Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Friday, January 21, 2011

Know Your LGBT History - Flawless

Those who read this blog on a regular basis know that I love me some Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Ever since his heartbreaking performance as a gay man who has a requited crush on Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights (1997), I have had a huge crush on him.

And of course I knew that he was destined to win the Oscar, which he did for portraying another gay man, Truman Capote in Truman (2005).

But alas, Hoffman isn't gay. However, he is excellent in his portrayals of members of the lgbt community.

Like for example in Flawless (1999), a perfectly nice comedy crime drama. Hoffman portrays Rusty, a drag queen who has to teach his upstairs neighbor (portrayed by legendary actor Robert DeNiro) how to speak properly again. DeNiro's character is a police officer who recently had a stroke.

Of course the two bicker, but soon begin to respect each other. However complications and arguments ensue. Don't worry, the movie has a happy ending (sorry for giving that away, but with so many movies in the past involving lgbts which had unhappy endings, I figure you would appreciate knowing this information even if you didn't see the movie.)

Like I said before, Hoffman is an excellent actor and infuses the character of Rusty with dignity, grace, and above all, an attitude for telling it like it is:

The Gay Republicans
Flawless at MOVIECLIPS.com

And I am including this scene because it's so damn funny:

Drag Queen Fight
Flawless at MOVIECLIPS.com

Serial liar joins board of gay Republican group and other Friday midday news briefs

GOProud Adds Andrew Breitbart to Board, Loses Last Shred of Credibility - There is a difference between encouraging differences of opinion when it comes to lgbt equality and looking like a bunch of fools. GoProud leaps over the line and into a huge dark-filled pit.

If NOM's Louis Marinelli wants high road, he *must* take responsibility for past tracks - DO NOT talk about treating lgbts with respect if you can't follow that dictum yourself.

Charges dismissed in raid of gay bathhouse - And somewhere in America, Porno Pete LaBarbera gets angry.

DADT Cost Almost $200 Million In Five Years: GAO Report - Oh yea, we want to bring back THIS policy.

Lesbian girls from USA writes awesome lgbt rap anthem

I love this song and it needs more attention. It's a catchy tune with an awesome beat and most of all, it's coming from us (the lgbt community) instead of a heterosexual rapper giving solidarity with us. Don't get me wrong when I say that because there is nothing wrong with a heterosexual ally giving us support.

All I'm saying is that it is good to hear us voice unity.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Former Navy chaplain claims that homosexuality can be cured through 'exorcisms'

If you give some members of the religious right a voice and enough room, they tend to make themselves look like fools.

And it's shaping up that David Pakman is becoming an expert on this.

Pakman, who has interviewed such "luminaries as Peter LaBarbera, Paul Cameron, and Bryan Fischer, has just added another notch in his six-shooter with today's interview with former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt.

First a little background information on Klingenschmitt. He is another phony religious right cause celebre who claimed that his religious beliefs was causing him to be discriminated against. In this case, he claimed that he was kicked out of the Navy because for simply "praying in Jesus's name."

Of course the actual story, which you can read about here, has less to do with prayer and more to do with his being insubordinate for wearing his uniform at partisan and political events, a big no-no.

Klingenschmitt's past lies pale in comparison to what he said during the interview with Pakman today. He truly brought "the crazy:"

Truth Wins Out gives a small recap:

It starts with a normal human-to-wingnut discussion of DADT repeal, but then the wingnut goes off the rails, completely and thoroughly. Check it: he advocates EXORCISM as the one true way to “cure” homosexuality, and then goes off on a long tangent about how gay men are lying when we say we’re gay, and that saying we’re gay is the same thing as claiming we are women!

This is yet another example of the close correlation between a hatred of gay people and a deep hatred of women, as this sort of statement, from a man who doesn’t strike me as the epitome of “manliness” in the first place, must be taken in the context of their belief that women are inherently inferior. But it’s truly amazing in the year 2011 to hear religious extremists refer to “diseases” being caused by “demons.” Is Klingenschmitt aware of scientific advancement in the past 500 years, or is his Dungeons and Dragons belief system just more important to him than reality?

Also, there is a point where he describes a creepy ceremony he held with a lesbian sailor, but I won’t spoil that fer ya.

Personally, I'm all for gay exorcisms if it is to bring the "spirit of gay" into men and I get to choose who gets my hands "laid upon them."

Of course the sad alternative would be the following:

Principal - gay/straight alliances are wrong but gay slurs are okay and other Thursday midday news briefs

Long Island Principal Blocks Gay-Straight Alliance, Says Gay Slurs Aren't Really that Offensive - Any principal who thinks that it's okay to use a gay slur should be dismissed, period.

Truth Wins Out Announces Eleven State Tour Highlighting The Harm Caused by the ‘Ex-Gay’ Industry - One of my mentors fighting the good fight against the lies.

FRC Pressuring House Republicans To Eliminate Marriage Equality in DC - And I thought it was the lgbts who were trying to force their will upon folks. Another lie shot to pieces.

Policy on Gay Adoptions Not on Scott Agenda Yet - That is until he can find a way to sneak it in. I hope not but we are watching, Governor Scott.

Finally, the following were announced as GLAAD Media Award Nominees for Outstanding Blog. This is the first time this award will be given:

The Bilerico Project (http://www.bilerico.com/)
Blabbeando (http://blabbeando.blogspot.com/)
Joe. My. God. (http://joemygod.blogspot.com/)
Pam's House Blend (http://www.pamshouseblend.com)
Rod 2.0 (http://rodonline.typepad.com/)

All VERY deserving. And I especially like the fact that Pam's House Blend - a blog where I also post - is in the running.

It's going to be hard to pick just one for the award. Can't they all get it?

Homophobic presidential candidates and bad research make for an ugly Thursday morning

Apparently I am not the only one alarmed with GOP Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty's attempt to kiss up to anti-gay hate groups.

Republicans are alarmed by it too:

It’s hard to see what Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was thinking when he voiced support on Thursday for reinstating the ban on gays serving openly in the military. Pawlenty must know that with almost 80% of Americans supporting repeal, he cannot realistically bring back DADT.

Tellingly, Pawlenty did not say he would fight to reinstate DADT or that he would even make it a priority. What Pawlenty said was “I would support reinstating it”, which is quite different from actively working for reinstatement. I’m sure Barack Obama “would support” a balanced budget, but I don’t expect one from him.

Pawlenty made his statement on the radio program of Bryan Fischer from the American Family Association, a smart choice if you want to sell a book to social conservatives. Unfortunately Bryan Fischer also has a long track record of inflammatory and untrue statements. . . . If Bryan Fischer had made racist or anti-Semitic statements then no respectable Republican would have appeared on his show. How is this any different?

And speaking of homophobic Presidential candidates, I received the following comment regarding my piece on Rick Santorum's attack on same-sex households.

I have evidence that homosexuals are 40 times more likely to molest children. This paper is thoroughly documented. http://www.defendthefamily.com/_docs/resources/6390601.pdf

The following was my response:

Dear Anonymous,

The only reason why I am publishing your comment is to demonstrate your ignorance and homophobia. That link you gave me is chock full of bad citations, including the distortions of several pro-gay books, including the one by Weinberg and Bell (look it up on this blog.) BUT THE BIGGEST PISS POOR distortion is the citation of the work of Mr. George "Lift My Luggage" Rekers. And I haven't even talked about the fact that the author, Judith Reisman is a charlatan who has been literally laughed out of court so many times for her silly attacks on the Kinsey Institute that she has been barred from suing the organization.

If this study is your idea of thorough documentation, I feel VERY VERY sorry for you.

I hope I didn't come off as too mean. I was reading something from Larry Kramer last night and apparently it may have rubbed off.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Rick Santorum begins an ignorant war on same-sex families

Another GOP presidential candidate seems to be jumping on the homophobia train.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum had a two hour long video with the conservative CNS News. This video, created by People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, captured his comments about not just marriage equality but gay adoption and same-sex households:

Basically Santorum said that gay adoption shouldn't be allowed because it is "common sense" that we should not "defy nature" just because "a certain group of people want to be affirmed by society"

There are so many things wrong with Santorum's position. First of all, he and the interviewer seem to be implying that children are being taken away from perfectly good homes in order to supposedly suit the "selfish needs" of the lgbt community.

This is a lie. The irony is that Santorum's interview came out the same time as the following:

After a successful fight to overturn Florida’s ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians, the two young brothers adopted by Martin Gill participated in an adoption ceremony in Judge Cindy Lederman's chambers in Miami-Dade County Juvenile Court today, marking the final step in their adoption process. Gill and his partner had served as foster parents to the two brothers for six years. Gill worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to fight for the right to adopt them by challenging Florida’s 33-year-old ban on gay people adopting. As a result of the ACLU lawsuit on behalf of Gill, the ban was ended last year.

“We are thrilled that after so many years, we are officially a family in the eyes of the law,” said Gill. “All children deserve a permanent, loving home. This is a happy day.”

In November 2008, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Lederman held that the statute barring adoption by gay people is unconstitutional and granted Gill's petition to adopt brothers. Last year, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld that decision after the state appealed.

“Martin and his family were instrumental in ending one of the most discriminatory laws in the country,” said Leslie Cooper, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. “Hopefully now, thousands of children in Florida who are waiting to be adopted will be able to know the love and support of having a family.”

To Santorum, no matter how much love and support the Gill family entails, it is inferior to his version of "family" because the fathers are "dirty homosexuals" who only adopted children in order to "force society to affirm their lifestyle. "

All of that other stuff about children being entitled to a "permanent, loving home" is simply a dodge propagated by National Homosexual Headquarters.

What a load of nonsense.

Perhaps before talking about something which he clearly has no knowledge of, Santorum should educate himself on the simple reality of same-sex households. They are here, they are numerous, and they are filled with love and support, just like every normal household should be.

As for now, Santorum wouldn't know common sense if it grew teeth and bit him on his homophobic rump.

And if he steps anywhere near the White House with that attitude - even for a visit, I suggest a serious fumigation of the premises.

Related posts:

Same-sex families are growing rapidly, can no longer be ignored

NOM needs to stop peddling in fantasy and face reality about same-sex families

Lgbts of color out and proud for MLK Day and other Wednesday midday news briefs

With Black History Month just around the corner, it's time for lgbts of color to get an early jump in making sure that our contributions are NOT forgotten. More on No More Down Low TV

More on those CornerStone Policy Research 'Helpful Links' - Let's not forget to keep the liars in check.

DC Marriage Foes’ Voting-Rights Hypocrisy Exposed - It keeps getting worse for the homophobes in DC.

GSA ban lifted by Halton Catholic school board - A rare case in which comparing us lgbts to Nazis actually worked in our favor.

Hospital visits to extend to same-sex couples - Awesome news and an excellent way to end today's news briefs

Same-sex families are growing rapidly, can no longer be ignored

Not too many people are aware of this, but the idea of same-sex families is the proverbial "third rail" for those who fight against marriage equality.

The very existence of these families does more to negate their arguments about "marriage being about the procreation and protection of children" than anything ever said by the lgbt community and our allies.

Therefore, it's not accidental when organizations like the National Organization for Marriage either ignore these families or trivialize them as "untested social experiments."

However, a recent article in The New York Times is serving NOM and other members of the religious right notice to the fact that they cannot continue to push aside same-sex families. From the article, we learn that not only are same-sex families growing in Southern states, but these families are comprised of people of color:

. . . child rearing among same-sex couples is more common in the South than in any other region of the country, according to Gary Gates, a demographer at the University of California, Los Angeles. Gay couples in Southern states like Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are more likely to be raising children than their counterparts on the West Coast, in New York and in New England.

The pattern, identified by Mr. Gates, is also notable because the families in this region defy the stereotype of a mainstream gay America that is white, affluent, urban and living in the Northeast or on the West Coast.

“We’re starting to see that the gay community is very diverse,” said Bob Witeck, chief executive of Witeck-Combs Communications, which helped market the census to gay people. “We’re not all rich white guys.”

Black or Latino gay couples are twice as likely as whites to be raising children, according to Mr. Gates, who used data from a Census Bureau sampling known as the American Community Survey. They are also more likely than their white counterparts to be struggling economically.

Experts offer theories for the pattern. A large number of gay couples, possibly a majority, entered into their current relationship after first having children with partners in heterosexual relationships, Mr. Gates said. That seemed to be the case for many blacks and Latinos in Jacksonville, for whom church disapproval weighed heavily.

“People grew up in church, so a lot of us lived in shame,” said Darlene Maffett, 43, a Jacksonville resident, who had two children in eight years of marriage before coming out in 2002. “What did we do? We wandered around lost. We married men, and then couldn’t understand why every night we had a headache.”

The bottom line is steadily becoming this - in the argument over marriage equality, same-sex couples and the children they are raising cannot be pushed aside or trivialized as "untested social experiments." Whether those against marriage equality and same-sex household like it or not, there isn't a talking point in existence which will make these families disappear.

Related post:

NOM needs to stop peddling in fantasy and face reality about same-sex families

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Is Pawlenty counting on a homophobic backlash to put him in the Oval Office?

Perhaps I am being too paranoid but it's obvious to me that former Gov. Minnesota Tim Pawlenty is counting on history while making his presidential bid.

Remember, it was the backlash against the civil rights movement (some unfairly grouped it with the excesses of the 60s) which led to Nixon's Southern Stategy and subsequently his election as President in 1968.

With the recent victories of the lgbt community over those who would deny us our equality (i.e. the repealing of DADT, overturning the law against gay adoption in Florida, overturning of the Prop 8 vote), some may think that a backlash against us is inevitable.

How else can one explain Pawlenty's recent moves? Last week while on the tour of his book, Pawlenty talked with Bryan Fischer of the American Family Assocation. Fischer has been called out numerous times for his vicious anti-gay comments, including claiming that lgbts formed the building blocks of the Nazi Party.

However, Pawlenty didn't address Fischer's homophobia because he was too busy cozying up to him, even to the point of promising to reinstate DADT should he be elected as president.

Today, Pawlenty took his wooing of the anti-gay forces a bit further. According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch:

Pawlenty will continue to court anti-gay leaders by meeting with Iowa’s Bob Vander Plaats and his organization, The Family Leader. Vander Plaats told the Des Moines Register that his group will be “hosting Governor Pawlenty in Iowa” in early February to discuss “pro-family issues, all the way from life and marriage to economic policy and energy policy.”

After losing the race for the Republican nomination for governor, Vander Plaats became a leader of Iowa’s Religious Right after he coordinated a successful campaign to block the retention of three Iowa Supreme Court justices who supported the Court’s unanimous ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. Vander Plaats, who a former aide said is “obsessed with the gay marriage issue,” has since called for the removal of the entire Supreme Court because of the Court's decision in favor of marriage equality. The Family Leader is the parent organization of Marriage Matters, the Iowa Family PAC, and the Iowa Family Policy Center, an organization that attacks “the public health crisis of same-sex activity” and tells church groups that they can “protect your children” from “homosexual activists.”

It's too early right now to see if Pawlenty's efforts will yield any fruition, but it is safe to say that for the 2012 Presidential election, he considers the lgbt community to be food on the menu.

Supreme Court tells Harry Jackson to bug off and other Tuesday midday news briefs

SCOTUS Rejects Appeal from Same-Sex Marriage Opponents in D.C. - I sincerely hope that anti-gay pastor Harry Jackson is getting good money from whoever is causing him to make himself look like a fool.

Globes had 'offensive agenda', says group that finds glee in denying gay kids are all right - Oh look. The Golden Globe Award reveals the lgbt plan for world domination and indoctrination. And I still haven't received the memo as of yet.

'Christian' owners of B&B in U.K. acted unlawfully when they denied room to gay couple - Homophobic discrimination gets a kick in the face, British style.

Anti-gay-marriage bill advances - Ugh, I say. UGH!!

Charles Barkley Speaks Out for LGBT Civil Rights: 'God Bless The Gay People. They Are Great People.' - Way to go, Mr. Barkley!

SC Equality publishes monumental study of state's lgbt community, gets bizarre flack for it

South Carolina Equality, a group dealing with lgbt education and advocacy in SC, has come out with a monumental survey of over 1,000 of the state's lgbt community.

According to Q-Notes:

The survey exposes several needs and challenges currently facing the state’s estimated 117,000 LGBT citizens, advocates say, particularly among LGBT youth in the state’s public schools.

Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents indicated they’d experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination in South Carolina’s public education.

Christine Johnson, head of SC Equality said that she has already begun conversations with state lawmakers in order to get the ball rolling on anti-bullying legislation.

However, according to South Carolina Republican strategist Wesley Donehue, this may be a difficult fight. Donehue said the following in a piece at ProcessStory.com:

There are many Republicans in the General Assembly who will flat out try to kill any bill providing more gay rights. They aren’t the problem for the SC (Equality). Their problem will be the many forward-thinking Republicans who are sympathetic to their cause, but won’t go for putting more laws on the books and creating a special protected class.

Donehue's comments no doubt leaves many (myself included) bewildered, particularly in light of a legislative battle which took place last year over a bill regarding teen dating violence.

In 2009, a bill was pushed through the SC House of Representatives that required schools to create teen dating violence prevention policies.

The bill was a good idea, but it got tainted when a state representative, Greg Delleney, pushed an amendment through requiring the bill to pertain to only heterosexual relationships, ergo excluding lgbt relationships

Delleney said he did this because he was afraid that without this requirement, schools would have to teach children about same-sex relationships.

The bill was killed early last year.

So while Donehue may have been accurate in claiming that SC Equality will have a difficult fight ahead in getting proper legislative responses to its survey, his reasoning seems to be a bit off.

Being considered as a constituency worthy of protection is not the same thing as being put on a pedestal above other constituencies.

The spooky thing will be to see which members of the SC Legislature actually share Donehue's warped point of view.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Homophobia will never erase the contributions of Bayard Rustin to the civil rights movement

On the eve of my 40th birthday, I have just learned that maybe I am too old to be staying out until 3 a.m.

According to fellow blogger Jeremy Hooper of Goodasyou, the religious right group the Illinois Family Institute is using this MLK day to divide the lgbt and black community. They and "40 African-American and religious leaders" will gather to complain about the recent passage of a bill for civil unions. According to them:

The recent passage of the "civil unions" bill has been trumpeted by some lawmakers as an achievement to civil rights. It is not.

Some lawmakers have suggested that King's interest would have included homosexuality. David Smith, Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, says, "Skin color is not analogous to behavior. To equate homosexuality to race is offensive and perverts the noble cause of a great man and an important movement in our history."

Peter LaBarbera is very excited about it. Of course LaBarbera, the IFI, and those leaders will conveniently ignores how those associated with the African-American civil rights movement actually supports lgbt equality - Hooper provides many excellent quotes from Coretta Scott King, including:

"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice... But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King, Jr., said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere' ... I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people." -March 31, 1998

“Like Martin, I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others", she would tell black civil rights leaders angered by gays and lesbians comparing their struggle to their own. She would quote her husband and say, “I have worked too long and hard against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern. Justice is indivisible." -June 23, 1994

"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union. A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."- March 24, 2004

And of course these folks will conveniently forget about Bayard Rustin, the gay black man who played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. In fact in the world they want to create, the contributions of Mr. Rustin to the civil rights movements never existed or will never be talked about.

Luckily, we don't live in their world, but rather the real world where Rustin will NEVER been forgotten:

Related post:

Whether 'gay rights' or 'civil rights,' it's all about 'human rights'

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Whether 'gay rights' or 'civil rights,' it's all about 'human rights'

David Badash of the blog The New Civil Rights Movement just sent out a tweet asking for folks to respond to a piece on Examiner.com (Cincinnati version). The piece is entitled The difference between gay rights and civil rights and it is written by one Ricky Johnson.

In case you haven't figured it out, it's one of those "lgbts can't compare their struggle for equality to that of the African-American civil rights struggle because you can hide your sexual orientation but not your race and the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin" pieces that always serves to mentally exhaust me for its lack of basic logic and desire to ignore the empathy that one group who has dealt with inequality should have for another group having the same problems.

Rather than go over it, I would rather show the response I wrote. It's short and to the point:

Rick, whether someone can or cannot hide their homosexuality is irrelevant. You forget that some blacks tried to pass as white. Also, please bear in mind that before you refer to the Bible, it was the Bible which was used to justify slavery and segregation. Lastly, your diatribe forgets the basic existence of black lgbts - which I am one. Really there is no difference between "gay rights" and "civil rights" because they are all human rights. And when a group of people are denied their due, whether it be on the basis of discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation, we all suffer.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Latest right-wing lie on Obama's speech abandons all pretense of rationality

This isn't an lgbt issue per se but a very important one in terms of how some on the right lie about not just lgbts but whomever they generally target.

In this case, it's President Obama.

Now while many on the right credited Obama for his excellent speech about the Arizona tragedy, others bent over backwards to attack the president per usual.

First, it was Michelle Malkin (the Lamia of the Right because like the so-named monster of Greek mythology, she usually targets children) claiming that the White House had something to do with the t-shirts given out at the memorial service.

When that story was debunked, Malkin gave a half-assed "okay maybe I was wrong" explanation.

But now thanks to Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, Malkin may have something new to sink her fangs into.

Hoft, who never met a lie so outrageous that he wouldn't spread, is now claiming that the White House asked for applause during the memorial service on the Jumbotron:

This is not only just a lie. It's a stupid lie. Hoft is using the closed captions of the speech to make this claim. Media Matters says the following:

Hoft's purported instruction for applause is actually the live captioning for the event. It's the same closed captioning that's made available for television programs.

A University of Arizona information sheet about last Wednesday's service noted that "sign language interpreters and captioning will be available at" McKale Memorial Center. Captioning is available for some large events - at McKale and elsewhere. Indeed, a release for a separate event at McKale notes that "captions will appear on the overhead Jumbotron."

But here is the kicker, according to the blog, Little Green Footballs:

And it gets better, because the other dim bulbs of the wingnut blogosphere are now co-signing Hoft’s post. Pamela “Shrieking Harpy” Geller: “TOGETHER WE WRITHE”: OBAMA MAKING HIS BONES ON THE BONES OF THE DEAD

Doug Ross: White House: we were shocked that Tucson memorial crowd hooted and hollered throughout because our APPLAUSE signs were actually quite discrete

. . . And now, of course, it’s at Pajamas Media.

Betcha it will probably be on Fox News next week.

And I know just how they will do it. One of the Three Witches of Fox News (think the Three Witches of Macbeth), whether it be Gretchen Carlson (the supposed dumb one), Laura Ingraham (the shrew), or Megyn Kelly (the one who takes pictures in GQ magazine looking a bit "free") will bring it up with an innocent comment such as "people are saying . . ." or "some controversy is now developing over . . ." knowing fully well of course that there is no controversy and the only folks who are saying anything over this are the ones spreading the lie.

THAT is how some members of the right push phony controversies, folks. It's not accidental but an intentional lie on the pretext of "innocent discussion."

Now I know we are supposed to be engaged in civil conversations with those on the right, but I'm beginning to think we'd be better off with silver, crucifixes, holy water, and stakes.

No doubt there are some who will accuse me of betraying President Obama's cry for civility by what I have just written. But I disagree.

Civility is never the enemy of calling out liars and sometimes you can successfully walk the path of calm dialogue only after calling out those whose livelihood it is to litter that path with clutter.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Know Your LGBT History - Mahogany

Ever since his stellar work in the legendary motion picture Psycho (1960), the late Anthony Perkins was forever typecast as either a jittery momma's boy or a borderline maniac on the brink of going off.

And his work in the Diana Ross vehicle, Mahogany (1975), was an extension of this.

In this movie, where Ross portrays a woman from the ghetto who becomes a successful fashion model then designer, Perkins portrays the photographer who discovers her, christens her as "Mahogany," becomes her champion, and then tries to kill her.

And he does all of this because he supposedly is in love with her. However, Perkins's character has a problem with accepting his homosexuality, as this scene shows him pathetically trying to seduce Ross. When the sex doesn't work out, he turns on her, humiliating her little by little (ignore the brief interlude with Billy Dee Williams fighting the dock worker):

Finally, everything come to a head in this scene, when he attempts what almost every self-hating gay man in the movies does - suicide. However, he is intent on taking Ross with him (the good part starts at .30 seconds):

The deliberate cluelessness of the religious right and other Friday midday news briefs

Teacher claims admin unresponsive to bullying - Then they need to get on the ball.

Vanderbilt Maintains Policy, But Religious Right Declares Victory - The deliberate cluelessness of the religious right personified.

Minneapolis school board passes stringent anti–gay bullying, pro-LGBT curriculum - Good news from Minnesota!

WATCH: CNN's T.J. Holmes Interviews Daniel Hernandez - Lgbt role models needs as much press as we can give them.

Wingnuts Back Crazy Eyes 2012 - Michele Bachmann and the religious right - a match made in the inner sanctum of an insane asylum.

BET looks at lgbts of color, destroys myths about being gay

Black Entertainment Television has done something extremely positive and it needs to garner more attention.

On its website, BET has a huge feature spotlighting issues of lgbts of color.

This feature spotlights 36 prominent lgbts of color including:

Comedian Wanda Sykes

Former Palm Spring Mayor Ron Oden

Professor, author, and social activist Angela Davis

Oscar nominated director Lee Daniels

The webpage also refutes - in very short fashion - 12 myths about the lgbt community including such questions as:

Is being gay simply about sex,
Can people change their sexual orientation
Do gays "recruit?"

In addition, BET also showcases 10 films dealing with gay issues and spotlights entertainers who have shown support for the lgbt community.

What BET is doing is monumental. It is a HUGE step because young lgbts of color are given potential role models. Also, BET is moving the conversation regarding lgbts of color from the shadows of the black community to the forefront, where it should be. It gives lgbts of color a chance to jump in the conversation rather than simply being talked about - which is nice, for a change.

And I seriously doubt that you will be hearing any pushback from folks like Peter LaBarbera and organizations like the Family Research Council talking about "balance" and "showing the other side of the argument."

You see one thing that people have overlooked when it comes to talking about the lgbt community of color is the fact that the religious right are deathly afraid of entering into any conflict with us. Oh sure they play up the gay vs. black conflict as sort of a "divide and conquer thing," but they don't want to directly confront us lgbts of color because they are afraid of being seen as racist.

It's in their best interest to keep the black and gay community angry and divided. However, with this spotlight, BET demonstrates that both communities need to get over their differences because they have more in common than realized.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Michele Malkin called out for lying about Arizona rally/memorial and other Thursday afternoon news briefs

Politifact calls Michele Malkin out for lying about last night's rally/memorial in Arizona with President Obama - Not necessarily an lgbt issue per se but highly important. Someone with this much hatred in her heart has to have a mental problem.

Video: Haley Barbour's pride parade - After he has gotten into trouble for his racism, Barbour switches to homophobia.

Fallout of a police sting in a safe place - You simply have to read this story. It is an excellent piece about police entrapment.

Gearing Up To Stop Genocide In Uganda and Spotlighting The Family - Wayne Besen lists those responsible for that awful Ugandan anti-gay bill. Awesome breakdown.

San Francisco home to first US gay museum - We need more of these across the country.

Pawlenty mingles with anti-gay hate group, wants to reinstate DADT

According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, former Minnesota Governor and potential presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty chose an interesting venue to promote his new book - the American Family Association's radio program with Bryan Fischer.

Now Fischer is infamous for his ugly statements about not only the Muslim community but lgbts. Fisher has:

•Said that “homosexuals should be disqualified from public office.” (8/5/2010)

•Insisted that gays are biased, sexually deviant felons, not to mention pedophiles, and should never serve on the Supreme Court. (4/15/2010, 4/16/2010)

•Called gay adoption “a terrible, terrible, inexcusable, inhumane thing to do to children.” (8/10/2010)

•Argued that we should“impose the same sanctions on those who engage in homosexual behavior as we do on those who engage in intravenous drug abuse." (2/3/2010)

•Wrote: “The inescapable conclusion is that gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism.” (6/10/2010)

•Said: “Hitler discovered that he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough to carry out his orders, but that homosexual solders basically had no limits and the savagery and brutality they were willing to inflict on whomever Hitler sent them after. So he surrounded himself, virtually all of the Stormtroopers, the Brownshirts, were male homosexuals.” (5/25/2010)

As we all know, the AFA has been called an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and mostly because of comments made by Fischer.

However Pawlenty was only interested in playing nice with Fischer, even to the point of talking positively of reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

Bryan, I have been a public and repeat supporter of maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell. There's a lot of reasons for that, but if you look at how the combat commanders and the combat units feel about it, the results of those kinds of surveys were different than the ones that were mostly reported in the newspaper and that is something I think we need to pay attention to. But I have been a public supporter of maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell and I would support reinstating it as well.

Now why a prospective presidential candidate would grace a program from someone who voices such awful opinions is beyond me. Let's be clear about something - if Fischer's comments had been racist or anti-Semitic, Pawlenty wouldn't have dared to come on his program.

But since they pertaining to the lgbt community, some folks may think that these comments and Pawlenty's appearance on the program of the person making then are both okay.

And it's par for the course for Pawlenty.

Ever since the buzz about his presidential aspirations was made public, Pawlenty seems to have been on a mission to establish his so-called "conservative credentials" on the backs of the lgbt community.

On May of last year, he vetoed a bill aimed at giving same-sex partners the same end-of-life rights as married couples.

In December of 2009, he backtracked from pro-gay legislation that he signed, claiming that the bill would led to third-graders being taught by "cross-dressing" teachers.

No doubt Pawlenty's mind is on the 2004 election, when anti-gay marriage amendments sent conservative voters to the polls and gave President Bush a second term.

Someone should inform Pawlenty that the lgbt community aren't exactly as compliant as we were back then. And we won't wait until someone uses us as scapegoats before we fight back.

In other words, if Pawlenty thinks he is going to get to the White House on the backs of the lgbt community, someone told him wrong.

Related posts:

Perhaps anti-gay hate groups should put a muzzle on Bryan Fischer

Family Research Council's 'we are not a hate group' campaign gets destroyed on two fronts

American Family Association will not confront reason why its considered a hate group

Hat tip to PFAW for providing the list of Fischer's comments.

Daniel Hernandez gives a lesson of reality vs. lies

I agree with President Obama's assessment during his speech last night regarding Daniel Hernandez. Hernandez, for those who aren't aware, was the intern of Congresswoman Gifford who rushed to her side after she was shot and stopped her from bleeding to death.

Whether he wants to reject the title or not, Hernandez is a hero.

More than that, his example of bravery is something to remind us of the general and basic goodness of lgbts when we have to deal with things like so:

The poor homosexuals -- they have declared war upon nature, and now nature is extracting an awful retribution (AIDS)." - Pat Buchanan

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. - Chris Buttars, Utah legislator

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 - conservative activist Kevin McCullough

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 - Linda Harvey

There is nothing "conservative" about "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it 'love' - Matt Barber

In fact, most mothers are more concerned with protecting their children from homosexual activists, who insist on their supposed 'right' to propagandize young schoolchildren. - Peter LaBarbera

Hernandez serves to remind us just who are the haters and who are the ones with love in their hearts.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Palin learns the price of constantly being on the attack

I think that Sarah Palin is getting a lot of undeserved criticism.

But I don't feel sorry for her.

Palin's dilemma reminds me of an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a show renowned for its twist endings. In particular, the episode with the criminal who gets away with the crimes he did commit but is jailed for the one crime that he had nothing to do with.

Palin's popularity relied on her reputation for pushing the envelope, being gung-ho, and constantly on the attack. From her speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention to her tour around the country for the Tea Party Movement, Palin and her supporters enjoyed her "take no prisoners" style and reaped off of the criticism of said style.

But now things have turned. Palin is learning what happens when you throw out words like "revolution" and "don't retreat, reload." To her, words pushing imagery of violent overthrow were supposed to be taken as figurative descriptions, reflecting how people should vote.

To the man who caused the Arizona massacre, Jared Loughner, words like that are meant to be taken literally with much collateral damage.

In the confusion of the aftermath, very few - , whether they were people who were eager to attack Palin or those simply trying to find solutions in the wake of the tragedy - were interested in sorting out just who was figurative and who was literal.

So while I think we should all take this lesson in - especially the media and public figures - regarding the words we use, this should especially be a lesson for Palin.

Sometimes it's not good to be perceived as always being on the hunt. It's not good to constantly want to dig elbow deep in red meat.

Not because some maniac might take you seriously, but simply because those who are assessing the actions of the maniac may group you with him, even if he wasn't listening to you in the first place.

NC official wants to end all AIDS funding and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Brown: Cut off AIDS funding - A cruel and judgmental thing to say about people with HIV/AIDS.

Video: Let's tone down rhetoric, says man who suggests gays be deported and/or criminalized - Peter Sprigg says we need to tone down the rhetoric. I would believe that if he would apologize for things he has said about the lgbt community.

UK LGBT Advocate: “Christian Homophobes Should Not Be Criminalized”- I agree. I venture to say that the majority of lgbts in America agree with this statement. But watch how the religious right will conveniently ignore it when talking about how gays supposedly want to put folks in jail.

‘My Teacher Is a Lesbian’• Coming Out at School - An excellent piece.

Jane Lynch Says Straight Audiences Not Ready For Gay Actors in Leading Roles - I don't know. It depends on the role and what the audience wants to see. I don't really like romance pictures. I'm more of into action and a gay actor playing an action hero is okay with me.

Religious right nonsense coming to South Carolina

Guess who is coming to my state of South Carolina:

This event will be held in Seneca, SC on Jan. 21. And its press release is a hoot:

We Must Rise Up and Take Back Our State. For too long, silent Americans have watched their country inch toward an existence unrecognizable to its Founders. The time to act is now!

There’s a war raging. Christianity is under attack in our schools, workplaces, and governments. Silence is a decision to stand with the enemy. Inaction is a deathblow to the God-honoring principles our country was created to allow each citizen to enjoy. Will you stand by and let the very fabric of our country be stripped apart? Will you get in the fight, stand with those who stand for liberty, and join a movement of repentance, prayer, and revolution?

The time has come. The choice is yours. Join America’s leading constitutional scholar and Christian apologist Mat Staver for Liberty Counsel and Christian historian, David Barton at the South Carolina Awake!

Now if you want proof that this nonsense about "taking things back" is just lip service, take into account the state of South Carolina.

We have a Republican governor and Legislature. And the statewide Democratic party are in the middle of what can be termed as death throes. I'm interested to see just who Staver and Barton want to take the state back from, especially taking into account that neither of them are residents of South Carolina.

It gets more interesting:

David Barton will educate and inspire attendees about the Founding Era and America’s rich Godly heritage. Barton will look at the lives of many of the Founders and religious leaders who participated in the birth and establishment of the most literate, most productive and most powerful nation on earth.

Conveniently Barton will not talk about his habit of distorting history, his denigrating of the lgbt community via junk science, how Lawrence O'Donnell refuted him hard for it, and how he threw a "why are the homosexuals picking on me" tantrum afterwards.

And then:

Mat Staver will follow Barton’s presentation with a stirring message entitled, “Take Back America,” in which he will talk about the challenges and opportunities we have to preserve the legacy of liberty.

Of course Staver probably won't mention the exploits of his organization in the infamous Janet Jenkins vs. Lisa Miller case in which the Liberty Counsel not only tried to keep a child away from her lesbian mother but still continued to defend the other mother even after she kidnapped the child and ran away.

South Carolina definitely needs to awake in hopes of finding out that the event featuring Staver and Barton was just a simple nightmare.