesbians and that she saw them kissing.

The blowback is ugly as Hepburn and MacLaine lose everything and the community shuns them. And it gets worse for MacLaine as this heartbreaking scene shows.

It's an ugly way for someone to come to grips with their God-given sexual orientation and a hard scene to watch. By the way, the child's lie is discovered, but does it even make a difference?

Peter LaBarbera stoops to personal attacks instead of refuting ENDA and other Friday midday news briefs

Attacks like this one on Autumn will lead to Pete's Fall - Instead of presenting facts about ENDA, Peter LaBarbera stoops to nasty verbal attacks against individual personalities. And he wonders why his site was chosen as an anti-gay hate site by the Southern Povery Law Center.

Your Take: Why We Need Anti-Bullying Legislation - An excellent editorial

CNN’s Kyra Phillips apologizes for hosting discredited ‘ex-gay’ guest: He wasn’t an ‘appropriate’ choice - No $#@!

Governor helps agency that lost money over gay marriage - Nice to see a Governor helping his constituents instead of himself.

Facebook Fan Page Reinstated - Talk about your kinda interesting stories.

Words of love? - A reposting

On this lazy Friday, I thought it would be apropo to repost a piece I wrote in November:

This so-called cultural war is all about perception. Those who are on the front lines of opposing lgbt equality like to claim that their position is either religion-based or based upon love.

Their position based upon ignorance and hate. We know this. The only problem is conveying that sentiment to the population.

So, I've decided to remind everyone of 10 statements which I think encompass the actual mindsets of various religious right groups and personalities

As we relax on Sunday, go to church, or watch football, let's take a trip down memory lane (but watch where we step so we don't get it on our shoes) to remind everyone (ourselves included) of the lovely statements and comments of those who purport to be on the "correct" side of this so-called cultural war.

10. Linda Harvey - the former advertising executive who "found Jesus" and founded the religious right group Mission America. Subsequently this supposedly entitles her to become an "expert" of all things regarding the lgbt community. It allows her to say the following mess:

When people have views supporting homosexuality, they should not be involved with youth in any way, period. Here’s why:
• They will provide inaccurate, misleading information to kids;
• They may limit a student’s opportunity to hear warnings about the behavior;
• They may advocate or model inappropriate behavior;
• They may be directly involved in the molestation of kids themselves; or
• They may be in a position to allow others to do so. - Fairy Tales Don't Come True: Impressionable Kids and Homosexuality

9. Kevin McCullough - conservative columnist, leader of the so-called "Musclehead Revolution" and an all-around strange character who feels that since he is a man who has fathered a son whose skin is darker than the average African American (his exact words), he can tell the black community just how "evil" Obama is.

Hush up y'all about how "right" McCullough may be about Obama. The point is that his ridiculous comments about the President falls in line with the absolutely inane things he has said about the lgbt community in 2003:

The "alphas" in homosexual relationships, be they men or women, are many times recruiting younger partners. A vast percentage of those who enter the homosexual life do so after having been sexually initiated by an older person of their sex – be it consensual or not – it usually has the feel of enticement or seduction. - The 'gay' truth

8. Guy Adams - Rounding out the lower echeleon list of anti-gay nobodies is this mean looking fellow, Guy Adams. If you are not familiar with him there is a reason for that. In 2006, the one-time bodyguard of Alan Keyes said probably the most ugly, rudest thing ever about lgbts. It was so nasty that I don't think that Peter LaBarbera or Matt Barber at their most logically gymnastic could defend it:

The newest thing in Chicago, it's becoming a trend—and you're going to find this hard to believe—sex with infants. It's not enough that they have—you know, when you engage in perversion, and homosexuality is perversion—we don't hate the gays mind you, we don't hate them, we hate what they're doing—pretty soon that perversion is like addiction, it's not enough, so you need to graduate to something else. You need to move on. So now they're having sex with animals, a small group that's getting bigger, sex with infants, sex in the street in Chicago out in the open—it's just getting more and more perverted. So, I just don’t believe that there are a lot of really, really good gays.

After this comment, Adams has since retreated into his cocoon of crazy and I haven't heard from him since.

7. Ken Hutcherson - Of course this list must be multi-racial because ignorant, homophobic comments are like diseases; they know no color, gender, or religion. And who better to put in this list than perennial Microsoft stock threatener Ken Hutcherson. Hutcherson has never met a self-aggrandizing comment that he didn't like.

But the one thing he does not like are polite men because polite men are not macho:

"If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I'd rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end."

Supposedly it was a joke. But Hutcherson comes across as funny as "the itch." And his comments take a deeper resonance when one remembers his past protests against GLSEN's Day of Silence.

6. Chris Buttars - This lovely Utah representative who looks as if he has a low tolerance for gassy people doesn't necessarily like lgbts. But the folks in Utah seem to like him because they keep electing him to office. Maybe some folks like to hear such comments as:

Homosexuality will always be a sexual perversion. And you say that around here now and everybody goes nuts. But I don't care. They're mean. They want to talk about being nice. They're the meanest buggers I have ever seen. It's just like the Muslims. Muslims are good people and their religion is anti-war. But it’s been taken over by the radical side. What is the morals of a gay person? You can't answer that because anything goes. They're probably the greatest threat to America going down I know of."

The 30 Dirty? Why can't the religious right stop lying about ENDA?

Earlier this week, I pointed out the similarities between the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC)'s lies about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and those of a racist group concerning HIV and black men as proof of how racists and homophobes rely on fear and stereotypes instead of facts for their arguments.

TVC had inaccurately said that ENDA would force children to be "trapped" in classrooms with "drag queen teachers."

Today the group outdid itself in the "sparking fear" department:

In the next few weeks, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and their homosexual and transgender allies will attempt to ram through the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

What you may not know is that ENDA normalizes and provides special federal protection for 30+ bizarre sexual orientations listed by the American Psychiatric Association – the so-called “Dirty 30.” These 30+ fetishes include behaviors that are felonies or misdemeanors in most states.

ENDA’s “Dirty 30” includes such bizarre criminal acts as incest, pedophilia, prostitution, beastiality, and cross-dressing. If we don’t act today, Obama and Pelosi will normalize these disorders by federal law on April 21!

. . . If Obama, Pelosi, Hastings and the Congressional Democrats pass ENDA, co-workers will be forced to work alongside individuals with these bizarre sex fetishes. Christian businesses will be directly impacted by ENDA. They would be forced to hire or retain cross-dressers and individuals who engage in these sinful behaviors. Students will be indoctrinated that “alternative lifestyles” are no different than traditional lifestyles. Young children will be forced to learn about these bizarre sexual fetishes – and you will have no say in the matter.

There are lies, damn lies, and obscene lies but there needs to be a new category of lies to describe to what TVC is attempting.

According to the site Religious Tolerance:

The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) has created a unique definition of the term "sexual orientation" that differs greatly from the meaning used by others. They state:

"A person's sexual orientation can include sexual attraction to children, animals, feet, and a whole range of bizarre behaviors that are listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). In fact, there are 30 sexual orientations listed in the DSM."

This is a definition apparently created by TVC whose purpose may have been to confuse legislation and legislators. Both the ENDA bill, and bills covering hate-crimes offer protection to every American on the basis of their sexual orientation, whether they be heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. By enlarging the number of orientations to 30 the bills become meaningless.

The first sentence in the quote is in error. The DSM defines three and only three sexual orientations. The American Psychiatric Association describes the three sexual orientations both in their DSM and in their "Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives" web site.

What TVC has done is to redefine the DSM's 30 sexual paraphilias as additional sexual orientations. Paraphilias are activities causing sexual arousal in response to sexual objects or situations, including incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality, masochism, sadism, voyeurism.

And according to the Human Rights Campaign:

What ENDA Does

Extends federal employment discrimination protections currently provided based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability to sexual orientation and gender identity
Prohibits public and private employers, employment agencies and labor unions from using an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion or compensation
Provides for the same procedures, and similar, but somewhat more limited, remedies as are permitted under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act
Applies to Congress and the federal government, as well as employees of state and local governments

What ENDA Does Not Do

Cover businesses with fewer than 15 employees
Apply to religious organizations
Apply to the uniformed members of the armed forces (the bill doesn't affect the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy)
Allow for quotas or preferential treatment based on sexual orientation or gender identity
Allow a "disparate impact" claim similar to the one available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, an employer is not required to justify a neutral practice that may have a statistically disparate impact on individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity
Allow the imposition of affirmative action for a violation of ENDA
Allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to collect statistics on sexual orientation or gender identity or compel employers to collect such statistics.
Apply retroactively

And again, if a racist group repeated a list of lies about ethnic groups (be they African-Americans, members of the Jewish community, etc), their fear tactics would be repudiated. What's the difference between a racist group and the Traditional Values Coalition other than the misappropriating of the designation of being a Christian?

It's a question that needs to be asked often and not only about the Traditional Values Coalition but other so-called morality groups who claim to stand for Christian principles while they tell lies on the lgbt community.

Related article:

A novel, conservative Christian definition that includes 30 behaviors

Maggie Gallagher and company channels Paul Cameron and other Thursday midday news briefs

TinyU-R-Gay: @NOMupdates limits gay lives to less than 140 characters/years - National Organization for marriage channels Paul Cameron. Why should be we surprised?

Birds of a Feather Do Not Always Flock Together - Okay you KNOW you are in bizarro territory when you become hateful that even the Ku Klux Klan repudiates you.

Houston Clergy at Arms Over Lesbian Mayor's Orders - They will get over it, but unfortunately not before pulling the "men in women's bathrooms" card.

Santa Rosa council approves gay and lesbian retirement community - But I thought lgbt seniors didn't exist. Ain't that right, Tony Perkins?

Beck admits he doesn’t give ‘a flying crap about the political process. … We’re an entertainment company.' - Soooo all the crying and whining about how he loves America is a big fraud. Geez who knew? Not necessarily an lgbt issue per se but worth remembering. Sometimes people get taken advantage of because they allow themselves to. Pay attention, tea baggers.

African gays and lesbians becoming victims of 'corrective rape'

It's interesting that this story came to my attention yesterday:

An annual report by the US State Department on human rights in Zimbabwe has said that gays and lesbians in the country face harassment and rape by people trying to 'cure' them.

It said that lesbians were sometimes raped, even by their family members, to try and turn them straight, while gay men were forced into heterosexual sex.

Associated Press reports that Amanda Porter, political officer at the US Embassy in Harare, said yesterday: "Some families reportedly subjected men and women to corrective rape and forced marriages to encourage heterosexual conduct."

Sodomy is illegal in Zimbabwe and punishable with up to a year in prison or a heavy fine.

Although there have been no recorded prosecutions in recent years, gays and lesbians say they face harassment and stigma in the community.

The country's only gay group, Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ), has warned that gays live in fear and are driven underground.

It's interesting for two reasons.

My piece appeared in the Huffington Post last night and already it is besieged by pseudo intellectual individuals who claim that being black and being gay are different.

Secondly, this piece provides a bit of grounding. Whenever organizations like the Family Research Council pull up specious anecdotes about how some "Christian" was supposedly unfairly fired of THE GAYS, it helps to be reminded what real persecution looks like.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Constance McMillen's classmates learn the costs of gloating

By now, many of us know the story of Constance McMillen, the Fulton, MS student who wanted to attend the Itawamba Agricultural High School prom with her girlfriend.

The school decided to cancel the prom rather than allowing her to do such, something else we all know.

The ACLU sued and the courts ruled that McMillen's rights were violated but the school was not forced to put the prom back on. In response, some of McMillen's fellow classmates held a "private party," which she was supposed to be invited to. However, as it turns out, McMillen, as well as a few other students who had learning disabilities were steered to a "fake prom" while their classmates held their party.

And to make matters worse, some of these classmates created a Facebook page making fun of McMillen and gloating about how they "showed her," including pictures of them smiling and dancing at the prom.

Yes, we all know the story. But now it gets interesting.

An online buddy of mine, Pam Spaulding received an email from a student concerning a post she wrote about the situation. The student asked Pam to remove pictures of her and her classmates enjoying themselves. Pam, who, when she wrote the original story did not give out the names of the student or her friends, took the pictures from another public site created to gloat about what had happened.

Pam was very nice in explaining to the young lady that the pictures will not be removed and she is well within her rights in posting them.

And this is not the only thing I noticed. On various other blogs, students are posting comments trying to somehow rationalize not only their decision to make McMillen and the other students feel like outcasts but gloating about it afterwards.

And why? Because apparently the Facebook page (which I will not post, but it's called "Constance, quit yer cryin'") is getting a lot of attention. Many people have joined the group to voice their displeasure about what happened.

As far as I know, no one has been threatened, but some of the comments aren't pretty. A lot of them, mine included, are reasonable and rational in voicing the opinion that what happened was awful.

But let me be honest here. I don't feel sorry for you students of Itawamba Agricultural High School who are now feeling the blowback from what you did.

You got played by the school. My guess is that when school officials canceled the prom, they expected you all to make McMillen the scapegoat and you did with as much fervor as a pack of wild dogs in Call of the Wild.

So you decided to hold a party, making sure to steer McMillen away to a fake prom. You celebrated like you won a big victory, and then to make matters worse, you gloated about what you did in a public manner designed to humiliate McMillen.

What exactly did you think would happen?

This ain't Carrie and McMillen doesn't have telekinetic powers, but you are experiencing a nasty shock, aren't you?

I don't wish any of you ill will and I certainly don't wish any of you violence, but you brought this on yourselves.

I read one of you saying that you resent how McMillen was making the school sound backwards and I found that notion ridiculous because it's obvious that none of you needed her help in that department. You did such a completely excellent job of it yourselves.

Now how do you feel?

'Gay lifestyle' finally revealed and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Myth of the 'gay lifestyle' justifies bias - Amen L.Z.

May Day: Saving America From Forced Starvation, Obama's Brownshirts, and God's Wrath - Janet Porter resembles a fruitcake on Christmas. Never mind trying to make sense out of that. If you can, then maybe you can make sense out of her ramblings.

Foxx fuming over Stern's gay jibe - Shut up, Alvin, shut up, Alvin. I'm so conflicted now. Howard Stern is a dumbass but the comment by Foxx about eating pizza in a shower was stupid.

Fired Maine reporter gains religious aid - BEFORE the religious right pushes this as yet another phony story of the discriminated Christian, it's worth mentioning that even though the reporter in question used his personal email, it was on company time using company equipment.

NAACP president calls out gay community for lack of black support

Here we go again:

We all know that Julian Bond Civil Rights Leader and Board Chairman of the NAACP has been a steadfast LGBT Rights supporter. But today NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, who has been mostly non-commital where the "organization" is concerned tried to lay the fault squarely at the LGBT Community's feet when it comes to the fact that black activist have not been supporting the Gay Rights Movement.

In an article from ThinkBig::

I really just have one thing to say about this. No one from the African-American community ever had to do outreach for me to stand up for their rights. I have marched, I have protested, and I have signed petitions. And I did it because it was the RIGHT thing to do. And I did it gladly.

Jealous is also attuned to the civil rights struggles of another minority group—gay Americans—and aware of the public perception that black activists have been lukewarm in supporting their cause. Yet for his own family as well as the NAACP, he says, gay rights are not only important but "personal"—and if there's a gap between the movements, it's a product of insufficient outreach from the LGBT side.

I remarked "here we go again" because I can predict what's going to happen next.

Some in the lgbt community are going to be get defensive instead of maybe assessing the fact that Jealous's words have a ring of truth. Already, terms like "hater" and "homophobe" have been thrown around.

The black community will most likely have another "if we ignore it, maybe it will go away" moment that it always does when it comes to issues of the gay community.

Meanwhile, lgbts of color, who are by now are so used to this sort of thing, will wonder yet again "will these turkeys ever get this issue right?"

I'm sorry if I sound cynical but when it comes to the tired old argument of black community vs. gay community, I feel as if some entity out of a Roger Corman movie has attached itself to my side and has sapped the energy right out of me, putting in its place a kind of weariness.

So let me be succinct. I'm tired of the arguments. It doesn't matter if the gay movement for equality is the same as the African-American civil rights movement (it is). And it doesn't matter if sometimes, well meaning white gays and lesbians refuse to acknowledge that they take unfair liberties in assessing the two movements without knowing the inner workings of the black civil rights movements (they do).

We are going to continue to have this tired argument until both communities stop clinging to past symbolism and acknowledge the present and probably only true connection between the black and gay community - me and the rest of my lgbt brothers and sisters of color.

Speaking for myself, I get a very low opinion of both communities when this tug of war of position takes place. I don't feel like a person to the black or gay community. I feel like a commodity, a frozen asset. Both communities seem to be so busy with trying to use what tie I have to them for their own purpose that neither want to look at me as a person whose African-American heritage and lgbt sensibility mingle together to create something rich and unique which would be an asset to both communities.

I am useful to the lgbt community because I am gay. I am useful to the African-American community because I am a black man. But I don't seem to be useful to either community as a gay black man.

There are some of us who cannot separate being black and being gay into two separate camps because we encompass both identities.

But the problem is that neither community seems to get that point.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Hate groups, fake proms. bad interviews and other Tuesday afternoon news briefs

Matt Barber: I Know You Are But What Am I? - Americans for Truth is an officially designated hate site. Deal with it, Matt Barber. It really couldn't have accomplished that without you.

VIDEO: CNN’s Kyra Phillips’ Awful Interview with Richard Cohen - What the hell is this hot mess? Richard Cohen getting taken seriously?

He who 'sins us' vs. sense as it pertains to us - Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council claims that counting gay couples in the census adds up to false data. Well they would know about false data, wouldn't they?

McMillen: I Was Sent to Fake Prom - Coldhearted, hateful mess.

Religious right groups can't make up their minds when lying about ENDA

Fast on the heels of the Traditional Value Coalition claiming that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would "force" children to be held hostage in classrooms by "drag queen" teachers comes this email from the Family Research Council:

ENDA should be called The Discrimination Against Christian Workers Act. Why? Just ask ...

Jon and Elaine Huguenin, who were saddled with legal costs that could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars because they politely declined to take "commitment ceremony" photos of two lesbians.

Rolf Szabo, who was fired by Kodak after 23 years of faithful service because he declined to participate in the company's "Coming Out Day" celebration of bisexual, and transgender (cross-dresser) employees.

The Christian employees at Sandia National Laboratories, who were ordered to take down their family photos when homosexual co-workers complained that "traditional family" images were demeaning.

If the federal ENDA law passes, what happened to the Huguenins ... and Rolf Szabo ... and the Christians at Sandia Laboratories . . . could happen to any Christian or person of moral conviction, anywhere. Working together, we can protect your religious liberty.

ENDA will give Washington liberals virtually unlimited power to force every business with more than 15 employees to embrace immoral sexual behavior as normal and worthy of celebration . . . or face harsh federal sanctions.

Yes, Even Churches!

So which is it? A "cross-dressing teachers bill?" or the "Discrimination Against Christians Act?"

ENDA is neither. While the Family Research Council pulls out anecdotes claiming to show how ENDA could potentially discriminate against Christians, the organization fails to mention that the religious exemption of the 2009 version of ENDA (Section 6) is the same as the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

This Act shall not apply to a corporation, association, educational institution, or society that is exempt from the religious discrimination provisions of title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 pursuant to section 702(a) or 703(e)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e-1(a); 2000e-2(e)(2)).

And of course the anecdotes the FRC pushes gives only one side of the story. For example Szabo's letter was not THAT polite:

"Please do not send this type of information to me anymore, as I find it disgusting and offensive.

"Thank you,

"Rolf Szabo."

To make matters worse, Szabo sent this email out to ALL employees. The company deemed that his email was unnecessary and offensive to its lgbt employees and fired him, just like it would probably do if he had sent an email out that the company would deem to be offensive towards African-Americans, or women, or yes even Christians.

While someone who calls himself a Christian has a right to not participate in an event he deems as a sin, he has NO right to demean other employees and that's why Szabo was fired.

FRC's email is another example of fear tactics used by religious right groups to claim that gays and lesbians want to either harm children or silence Christians.

And it proves yet again the similarity between racism and homophobia - they both involve fear, stereotypes, and ignorance.

Related posts:

No wonder the Traditional Values Coalition is considered a hate group

Family Research Council exploiting Amanda Simpson's appointment to stop ENDA

Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA

Bathrooms, Church Exemptions, and Lies: Five ways the religious right misrepresents ENDA

American College of Pediatricians trying to work anti-gay web site into the schools

Last night I wrote what I call an "emergency post" on a new web page (Facts About Youth) by the phony medical organization, the American College of Pediatricians.

This web page repackages standard anti-gay junk science as legitimate research.

This morning, I've learned, according to the Family Research Council, that 14,800 school district superintendents in the country were sent a letter by the American College of Pediatricians introducing them to the site and encouraging them to peruse it.

That's 14,800 school district superintendents encouraged to read and pass along information such as:

1. Gay men are disease ridden animals who enjoy playing with feces,

2. Lesbians are equally diseased and irresponsible,

3. and that there is proof that homosexuality is just a changeable condition.

And we wonder why it was so easy for Constance McMillen's school to treat her the way it did.

And we wonder why it's so hard for lgbt youth to accept their God-given sexual orientations. It's bad enough when wanton homophobes such as Peter LaBarbera tell lies about the lgbt community.

But when people who purport to be medical professionals pass along these lies, it should be criminal.

Monday, April 05, 2010

American College of Pediatricians, NARTH pushes new site featuring old anti-gay lies

Last night, for a brief second, I reached "the other side of the mountain," so to speak. I reached a moment where I was, in the words of an old saying, a little north of where I wanted to be.

In short, I went ballistic.

Those who know me and my work can probably guess why. There is another religious right web page purporting to give the so-called true facts about the gay community. And these true facts are the same old lies. Even worse, this site is directed to children and adults working in the school system.

According to its web page, Facts About Youth:

is a resource created by health professionals to provide policymakers, parents and youth with the most current medical and psychological facts about sexual development.

Amid debate in the medical and mental health fields concerning the causes and proper approaches to youth with non-heterosexual attractions, Facts is a non-political, non-religious channel presenting the most current facts on the subject. Facts is committed to advancing a school environment in which all students will experience the opportunity to achieve optimal health and safety, even in the midst of differing worldviews. Facts is intended to be a resource to promote the factual and respectful discussion of these potentially divisive issues. This is a web site for and about youth and their needs.

You want to now who these "health professionals" are? Again according to the web site, Facts About Youth:

is a project of the American College of Pediatricians, in coalition with other organizations who share a concern for the well-being of all youth. Unfortunately, some medical organizations, influenced by political correctness, have misrepresented science in order to affirm unhealthy lifestyles as normal behavior. Facts presents science-based information to clarify the medical and psychological discussions concerning this important aspect of a child’s life. Facts will not engage in the polemics of opinion, but will objectively offer the facts for all to see and assimilate. Facts is interested only in the welfare and protection of children and their families.

The College has received support and assistance for this project from the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), the Pediatric Psychosocial Development Committee, other like-minded organizations, and parents and individuals with a personal perspective on issues related to gender identification and how they impact children.

*The Pediatric Psychosocial Development Committee is an exterior sub-committee of the American College of Pediatricians and consists of the following members, all experts on the sexual development of youth:
Dean Byrd, PhD
Rick Fitzgibbons, MD
Arthur Goldberg, JD, CRS, BCPC
Trayce Hansen, PhD
Joe Nicolosi, PhD
John Raney, MD
George Rekers, PhD

I've talked about the lies of the American College of Pediatricians before. Also, those of us familiar with the inner workings of the industry of phony religious right studies know some of those names of these folks behind Facts About Youth. Joseph Nicolosi is a man who has made it his life's work to peddle the inaccurate notion that homosexuality is a changeable condition. According to the site Truth Wins Out:

Nicolosi is also known for his strange theories, such as encouraging his male clients to drink Gatorade and call friends “dude” to become more masculine. He also believes that “Non-homosexual men who experience defeat and failure may also experience homosexual fantasies or dreams.”

And George Rekers is a former professor at the University of South Carolina and a founder of the Family Research Council who has testified against the lgbt community in adoption cases.

So to say that this web site is nonpolitical is the first lie. And it's certainly not the last.

Facts About Youth contains the same tired lies and misinformation about the gay community found on almost every religious right web page and repeated by almost every religious right talking head. The following are just a few:

No wonder the Traditional Values Coalition is considered a hate group

While our friend Peter LaBarbera kicks up a futile tantrum about his "Americans for Truth" web site being declared a hate site by the Southern Poverty Law Center, let's not direct so much attention and laughter towards him that we forget about the other officially declared anti-gay hate groups, such as California's Traditional Values Coalition:

Children Targeted in 38 States

President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and their homosexual and transgender allies are secretly plotting to rush through the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the next few weeks.

ENDA – aptly described as the “cross-dressing teacher’s bill” – will force every American public school to hire men who dress like women as teachers.

Currently, 38 states do not consider men dressed as women (cross-dressing heterosexual men, gay drag queens, or transsexuals) as protected minorities under anti-discrimination laws. All of this will change under ENDA when it becomes illegal to re-assign transgender teachers out of the classroom.

In the next few weeks, if President Obama signs ENDA into law, your children will be trapped in classrooms taught by men who dress as women.

ENDA also forces every state and local government (including public schools), and every business with more than 15 employees to treat men who dress as women as federally protected minorities.

Thus, ENDA will:

* Impact critics and faith-based objectors who will be called bigots and troublemakers in school districts
* Allow men who dress as women to enjoy these special rights
* Elevate a serious mental disorder to protected class status

When I read this, I was thinking (strictly tongue in cheek of course) that this was a step up because it was the first time that I didn't read the Traditional Values Coalition refer to transgendered women as "she-males."

But lest we forget, a step up in manure still leaves mess on your shoe.

Of course the Traditional Values Coalition is lying about ENDA, but to put this lie in perspective, take a look at the following flyer from a racist group, the National Alliance:

So a racist group says that interracial romances are a bad idea because black men would "infect white women with HIV."

When one compares this claim to that of the Traditional Values Coalition (ENDA will lead to children being "trapped in classrooms with drag queens"), one finds that there is no difference between them. They are both lies geared to exploit ignorance via alarming calls that a "dangerous group of outsiders" are seeking to corrupt wholesome entities, be they white women or children.

No difference, that is, except for the fact that if the Traditional Values Coalition is pressed on this lie, the organization can fall back on the "we are a Christian group attempting to preserve morality" card.

But the similarity is definitely worth remembering because I'm willing to bet that before this entire thing with ENDA is settled, the Traditional Values Coalition and other like-minded groups will be claiming that gays and lesbians are trying to piggyback on the 1950s/60s civil rights struggle of the black community.

But in the long run, it doesn't matter who had to ride in the "back of the bus" or who gets chased down a street.

As long as there are entities willing to exploit fear and stereotypes, we all suffer.

Related posts:

Interracial dating and homosexuality - two health risks?

Family Research Council exploiting Amanda Simpson's appointment to stop ENDA

Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA

Bathrooms, Church Exemptions, and Lies: Five ways the religious right misrepresents ENDA

Religious right groups can't make up their minds when lying about ENDA

Fox Nation attacks lesbian appointee and other Monday midday news briefs

The Fox Nation and its gay-baiting ways - If we thought that Chai Feldblum receiving the appointment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission put an end to the attacks on her, guess again.

Judge: Transgender inmates have right to therapy - I stand with the transgendered community here.

Child-Raping Priests and Their Protectors = The New Jews - Now I've seen everything and it officially makes me sick.

Gay People: Serving As Your Handy Scapegoat For Fear And Shame For Generations - Bruce Garrett breaks it down perfectly.

Why does William Donohue contradict the Pope while defending the Catholic Church?

In his eagerness to blame the gay community for the problem of child molestation in the Catholic Church, William Donohue of the Catholic League seems to have forgotten one very important thing about his charges.

The Pope already addressed the situation and said in fact that the problem with abuse has to do with pedophilia and not homosexuality.

It took place two years ago when Pope Benedict XVI was addressing the scandal of the abuse of children in American Catholic churches.

Now let's dismiss (for the extreme briefest of seconds) the sad fact that two years later, we are still talking about the abuse of children in the Catholic Church and take a look at what Pope Benedict XVI said (via The New York Times):

“It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” he said. “As I read the histories of those victims, it is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way. Their mission was to give healing, to give the love of God to these children. We are deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible that this cannot happen in the future.”

Apparently drawing a distinction between priests with homosexual tendencies and those inclined to molest children, the pontiff said: “I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but pedophilia, which is another thing. And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”

So why is Donohue trying to push a belief (the priests who molested the children were gay because the crimes were of a "same sex nature," ergo men who molest boys should automatically be assumed to be gay), which not only has been contradicted by the Pope but also (lest we forget) legitimate bodies such as the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Academy of Child Psychiatrists and the Child Welfare League of America?

If I ever find out the answer to that question, I'm going to next ponder why isn't anyone from the Vatican communicating to Donohue that maybe his input isn't exactly helping and that he should talk a flying leap.

Huge hat tip to Box Turtle Bulletin.

Related post:

Expert: Donohue's claim that most abusive priests are gay is "unwarranted"

Friday, April 02, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Sylvester

No negative portrayals today - only a spotlight on one of my idols/heroes, the late Sylvester James.

For an in depth look at Sylvester's life, go here for the Black History Month spotlight I posted on him.

But to enjoy his music of his television appearances, check out any of the clips below. Sylvester was way ahead of the pack on talent, style, and pride. In the 70s where it was difficult for lgbts to stand up for themselves (to say nothing of lgbts of color), Sylvester was THE MAN. By the way he carried himself, he unashamedly said, "This is me. This is who I am not for your pity or laughter but because I am a child of God blessed with His gifts."

We need more black folks like Sylvester.

The following is favorite clip - Sylvester on American Bandstand with his back up singers Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes who were known then as Two Tons of Fun. We all know them as the Weather Girls, singers of the anthem "It's Raining Men." Rhodes passed years later but Wash continued to persevere, singing on the hits "Everybody Sweat," "Everybody, Everybody," and "Strike It Up":

Ugandan anti-gay bill supporter spouts discredited Paul Cameron data and other Friday midday news briefs

Molotov Mitchell Responds To HuffPo (Sort Of) -- And Still Can't Stop Misleading - A supporter of the Ugandan anti-gay bill spouts discredited Paul Cameron statistics. Why oh why am I not suprised?

Houston Mayor Annise Parker Issued Sweeping Non-Discrimination Order This Week - Just the thing to get the religious right upset. And I thought today was going to be a bad day.

Census Form Question Stirs Controversy - And you just know it's about us lgbts.

Gay marriage issue affects Calif. GOP Senate race - Where is Maggie Gallagher and the National Organization of Marriage getting all of this money?

Expert: Donohue's claim that most abusive priests are gay is "unwarranted" - Ignore Bill Donohue's lying rhetoric my #!$

High schoolers use the power of love to chase away hate group

When Fred Phelp's hateful Westboro church came to Columbia, we had a great time making fun of their ignorance.

The students of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA used a different, but very inspiring method to stand up to the group. This is just too cool:

Hat tip to AmericablogGay.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Newsbusters's accusation of 'religion bashing' deserves rebuke

The site Newsbusters tries very hard to be a conservative version of the popular Media Matters. The site would do better to be compared to a member of the Olympic gymnastics team because of the way it twists and manipulates logic in unbelievable angles in efforts to either defend right-wing wrongs or make the case that those of us on the left are a bunch of mean bullies.

The newest column tries to make the case that the Huffington Post is creating a religion blog whose aim is to bash Christians. The writer of the piece, Carolyn Plocher, gives a few examples of writings on the Huffington Post as proof.

And one of the examples is a recent piece I wrote:

Other articles attempted to paint Christians as intolerant radicals by hyping abstract stories about individuals, such as Janet Porter, the president and founder of Faith2Action, praying for the "Christian takeover" of the media. Alvin McEwen wrote he'd be "remiss" if he didn't point out that Porter said this prayer "in front of a huge multitude during one of those dreary we have to save American values from the forces of secular evil conferences which religious right organizations seem to hold more often than World Wrestling Entertainment hosts wrestling pay-per-views."

For the record, I was not aware that the Huffington Post was considering creating a religious blog and regardless, my piece was not a part of that. Furthermore, I don't think I need to paint Porter or anyone who supports her as an "intolerant radicals." Seems to me when someone prays to God to take something away from someone else and give it to them, I don't necessarily think that person can be described as following the Golden Rule.

But for the sake of conversation, you be the judge on whether or not Porter and those who support her (and coached her loudly during this prayer) come across as "intolerant radicals:"

What galls me is the fact that someone actually thinks this sort of madness needs to be defended and that somehow calling attention to what Porter did during a huge event attended by other noted religious right dignitaries - hardly "abstract" - is somehow bashing Christianity.

If Porter's arrogance is considered a form of Christianity which needs protection from criticism, then we have serious problems with the concept of Christianity in America.

And that was not rhetorical statement because I do believe in fact that we have a serious problem with some who consider themselves Christians in this country.

Through my piece on Porter, I was pointing this out. I was not bashing Christianity but the bastardization of Christianity by Porter and the rest of the religious right, i.e. the ugly way in which they pervert God's message of love for the sake of cliques and grubby human concepts of conquest. Generally, when people go about the business of conquest, they don't do it in honest ways. This is definitely seen in how the religious right has demonized the gay and lesbian community through the use of stereotypes, junk science, and anecdotes taken out of context.

Whenever I hear Porter or anyone on the evangelical right go on about "winning the nation for Christ," I always cringe. Seems to me that if God had enough power to create Heaven and Earth, he can win America all by himself. He certainly doesn't need help from me, the Huffington Post, and certainly not Janet Porter or Newsbusters. And he definitely doesn't need help from conference halls full of people motivated through phony fear stories of prison camps, their children being "homosexualized," or visions of "their right to pray being taken away."

But the thing is that some on the evangelical right can't seem to grasp that fact. They also can't seem to grasp the concept of humility and respect for a higher power. They have replaced the image of God with one of themselves. In their world, not forcing others to pray publicly the way they want is "persecution" and having to acknowledge the simple fact that America is a diverse (not Christian) nation ranks with being fed to lions or being crucified.

To hear them talk, Jesus apparently said "pick up your cross and follow me and I will give you a nice car, a nice house, 2.5 children, and a Republican president and Legislature every four years."

Strangest thing though, that passage doesn't appear in any Bible I have read.

But if that implication is how some people want to define Christianity, then more power to them. However, they shouldn't whine or infer persecution when someone else calls attention to the fallacies in that definition.

Bisexual pro wrestler, President Obama and DADT, and other Thursday midday news briefs

Video: By 'the record,' Molotov must mean those outdated round things that have little public support - Calling out cowards who support the Ugandan anti-gay bill but won't talk about what it actually says as far as the death penalty for gays and lesbians.

Sinead O’Connor v. Bill Donohue on the Catholic Child Rape Scandals - Remember when people gave Sinead O'Connor hell for tearing up the picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live? To paraphrase rapper Kool Mo Dee, how ya like her now?

News video: Is Obama backtracking on DADT? - I support President Obama but sometimes I swear he does things to intentionally drive folks on the left and right crazy so he can sit back and watch the carnage.

Hurley: Iowa Gay Marriage Anniversary A Celebration Of 'Eternal Death' - Yes, the eternal death of loneliness and ignorance.

Pro wrestling's first openly bisexual wrestler hits the air this Monday - Even though this was publicly known after the wrestler, Orlando Jordan, had left the WWE, the climate of the entire thing should be very interesting.

Let the child be 'a single lady' if he wants to

I couldn't resist posting this. Apparently while driving in the car, a family put the Beyonce song "All the Single Ladies."

When the three-year-old boy joined his sisters in singing it, his father told him that he wasn't a single lady, thereby totally destroying the little guy.

But it does have a happy ending. The father apologized and this morning, they were on CBS's This Morning where the little boy - who is sooo cute - was humming the song. Also the father said he now lets the boy sing the song all he wants to.

No mean comments, folks. But it does remind me of when I was a child and I would hear a good song by a female and took it upon myself (because of peer pressure) to substitute feminine pronouns for the masculine ones so it would seem that I was talking about my "girlfriend" rather than my "boyfriend."

Ain't it a drag when silly little fears like that ruin a good experience like singing a fun song?

Why just offend gays when you can offend Irish people too?

Geez Bill Donohue. Claiming that "Like the Irish and alcoholism, "there's a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors," is no way to defend the Pope and the Vatican against the charges of knowledge of sexual abuse.

This interview just defies description.

partial transcript courtesy of ThinkProgress

SANCHEZ: Well, let me just stop you right there, because immediately as you say that, there are people watching this show, and I can hear them saying this, Bill Donohue, shame on you. Are you saying all gays are pedophiles?

DONOHUE: As I said in the ad, which I wrote, most gay priests are not molesters, but most of the molesters have been gay. And I also said, that there’s no such thing as a — that homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior. Let me give you a quick example. I’m Irish. Everybody who has half a brain knows that the Irish have a bigger problem with alcoholism than the Italians or the Chinese, for example. Does that mean because you’re an Irishman, therefore, you are driven to become an alcoholic? Of course, not.

What it means, though, if your group is overrepresented in a particular problem area, you ought to explore it. Yes, there’s a connection between Irish and alcoholism, and, yes, there’s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors.

Related posts:

With defenders like Bill Donohue and the Catholic League, the Pope is in trouble