Gay family in center of JC Penney Ad smacks down religious right nonsense

From Think Progress:

JC Penney recently incited backlash from the American Family Association’s One Million Moms for featuring a gay couple in one of their Fathers’ Day advertisements when OMM suggested that the department store was “promoting sin” with their inclusive advertising.

Gay couple Cooper Smith and Todd Koch responded today to the negative and positive attention their ad has received, saying that the positive support has been overwhelming and the criticism doesn’t bother them because “we’re not ashamed of our family.” Smith pointed out that the ad shouldn’t be controversial because it just reflects the day-to-day life of his family

Phony Christian blogger needs to pray for herself

Well I am in Rhode Island for Netroots Nation and it promises to be fun. I already feel rejuvenated being around so many high level lgbtq bloggers and hope to have my spirits renewed and restored.

Now I wasn't going to post anymore today but a blogging buddy of mine sent me something which I just had to talk about as yet another example of religious right hypocrisy.

A certain "Christian" blogger by the name of Stacy Harp has issued the following for me:

Praying for the Homosexual & Lesbian Community
Please share with your friends who have a heart to see the lost come to Christ.



Please pray for Alvin McEwen today.  Alvin isn't known by many people, but he is an active homosexual blogger who advocates daily for homosexuality.  He has written about how he is a Christian on his blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and recently made headlines when he claimed to have "exposed" a right wing group of Christian leaders who he said were out to commit a cyber attack on the gay community. (He was quickly found to be found out wrong.)

Pray for Alvin's emotional healing and for him to come to a biblical understanding of who Christ is, so that he will know the true freedom found in a personal relationship with Christ and leave the sin of homosexuality behind.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

What prompted Harp to call me out? I don't know. I guess I have been posting some very good anti-religious right stuff lately.

Anyway, Harp alluded to the Truth4Time story I broke earlier this year and that I stand by.

However, since Harp wants to bring up the past, let's bring up hers as a way of giving anyone not familiar with her an idea of what type of "Christian" she is.

Not surprisingly enough, she is the type who masks her ignorant raw homophobia behind a phony religious veneer. Years ago, she attempted to bait a friend of mine, Joe Brummer, into a ridiculous conversation about gay sex. Below, via Pam's House Blend, are various comments made by Harp (I apologize in advance for the language):

Stacy: You’re in total denial. And for you to enjoy sex with a man, you know, whether it’s anal or oral, whatever the heck it is you do, that’s just wrong. It’s perverted – It’s disgusting – It’s unnatural – and you know it.

And:

Stacy: Homosexuality is all about sex, and that’s disgusting. You don’t teach sex to three year olds. I’m sorry, but that just is not appropriate. You do not do that.

Stacy: It’s not a lie, it’s totally the truth. That’s what makes you gay, is that you like to put your penis in somebody’s asshole. That’s what makes you gay.

And:

Stacy: No, you know it’s…so let me ask you something…

Joe: Regardless, I now have less than fifteen minutes to get myself out the door.

Stacy: So if you putting your penis…

Joe: I’m hanging up now.

Stacy: …in somebody’s asshole, and this isn’t about sex…

Joe: I am not going to have a sexual conversation with you.
  
Stacy: …then I don’t know what is.

And:

Stacy: Putting your penis in somebody’s asshole…

Joe: …to have a sexual conversation with you.

Stacy: …is all about anal sex, and that’s what you do…

Joe: Stacy, you have a nice day.

Stacy: …right? That’s exactly what you do.

Joe: Have a nice day, thank you for calling.

Stacy: That’s what you do.

Stacy Harp: Ladies and gentlemen, that was Joe Brummer, denying, that homosexuality, is all about putting his penis, in somebody’s asshole. You know, and uh, it’s really interesting, that you know, he doesn’t have the guts to admit that, but now he wants to make it all about, not that. So, you know, there ya go, I mean this is just evidence that somebody who supports the fact that homosexuality is about um-is about um, you know having kids, having sex with kids, ‘n stuff, unbelievable.

So folks, who do you think needs prayer more? Me or Stacy?

Homophobic church continues to face backlash

Editor's note - there will be no midday post today because I will be traveling to Rhode Island to attend Netroots Nation

The church where that three-year-child sang "Ain't No Homos Gonna Make It To Heaven" continues to feel much deserved backlash via CNN:




Hat tip to Towleroad.

A month of anti-gay hell

From Think Progress has come up with something which NEEDS to be shared far and wide:

As perhaps a backlash of North Carolina’s passage of Amendment One and President Obama’s support for marriage equality, May proved to be rife with anti-gay rhetoric in churches across the country. Here is the month’s worth of anti-gay rhetoric compiled into one video:

Marvel Comics proves religious right has unhealthy obsession with gay community

I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of comic books. Now one comic book in particular that I have found to be very interesting is The Punisher by Marvel Comics.

The Punisher is about a former soldier whose family was massacred by the Mafia. Since that time, he has carried a very effective one-man war against crime.

In the last few years, The Punisher comic book has been the showcase of, shall we say, repulsive actions, all viewed in living color including but not limited to:

Eviscerations (i.e. disembowlements), cannibalism, rapes, immolations (i.e. setting people on fire), close-ups of violent shootings, death by snakes, piranhas, sharks, polar bears (the scene in which the polar bear swipes the man's head clean off was simply incredible), beheadings, the destruction of an entire island by a nuclear bomb, a tossing of a gangster from the top of the Empire State building (in the full view of a young teenager who got super excited over it), testicular castrations . . .

I think you get the picture.

But not once, I repeat, not once have any religious right group  raised anything resembling anger, outrage, disgust, or downright shock over any of these things.

But these groups are crying bloody murder now and you know what they are angry about?

The wedding of a gay superhero, Northstar,  to his boyfriend in another Marvel comic:

From that lovely bastion of phony news, One News Now:

Pro-family groups are outraged by the recent announcement about plans for some comic book super heroes to embrace alternate lifestyles.

. . . Focus on the Family's Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies, says it is "shameful" to press this issue upon children.

"What's really disturbing about this is the real arrogance of these cartoon creators who think their job is not just to entertain, but to indoctrinate, to preach at us," he observes. "We go to church to be preached at; we don't go to comics to do that. And again, it's just arrogance on the part of these creators."

He also dubs it a political move. "It's kind of activist comic books, which we don't need. Comic books are for entertainment; they're not for activism, social activism," Stanton contends.

. . .Monica Cole of OneMillionMoms.com, an advocacy branch of the American Family Association, agrees.

"DC Comics and Marvel, they have an agenda, and it's to indoctrinate children at a younger age," she laments. "And they're doing it. They're being successful at it."

Now I usually end a piece like this with a quirky comment, but I don't think I need to.

Sometimes the idiocy of the religious right speaks very well for itself.

'By all means, discriminate against gays' and other Monday midday news briefs

Something to listen to when you go to the bathroom:



In other news:

Owner of Oak Park gay club believes weekend fire suspicious - Great. Now arson.

Over 300 Mormons Join Utah Gay Pride Parade; Mormons Building Bridges Send Message Of Love - Extremely admirable by members of the Mormon community.

A Win for Gay Mothers in New Mexico - More good news for our community.

Protest Held At "Ain't No Homos" Church - Regardless of what members say in public, I bet that church is hating that child's song now.

Lawsuit - Doctor refused to treat HIV-positive patient and insulted him

There has been a lawsuit filed in New Jersey which should send a chill up the spine of members of the lgbtq community.

According to Courthouse News Service:

A gay HIV-positive man says in court that a hospital denied him treatment and visitors, as the doctor remarked, "This is what he gets for going against God's will."

Joao Simoes sued Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Union County Superior Court. He says that the hospital admitted him in August 2011, but that "requests for his lifesaving medication were not honored," and his sister was denied visitation rights.

Susan V. Borga, M.D., from the Department of Behavioral Health and Psychiatry, allegedly approached Simoes while he was confined to the hospital's mental health wing. Borga is not named as a defendant.

Simoes says Borga was unfazed when another patient told her that he had just gotten out of prison, where he served time for murder. But her reaction was allegedly different when Simoes said that he did not work because he planned to go back to school and because of his HIV status.

Borga then allegedly asked Simoes how he got HIV, to which he responded, "I got it from unprotected sex."

The complaint then says that "Dr. Borga closed the plaintiff's file, put it down and looked at plaintiff with disgust on her face and asked, coldly, "Is that from sex with men?"

Simoes says he responded affirmatively and that, "immediately after hearing this, Dr. Borga proceeded to exit the room."

After this consultation, no nurse or doctor came to see Simoes, even though he told them that he needed to take his HIV medication, according to the complaint.

When the hospital finally permitted Simoes to call his personal physician on the third day of his stay, he learned that the doctor had already spoken with Borga about Simoes' medication, according to the complaint.

Borga allegedly responded: "You must be gay, too, if you're his doctor."

"Additionally, apparently realizing that plaintiff's doctor had an accent, Dr. Borga exclaimed, 'What, do you need a translator?' to which plaintiff's doctor had again responded that Dr. Borga needed to give plaintiff his HIV medication," the complaint states.

"Dr. Borga responded to plaintiff's doctor by stating, 'This is what he gets for going against God's will,' and hung up the phone on plaintiff's doctor."

More to the story here

If true, this awful story in itself highlights the blatant disrespect that some gays fear that they will face from physicians if they are out. Studies have shown that fear of stigma play a huge stumbling block in the successful treatment of gay men in combating disease, especially AIDS:

One study found that participants who reported high levels of stigma were more than four times more likely to report poor access to care.16 These factors all contribute to the expansion of the epidemic (as a reluctance to determine HIV status or to discuss or practice safe sex means that people are more likely to infect others) and a higher number of AIDS-related deaths. An unwillingness to take an HIV test means that more people are diagnosed late, when the virus has already progressed to AIDS, making treatment less effective and causing early death.

An even more noxious notion is the simple fact that not only does stimga play a role in the spread of AIDS, but when phony experts like Peter Sprigg from the Family Research Council cite the numbers of gay men with AIDS, they will blame the sexual orientation of these gay men as causing the diagnosis, while deliberately omitting how prejudice and stigma plays a part.

Book blows the lid off of gay link to black gospel music

Clara Ward

THIS promises to be interesting.

 According to a recent article in The New York Times, Anthony Heilbut - "producer, reviewer and historian of black gospel music for nearly a half-century,"- is coming out with a new book which promises to blow the lid off of how the black church embraces gays and lesbians in gospel music while at the same time denying their existence and espousing about how homosexuality is a sin:

Rosetta Tharpe

 . . . amid the volatile national debate about same-sex marriage, Mr. Heilbut has thrown the doors open to what he calls the “secret closet” of gays in gospel. In a lengthy chapter of his forthcoming book, “The Fan Who Knew Too Much,” he not only pays homage to the artistic role of gays and bisexuals, but also accuses black Christians, clergy and laity alike, of hypocrisy in opposing same-sex marriage while relying on gay people for much of the sacred music of the black church.

James Cleveland

The timing of Mr. Heilbut’s book, and the intensity of his argument, has thrust it from the dusty corners of arts criticism into the heat and light of the political arena in a presidential election year. Same-sex marriage, more than any other issue, has forced the black church as an institution to try to reconcile its dueling strains of ideological liberalism and theological conservatism. At the congregational level, it has meant the awkward coexistence of gay musicians and antigay preaching and casual ridicule.

“The family secret has become public knowledge,” Mr. Heilbut writes in his book, “and the black church, once the very model of civil rights, has acquired a new image, as the citadel of intolerance.” Left unchecked, he continues, the trend “would introduce an ugly but not uninformed term, ‘black redneck.’ ”

As the article points out, it would seem that there is more of an emphasis on what this situation has to do with the argument of marriage equality than lgbtqs of color in the Black church in general.

While this is unfortunate, the good thing is that this book will no doubt continue a discussion of the hypocrisy of some vestiges of the Black church as it pertains to the lgbtq community:

Mr. Heilbut, 71, discovered gospel while exploring Harlem as a teenage member of the N.A.A.C.P. As he went on to write “The Gospel Sound” and to produce award-winning gospel records, he was also immersed in the everyday homophobia of the black church. “I heard it forever,” he said in a recent interview. “ ‘He’s a great singer, but he’s a sissy.’ Or, ‘He did a terrible thing, but at least he’s not a sissy.’ ”

His reasons for breaking his silence are partly practical. Many of the musicians he identifies as gay or bisexual — James Cleveland, Alex Bradford, Clara Ward, Sister Rosetta Tharpe — are now dead, and in Mr. Cleveland’s case, dead from AIDS.

In the book, Mr. Heilbut recounts a conversation with another gay musician, Charles Campbell, shortly before his death. When Mr. Heilbut asked if he could “tell his story and quote him,” Mr. Campbell replied: “Sure, baby, I think it needs to be told. It all needs to be told.”

Read more of this article here

Related post:  

NPR exposes the complex relationship between the Black Church and gays

Know Your LGBT History - A brief history of gay relationships

No one famous today. Just a reminder that we and our relationships have existed long before Stonewall:



Past Know Your LGBT History posts:

'NOM pouring money into Maryland anti-marriage equality fight' and other Friday midday news briefs

Blogging for LGBT Families Day 2012: Contributed Posts - It’s Blogging for LGBT Families Day!

Illinois School Board Bans Family Diversity Book - Because gay folks don't have families (sarcasm alert).

 How NOM's seemingly limitless cash well is shaping Maryland - NOM literally pouring money into Maryland's anti-marriage equality fight.

  Writer James Robinson Shines a Light on DC Entertainment's Latest Gay Superhero, Earth-Two's Green Lantern - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Green Lantern of Earth Two is gay. Now about NOM and Maryland . . .

  Report: anti-LGBT murders jumped 11 percent in 2011 - And this too. 

Anti-gay groups ignoring researcher's call to stop using his work

From Truth Wins Out:

In 1973, Dr. Robert Spitzer led the charge to successfully have homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which is its list of mental disorders. This was a major victory and remains one the gay movement’s signature achievements.

Given his stature and key role in declassifying gay people as sick, it was quite a surprise when Dr. Spitzer published a non-peer reviewed 2001 study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior that claimed some “highly motivated” gay people could reach their “heterosexual potential” through prayer and therapy. When he announced his work at the 2001 APA meeting in New Orleans, it created a media sensation. An Associated Press story called his findings “explosive.”

In 2012, Dr. Spitzer recanted in the American Prospect magazine and in a letter to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, obtained by Truth Wins Out, Dr. Spitzer asked that his study be withdrawn. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show and the New York Times covered his apology.

During an interview with  Lisa Darden and Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen (see above video), Spitzer said the following:

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is still misusing your study and a video featuring you remains prominently placed on the group’s website. Would you like to address PFOX?

“I ask that PFOX stop showing this video. This is quite misleading. I had no way, really, of knowing when I examined any particular subject whether they really had changed or whether they were deceiving themselves or even outright lying when they claimed that they had changed. So, please don’t show this [video] to anyone.”

The retraction of your study must be very upsetting to anti-gay organizations.

“I’m curious as to whether they have said anything or how they live with the fact that the one study that they have always been citing has now been taken away from them. I would think that’s a pretty rough place to be in.”

Is the “Ex-Gay” Industry capable of unbiased research on homosexuality?

“The people who are pushing the ‘ex-gay’ idea are so full of hatred for homosexuality, really, that I don’t think they can respond in an ethical way.”

They are responding by ignoring Spitzer. The Family Research Council continues to link to his work (the following comes up on FRC's webpage when I google Spitzer's full name) and PFOX hasn't removed any citation of his work from its webpage.

While we shouldn't be surprised, the big question is what are we going to do about it?

Come on religious right, own your disease!

I am disappointed in the religious right.

With all of this free-flowing homophobia going around, one would think that Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher or their organizations would be making comments.

At the very least, listening to pastors say that gays should be put to death and three-year-olds singing songs about "homos not getting to Heaven" should be sending the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer into some type of orgasm.

I personally think that they are avoiding these controversies like it's a big pile of dog dirt that they are too lazy to clean up from their front lawn. And why shouldn't they be? In this case, the dog belongs solely to them.

All of that talk about gays harming children, trying to destroy marriage, and creating general mayhem doesn't just go down a rabbit hole. It attaches itself somewhere, festers, and grows like a disease. Case in point:

'DOMA smacked down again! Thank Maggie Gallagher and Paul Cameron' and other Thursday midday news briefs

BREAKING: Two Republican Judges Declare DOMA Unconstitutional - There are sooooo many sweet things involved in this victory. For one, it was a unanimous decision by the three judge panel, two which are Republican appointees. 

 And then there are two especially sweet things you need to know: 

A. Boehner's attempted defense of DOMA has been doomed to fail from the beginning, which was something I predicted in August of last year when I broke the story about how Paul Clement, the lawyer defending DOMA, was citing junk science in his defense, including that of the discredited Paul Cameron. - Boehner's DOMA defense contains junk science, bad sources 

  B. And something to make the pot even sweeter is the fact that Clement attempted to cite the National Organization's Maggie Gallagher as an expert in a manner which would have allowed her to avoid cross-examination by the lawyers seeking to strike down DOMA. To this day, I don't think anyone has ever asked why and that is a shame. - Boehner’s DOMA lawyers want to cite Maggie Gallagher, but avoid cross-examination  

In other news:

 California state Senate approves bill to ban ‘ex-gay’ therapy - We are almost there in California!

 In Milwaukee Post, Cardinal Authorized Paying Abusers - Cardinal Timothy Dolan implies that marriage equality is an attack on religious freedom. But apparently paying off pedophiles and lying about it is okay? 

Mormon group to march in Utah Pride Parade - Good for them!  

Tony Perkins Lashes Out at US Tourism Ad for Featuring Gay Couple - Give it a rest, Tony! 

Church has no regrets with child singing anti-gay song

The story about the toddler being applauded in church for singing a homophobic song gets worse.

Apparently I was wrong when I guessed the child's age. He is actually three and not four. And now, the celebrity site, TMZ is reporting several sad developments:

Members of an Indiana church say they've been flooded with death threats since video of a 3-year-old proudly singing, "Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven" ... was posted on the Internet.

Multiple members of the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church in Greensburg, Indiana tell TMZ the church office has been getting harassing calls and the pastor has received death threats at his home. They also say a prayer meeting scheduled for this evening at church had to be moved to a secret location.

We're told they are looking into increasing security, but for now the congregation is handling it ... taking turns watching over the church.

One member says Pastor Jeff Sangl is extremely worried about his safety -- and this morning he and his wife left for vacation without telling anyone where they were going.

I am not for death threats. But I am for public humiliation when such warrants it and based upon what TMZ says next, the church deserves all of the public humiliation it receives:

 Despite the threats, all the members we spoke to have no regrets about the song getting posted online -- in fact one said, "The people who are upset just don't read the word of God. If we don't teach the children the truth early they will never learn."

As for the thunderous applause after the hate-filled song -- we're told, "Of course we applauded a child who is singing a song about God."

When one thinks about a child singing a song about God, "Yes Jesus Loves Me" comes to mind, not some homophobic tripe which puts a child in a position to judge - something the Bible has said we should not do (Matthew 7:1).

What's next? A song about how David (who killed Goliath) paid a dowry of 200 foreskins to King Saul of Israel? After all, that's in the Bible.

I wonder how much of an ovation would the child receive for that? It always amazes and saddens me that people pull the "Biblical truth" card when it comes to criticizing other people but yet will pay no attention to how that truth requires introspection before passing judgement.

The religious right claims that America is in ANOTHER moral crisis

The following is another one of those God-awful religious right produced "America is in a moral crisis" video.

How many times does that make it? What are we? A country or Erica Kane from All My Children.

One of these days, I am going to do a google search on all of the times the religious right have claimed that this country is in a "moral crisis."

Seems to me that a crisis denotes a coming catastrophe and if this country hasn't gone over the abyss yet, then someone or some people are yanking our chains.

From Religious Right Watch:

America is on the brink of collapse, and Truth in Action Ministries is warning in a new film, as a result of gay rights, liberalism and secular government. The group unveiled The Price of Freedom following a series of films blaming America’s ills on the IRS and homosexuality, calling for its criminalization. The film features Mike Huckabee, anti-gay activist Harry Jackson, Liberty Counsel’s Harry Mihet, Movieguide’s Ted Baehr and tea party activist Paul Jehle, along with the predictably ominous scenes from gay rights rallies and parades. Others participating in the film include Southern Baptist Convention’s Richard Land and Congressmen Todd Akin and Cliff Stearns.

“We have created a future for our children which is very negative in the sense that if they live in a socialized culture, in a perverse culture, all of the pillars of society are going to be pulled out from under them,” Baehr asserted. Jackson spoke of a “head-to-head battle” between “liberal, secular people” and the church, which Mihet said can prevent “moral chaos.”

Watch highlights here:

'Brian Brown agrees to debate Dan Savage' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

NOM’s Brian Brown To Dine And Debate With Dan Savage - My money is on Dan Savage but if Brian Brown follows the "Maggie Gallagher Book of Debate," he will alternately attempt to boggart the debate by interrupting Savage while pretending to be the victim. Also, let's play a drinking game as to how many times Brown will whine about being "unfairly labeled as a bigot."

 Lawsuits Planned To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage In Illinois - This promises to be very interesting.

Texas may get 1st gay legislator since 2003 - "May get," my foot. She won!! 

 Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper to Release His First Book - One of my blogging buddies, the Arn Anderson to my Tully Blanchard will be releasing his first book next month! Awesome!

 Maryland Gay Marriage Opponents Announce They Have Enough Signatures To Force Referendum - Surprising no one. The big question is how many lies will they tell in their attempts to defeat marriage equality. Hell, how many lies did they tell to get the signatures?

 Gene Robinson, First Openly Gay Anglican Bishop, Celebrates 65th Birthday - Finally, Happy Birthday to a great man! 

Pastors talk about killing gays, child says 'homos' won't make it to heaven

According to my online pal, Jeremy Hooper, the fact that gays and our relationships are getting more of a positive limelight is obviously beginning to scare some people.

He has tracked two unfortunate cases of pastors in the pulpit advocating killing gays:





But for sheer shock, Jeremy has to take a backseat to what looks like a four-year-old singing about how gays aren't going to heaven:

Wow, we don’t know what to say about this video. It’s a video of a young boy in what looks to be a church setting singing.

“I know the bible’s right, somebody’s wrong,” he says. And then the child goes on to say, “ain’t no homos gonna make it to heaven.”

The congregation jumps up to cheer.

The video was initially been removed from youtube for hate speech, but someone else made a copy of it:



Just in case it's removed again, go here to see it.

I know what Gandhi once said about those who hate you - "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

But DAMN! It's hell when they fight you, isn't it?

Now I know not all Christians believe this way but I wish those who don't would stand up and be a bit more vocal in calling out those who are so venomously anti-gay.

Alveda King speaks about her accusation against Bayard Rustin . . . or does she?

Alveda King

Today, I conducted a very short, very interesting (to say the least) interview with Alveda King, Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr's niece.

The interview stemmed from recent accusations she made about her uncle's gay aide and the architect of the 1963 March on Washington, Bayard Rustin. Ms. King charged in a statement :

"The 21st century homosexual lobby likes to point to the professional relationship between my uncle Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bayard Rustin, his openly homosexual staffer who left the movement at the height of the campaign. Rustin attempted to convince Uncle M. L. that homosexual rights were equal with civil rights. Uncle M. L. did not agree, and would not attach the homosexual agenda to the 20th century civil rights struggles. So Mr. Rustin resigned.

Bayard Rustin

That's simply not true. According to several sources, including the book Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, Rustin resigned because several other black leaders were jealous of King's influence and were going to spread the story that he and King were lovers.

Earlier today, I spoke to Eugene Vigil, Ms. King's assistant. He told me that he forwarded comments I made on her blog to her and that she may be calling me. I seriously doubted that she would. You see, the comments I left on her page had been removed (but have since been restored.) You can imagine my surprise when she called me a few hours later.

Her tone was cordial but cautionary. I imagine she didn't exactly appreciate me branding her statements as lies.

In spite of this, the interview went fine at first. She said that she would be emailing me a column from a lesbian which would prove her accusation.

She also said that I had to understand that she, being a 61-year-old woman, had lived through the Civil Rights Movement and that made her privy to certain conversations of those involved.  I asked her what specifically did she allegedly hear regarding Rustin attempting to get MLK to connect the civil rights movement with gay equality.

She refused to go into detail, explaining to me she would not debate the words of the deceased because she felt it was disrespectful. That was when I pointed out to her that she had already begun the debate by making accusations against Rustin.

And that's when the interview went downhill fast.

We spent several minutes practically talking over each other. She kept saying that she would send me a column by a lesbian which would supposedly prove her point. I, however, told her that she would have to give me more information than that and if she was privy to certain conversations, why couldn't she give me the details of said conversations.

I also have to admit that I was put off by Ms. King's constant mentioning of the column "by a lesbian." She would not say this woman's name until I asked her. She finally told me that the lesbian in question was Irene Monroe, an ordained minister, religion columnist, public theologian,  motivational speaker and a person who I have extreme admiration for.

Needless to say that I was interested in reading if Ms. Monroe's words validated Alveda's assertions. However, I continued to press Ms. King to give me facts as to the personal conversations she allegedly heard.

That was when she hung up on me.

Now, the information Ms. King sent me from Monroe was a piece entitled What Did Martin Luther King Do When Confronted With Homosexuality?

And the portion Ms. King was talking about which supposedly validated her claim about Rustin was this:

SADLY, BAYARD RUSTIN, the gay man who was chief organizer and strategist for the 1963 March on Washington that further catapulted Martin Luther King onto the world stage, was not the beneficiary of King’s dream.

In a spring 1987 interview with “Open Hands,” a resource for ministries affirming the diversity of human sexuality, Rustin stated that he pushed King to speak up on his behalf, but King did not. In John D’Emilo’s book “Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin,” D’Emilo wrote: “Rustin offered to resign in the hope that he would force the issue. Much to his chagrin, King did not reject the offer. At the time, King was also involved in a major challenge to the conservative leadership of the National Baptist Convention, and one of his ministerial lieutenants in the fight was also gay. Basically, King said, ‘I can’t take on two queers at one time.’”

The piece in question by Ms. Monroe was actually titled Monroe View: The King family's mixed legacy.

 It was written in 2007 and it does include the above passage.

But nowhere in that passage does Monroe indicate that Rustin tried to convince King to connect gay and civil rights. But unfortunately, however, Monroe did not into detail as to what exactly did Rustin want King to speak on his behalf about.

She corrected that error in a March 22, 2012 piece entitled Bayard Rustin: One of the Tallest Trees in Our Forest. Here is what she said at that time:

African-American ministers involved in the civil rights movement would have nothing to do with Rustin, and they intentionally spread rumors throughout the movement that King was gay because of his close friendship with Rustin.

In a spring 1987 interview with Rustin in Open Hands, a resource for ministries affirming the diversity of human sexuality, Rustin recalls that difficult period quite vividly:

Martin Luther King, with whom I worked very closely, became very distressed when a number of the ministers working for him wanted him to dismiss me from his staff because of my homosexuality. Martin set up a committee to discover what he should do. They said that, despite the fact that I had contributed tremendously to the organization ... they thought I should separate myself from Dr. King. This was the time when [Rev. Adam Clayton] Powell threatened to expose my so-called homosexual relationship with Dr. King.

When Rustin pushed King to speak up on his behalf, King did not. In John D'Emilio's book Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, he writes the following on the matter:

Rustin offered to resign in the hope that his would force the issue. Much to his chagrin, King did not reject the offer. At the time, King was also involved in a major challenge to the conservative leadership of the National Baptist Convention, and one of his ministerial lieutenants in the fight was also gay.

"Basically King said I can't take on two queers at on time," one of Rustin's associated recollected later.

And there you have it.

Alveda King bases her false accusation about Rustin attempting to manipulate MLK on a passage of a column taken out of context and comments she claims to have heard but won't go into detail about.

Draw your own conclusions as to Ms. King's credibility, folks.

As for me, I said I was determined to receive an answer one way or another. And I've got my answer.

I almost wish I could say that it wasn't what I suspected before I interviewed her. But it's not.

Whatever the case may be, I've done my duty. A great man was wronged and I hope that I did what was necessary to rectify that wrong.

'Negative breakthrough in Alveda King/Bayard Rustin controversy' and other Tuesday midday news briefs

First, an update about the Alveda King/Bayard Rustin controversy. There has been a small breakthrough. I spoke to Eugene Vigil, Ms. King's assistant. He told me that he forwarded my comments to her and she may be calling me. I seriously doubt that she will. You see, the comments I left on her page HAVE BEEN REMOVED. At any rate, I am determined to get an answer one way or the other concerning her untrue accusation that Rustin attempted to manipulate Martin Luther King, Jr into connecting gay rights with the African-American civil rights movement.

 In other news:

 Otis Moss, III Challenges Fellow Black Clergy On Marriage Equality For Gays And Lesbians - Kudos to Minister Moss!

 Louis Farrakhan Critiques Obama's Gay Marriage Endorsement - Well look who just jumped in out of the woodwork. With all due respect, I made it a point not to attend Farrakhan's call for a Million Man March and I'm not about to pay any attention to his words about a black man who is truly trying to change the nation for the better. The funny part is let's see how the right will embrace Farrakhan's words after years of branding him as a troublemaker.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner: Tony Perkins - Tony Perkins has agreed to come to dinner at the home of a same-sex family when he and his wife "receive the invitation to find a time that works.” Draw your own conclusions there.

Video: Richard Cohen strengthens marriage movement's unbreakable 'ex-gay' ties - Speaking of Alveda King, check out who she has been hanging around with in Spain.

Barber: NAACP's Support for Marriage Equality is Offensive and Demeaning - Matt Barber just said that gays have never been victims of lynchings. That's right. Being beaten to death, set on fire, castrated, or generally having the hell kicked out of us doesn't technically count as a lynching (eyerolling) 

Alveda King needs to put up or shut up about her Bayard Rustin accusation

Alveda King

Last Wednesday, Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. put out a statement to address the push back she received from criticizing the NAACP. The NAACP passed a resolution supporting marriage equality and King did not agree with it because she has made a "name" for herself by speaking against marriage equality and gay rights in general.

Among other things she said in the statement was the following:

"The 21st century homosexual lobby likes to point to the professional relationship between my uncle Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bayard Rustin, his openly homosexual staffer who left the movement at the height of the campaign. Rustin attempted to convince Uncle M. L. that homosexual rights were equal with civil rights. Uncle M. L. did not agree, and would not attach the homosexual agenda to the 20th century civil rights struggles. So Mr. Rustin resigned. 

I have to tell you that when I first read that statement, I was, in street terms, pissed off to the highest levels of pissivity.

Bayard Rustin (right) with Martin Luther King, Jr.

I literally went into orbit because I knew her statement wasn't accurate. According to several sources, most specifically the book Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio, Bayard Rustin resigned because prominent black leaders, specifically the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, had gotten jealous of King's influence and were going to accuse him and the openly gay Rustin of being lovers.

It was some of these same leaders who did not want Rustin to have anything to do with the 1963 March on Washington, but labor leader A. Philip Randolph insisted that Rustin be involved. And Rustin proceeded to coordinate probably the most successful march in the nation's history.

Furthermore Rustin began speaking about gay issues in the 1980s at the behest of his partner, Walter Naegle. This was over two decades after MLK's death.

Consequently, I wrote a post not only correcting King's assertions but also challenging her designation as a black leader because, being honest about Ms. King's "credentials," if she were not the niece of MLK, no one would care what she had to say.  She was a child during the civil rights movement so it's safe to say that she was not included in King's inner circle and nor was privy to his beliefs or thoughts.

I felt a little satisfied with what I wrote but gradually, it became not enough for me. I got many kudos and literal pats on the backs but that wasn't satisfying because Alveda King's unchallenged inaccurate assertion of Rustin was still out there.

Bayard Rustin is one of my idols and a very important figure in the fight for equality. He was an integral part of the civil rights movement. He not only coordinated the 1963 March on Washington, but he also influence Dr. King when it came to nonviolent protest. However, he remained in the background because he was also openly gay. Even though I know he never sought the spotlight, Rustin should have gotten some appreciation for his work and some knowledge by the general population of what he had done while he was alive.

Slowly but surely, he is now getting what he deserves in terms of name recognition.

But then Ms. Alveda King proceeds to spread false stories about Rustin in order to exploit the supposed difference of opinion between the gay and African-American community on the subject of gay equality. Her statement is damaging because some people are still not aware of Bayard Rustin's contributions and they could actually believe that tripe she spread. Subsequently they see won't Rustin as a tireless fighter for equality - which he was - but someone who was attempting to manipulate MLK for his own purposes.

It more than bothers me. It unnerves me that Bayard Rustin, this great man who never really got his due, could be further denied because the knowledge of his work and existence interferes with the plans of a wannabe activist exploiting the name of her famous uncle.

And it also bothered me that other than myself, very few people - and even fewer organizations such as GLAAD, HRC, or even the NAACP - called out Ms. King for her inaccurate statement.

So I have taken further action

The following is what I wrote on Alveda King's blog:

a.mcewen says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
May 28, 2012 at 7:10 PM

 Dear Ms. King,

 You told a blatant lie. Rustin never tried to convince King of anything. Rustin resigned because several black leaders were jealous of King’s influence and one of them – the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell – was going to accuse King and Rustin of being lovers. Rustin didn’t really start talking about gay issues until the 1980s at the behest of his partner Walter Naegle. I am interested as to where you received your information. You cannot speak the truth in love if the words you speak are inaccurate.
 I have included my email address – charlekenghis@aol.com and I would like to know where you received your information regarding your claims of Rustin.

a.mcewen says:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

May 28, 2012 at 7:13 PM

BTW, I received my information from several sources including the book Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D’Emilio.
And again, I ask that you supply the proof of your charges. I have supplied my email address and will be expecting some type of answer from you. Thank you.

The POINT is will Ms. King give me a satisfactory answer or even post my comments?

I will be monitoring her blog. If she gives an answer, I will be very interested as to what it will be and I will post it.

If she chooses not to answer my questions or if my questions are deleted, then WE ALL would have our answer, wouldn't we?

And if the latter happens, we all need to let it be known about Ms. King's credibility - or definitely lack thereof - when she attempts to pass herself off as a leader in the black community.

The ball is now in your court, Ms. King. You called the game. Now you must play it.


Editor's note - I ask that anyone feeling compelled to go to Ms. King's blog and leave comments demonstrate the same dignity and grace that Bayard Rustin showed as a true leader in the fight for equality. Please remember that ignorant and juvenile comments will most likely be given center stage as indicative of the entire gay community at large and thus will allow an evasion of the question at hand. So while you may feel the need to become so angry that you speak before thinking, please be aware such comments can the cause more damage than good to not only our fight for equality but also Mr. Rustin's reputation.

The days when gays were put behind fences

North Carolina pastor Charles Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church ignited a firestorm last week with his suggestion that gays and lesbians be encased behind electrified fences until they died out.

Yesterday, there was a huge protest of over 1,000 people angry at his words.

Meanwhile, from what I understand, Worley received a standing ovation from over 100 members of his church for his words. This shouldn't be surprising, seeing that members of his church actually defended his words on national television on the grounds that he was "merely" speaking the truth in "Christian love."

We are all missing the context. What Worley suggested is nothing new. In fact it has been tried. The fences may not have been all electrified but the objective was the same:



I should point out that I wanted to post other videos, but this is the tamest one I could find.

But if you want to see one of the others I rejected, go here. It's not pretty.

And may God help us all if we refuse to remember the past so much that we applaud its mistakes.

Maine churches fighting marriage equality via the collection plate

Even if this legal, I don't think that it's morally right. It's one thing for church members to vote as their conscience dictates, but when the church itself becomes a tax-exempt political machine, we have problems.

From the NY Daily News:

Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father’s Day to kick off a fundraising campaign for the lead opposition group to November’s ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages.

Between 150 and 200 churches are expected to raise money for the Protect Marriage Maine political action committee, said Carroll Conley Jr., executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine evangelical organization and a member of the PAC. Conley is also trying to drum up support for the Maine campaign from religious leaders from around the country.

It’s unusual, but not unheard of, for churches to take up collections for political causes. Maine’s Catholic diocese says it raised about $80,000 with a designated collection in 2009 in its effort to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, which was passed by the Legislature that year and later rejected by voters. The Catholic Church isn’t actively campaigning this time, instead focusing on teaching parishioners about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

Father’s Day, June 17, seemed an appropriate time to kick off this year’s fundraising campaign because of the day’s focus on family, Conley said. Additional collection-plate offerings at churches are expected in the months ahead.

Read more about the story here

Know Your LGBT History - Bessie Smith

There are so many stories about the life of legendary blues singer Bessie Smith. Let's clear up two. No, her death in an automobile accident was not the result of being denied entry at a white hospital. And yes she was bisexual and, to put it nicely, a bad ass one.

Bessie Smith - (1894-1937):

Bessie Smith was born poor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her parents died when she was eight years old and she began singing to support her family at age seven. She sang on street corners with her brother accompanying her on guitar.

Bessie Smith went on to become one of the most successful Black performers of her day. Her album "Downhearted Blues," released in 1923, was the best selling blues record of its time. At the height of her career, she was making $2,000 a week. Quite a sum for those days.

Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey:

At age 17, Bessie Smith met Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and went on the road with her traveling show. Ma Rainey became a mentor to Bessie Smith. There is some speculation that the two were also lovers, but little to back that up.

Bessie Smith and Jack Gee:

Bessie Smith was married to Jack Gee in 1923. Both Jack and Bessie had affairs with women and these affairs caused many fights between the two. There are accounts of Bessie firing a gun at Jack after learning of one of his affairs and of Jack threatening to kiss Bessie after finding her with a woman.

Bessie Smith ended her relationship with Jack Gee in 1929 after she found out he was having an affair with another singer.

Bessie Smith and Lillian Simpson:

Bessie Smith had affairs with various women through out her life. One that we know about is with Lillian Simpson. According to Bessie's niece Ruby, who traveled with her, Bessie Smith had an on and off affair with one of her chorus girls Lillian Simpson in 1926. At one point when Bessie spurned her, Lillian tried to kill herself and ended up in the hospital. The affair eventually ended when Lillian left the tour, afraid of Bessie's husband Jack finding out.

Bessie's Love of Women:

Bessie's husband Jack found out about her affairs with women when he caught her with a woman at a boarding house in Detroit. He threatened to kill her, but she managed to escape with her troupe and back to her train and out of town before he caught up with her.

'Fake historian - homosexuality should be illegal in spite of the Supreme Court' and other Friday midday news briefs

Barton: 'I Don't Care What the Supreme Court Says,' Homosexuality Should be Illegal - You gotta love those  religious right figures. BTW I don't think St. Paul said what David Barton claims. It sounds like a bad translation to me:

 

 And in other news

 Come on people – enough with stoking the black = homophobic meme - Pam Spaulding is right. It's time for that lie to die. 

 No contradiction: I'm black and gay - Meanwhile, L.Z. Granderson, an openly gay African-American columnist drops some more truth.  

Federal Judge Finds DOMA Unconstitutional - Look what just happened to DOMA (again)  

WHOA! Even the SBC is distancing itself from FRC honoree Ron Baity (and Charles Worley and Sean Harris) - You know things are getting weird when the Southern Baptist Convention begins to distance itself from pastors for being too anti-gay.

 Long Island School Inexplicably Suspends Student For Class Project About Bullying - She was reinstated and the suspension has been taken off of her record. But the entire thing is just weird. 

Religious right hypocrisy on gays raising children

Tony Perkins

One thing which was pointed out to me about Tony Perkins's interview yesterday on CNN was when he said:

"There are some same-sex couples that are probably GREAT parents."

It reminds me of the time where Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage said last year :

"there are some gay people who are wonderful parents."

But both of these figures (Perkins and Gallagher) have gone on record implying awful things about gay parenting.

For instance, Gallagher once said “at least polygamy, for all its ugly defects, is an attempt to secure stable mother-father families for children.”

And Perkins claimed his children couldn't be gay because he is "teaching them the rights ways that they are to interact as human beings"

 So which beliefs do Perkins and Gallagher hold?

If Perkins and Gallagher think that gays make good parents, then why do they campaign tooth-and-nail on the distortion that marriage equality would harm children? And why do their organizations imply awful distortions about gays harming children?

It's a matter of simply hypocrisy. But as long as no one pushes the issue, they can get away with it.

If the media won't push the issue, then perhaps it's time that we did.

Tony Perkins has another rough interview

Does anyone remember that comedy movie Airplane and the scene with the hysterical woman? The stewardess kept slapping her to calm her down. Since she was unsuccessful, another stewardess took over. And then another one. Pretty soon, a line forms behind the stewardess of people who will take their turn in attempting to calm down the hysterical woman. One man is wearing boxing gloves. One woman has a tire iron in her hand. Another woman has a gun. And so on and so on.

I was reminded of that scene because of an interview that CNN's Brooke Baldwin conducted with the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins. Now Perkins has been having a rough time recently during news interviews. He was called to the carpet on his anti-gay distortions by CNN's Soledad O'Brien and then was further knocked on his ass on MSNBC's Hardball by Congressman Barney Frank with a little assist from host Christ Matthews.

And now Baldwin seems to want to get a piece of the action. She not only takes Perkins to task but asks him point blank about his homophobia and the fact that he doesn't know any same-sex families. Of course there was room for some improvement. When Perkins goes on a tangent about what his children are taught in schools and such, I wished Baldwin would have reminded him that gay couples have children also. Still seeing Perkins squirm in the morass of his lies was satisfying.

'SPLC blasts NOM for its anti-gay lies' and other Thursday midday news briefs

National Organization for Marriage Continues to Spread Lies About Gays - The Southern Poverty Law Center blasts NOM for its lies about the gay community. Can a "hate group" designation be next? I certainly hope so.

 Welcome End of a Pseudotheory - The New York Times blasts social conservatives for their need to rely on bad studies.

  Air Force Academy Graduates First-Ever Openly Gay Cadets - Awesome!

 APA President-Elect: Ablow’s Comments Are “Misleading,” “Inaccurate,” And “Potentially Harmful” - Fox News's homophobic doctor in residence, Keith Ablow, gets his just desserts from the American Psychiatric Association.

  Underground LGBT Group Shakes Up Conservative Evangelical University - BAM! 

NPR exposes the complex relationship between the Black Church and gays

Rev. Dennis Wiley

When it comes to gays and the black church, NPR just ripped opened the closet door and all of the bones fell out. An excellent piece which needs more exposure:

Fairly or not, African-Americans have become the public face of resistance to same-sex marriage, owing to their religious beliefs and the outspoken opposition of many black pastors.

Yet the presence of gays and lesbians in black churches is common. And the fact that they often hold leadership positions in their congregations is the worst kept secret in black America.

While many black pastors condemn gays and lesbians from the pulpit, the choir lofts behind them often are filled with gay singers and musicians. Some male pastors themselves have been entangled in scandals involving alleged affairs with men.

"Persons who are in the closet serve on the deacon boards, serve in the ministry, serve in every capacity in the church," the Rev. Dennis W. Wiley, pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Maryland, says of black churches. Wiley is a prominent advocate of gay marriage. "I do believe a certain hypocrisy is there."

. . . Some say pastors' hostility cuts hard against the history of how countless black churches have flourished. The virtuosity of gay singers, musicians and composers has been the driving force in developing popular gospel choirs — even chart-topping, Grammy-winning acts — that make money for a church, help expand congregations and raise the profiles of pastors.

It all happens under an unspoken "don't ask, don't tell" custom that allows gay people to be active in the church, though closeted, and churches to reap the benefits of their membership.

Some say the arrangement is not only hypocritical, but exploitative.

"On the one hand, you're nurtured in the choir but you also have to sit through some of those fire and brimstone sermons about homosexuality being an abomination," says E. Patrick Johnson, an openly gay gospel singer and author of Sweet Tea: An Oral History of Black Gay Men of the South.

Read more of Blacks, Gays And The Church: A Complex Relationship