'Porno Pete' LaBarbera hates normal gay kissing, loves naked gay & straight hedonism

It's official. Major anti-gay groups and personalities have gone positively ape-#%! crazy over Michael Sam smooching his boyfriend and learning that he was picked by the St. Louis Rams.

But who gets the award for the most outrageous show of outrage? Well the first runner-up has to be Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, who tried to distort a study (a 1997 Canadian study) in order to condemn the kiss. He didn't get away with it.

However for my money, the most outrageous outrage award hands down belongs to Porno Pete LaBarbera who actually censored the kiss on his webpage:

LaBarbera wins the award because he blocked this kiss saying that is natural to be repulsed by it. It's ironic when one takes into account what LaBarbera hasn't in the past censored on his page in pursuit demonizing lgbts. For those who aren't aware, he is nicknamed 'Porno Pete' LaBarbera for his past tendency of attending subcultural events, taking pictures, and then generalizing about the entire lgbt community based on those pictures, such as:

This one:

'Anti-gay activists becoming more vocal about Michael Sam kiss' & other Monday midday news briefs

Lighten up folks! It was just a kiss!

Anti-Gay Activists Were 'Grossed Out' By Michael Sam's 'Cringe-Inducing' Kiss - Some people didn't like Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend on television. Now the ghetto sista in me would say something like, "Jealous bitches always be hatin'"  However the sensible person in me says "It's just a kiss, folks. I mean geez! And I can think of worse people to kiss than Michael Sam or his boyfriend. Such as Donald Trump, Todd Starnes, Rush Limbaugh, Peter LaBarbera, that guy in my church yesterday who had dragon with nine-heads breath."

Fox Responds To NFL Disciplining Player For Anti-Gay Tweets About Michael Sam: Could It "Offend ... Free Speech?" - A Miami Dolphins football player is disciplined for an anti-gay tweet about Michael Sam and Fox News personalities and Donald Trump is ever so pissed about it.

 Jason Benham: Christians Have A Duty To "Destroy" Ideas God Doesn't Like, Including Marriage Equality - People have asked after the debacle last week with the Benham Brothers, why are they still getting air time to talk about how much they "love" gays? How else can homophobes continue to hang themselves if we stop handing them the rope?

Hubris hath no ego like an anti-LGBT movement that spins - In a strange show of stupidity, the American Family Association has chosen to list all of the Mississippi businesses who won't follow that stupid law which allows them to discriminate against lgbts. In this organization's universe, a business declaring that it will serve everyone is a violation of "religious freedom."  

As Arkansas Republicans Freak Out About Marriage Equality, Senate Candidates Remain Mum - And, lest I forget, Arkansas got the gift of marriage equality last weekend. I guess those "queerbots" I used to replace the judges there and the other places where marriage equality laws were struck down are really working (Sorry. I watched that episode of the Bionic Woman, "Fembots in Las Vegas" yesterday and it continues to linger with me.)

'Haterade' can't stop Michael Sam

It's what everyone has been talking about all weekend. Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team when he was picked by the St. Louis Rams. The following video of him receiving the news must have been seen countless times:



Thus far, the major anti-gay groups and personalities have been showing a surprisingly degree of good taste by not saying a word about Sam's success. Notice I said "thus far."

However, leave it to the rabid wolves, orcs, and bloodsuckers at the extreme right webpage Free Republic to fill in the blanks:

Michael Sam is a Ram(rod). Some jokes write themselves.

 The hive media brainwashing Americans to accept this as the new normal.

 The next NFL season is going to become a perpetual fag commercial as anal sex is celebrated like the resurrection of Jackie Robinson. The media is totally in our face and I’m sorry but I don’t love football that much. Not my religion.

Yep, nothing more than promoting an agenda and ramming it down peoples throats (no pun intended). This was deliberate in your face attempt to mainstream deviant behavior.

 Coming soon to FR and every other blog.If you openly criticize or express disgust with that disgusting scene, the new thought crime police will be sent to your house via your ip address and FR won't have a thing to do with it. All blogs are viewed and combed by the politically correct police for certain trigger words, and soon {if not right now} fag and queer will be high alert words. Gay rights trump Christian rights, period. "If you like your religion, you can keep your religion", said obama. 

I think y'all get the picture. There is no need to get upset or wring your hands.There are times when you must combat hate to keep it from spreading. And then there are other times in which you don't have to do anything but watch it spread only over the people doling it out. And feel simple pity for them being in that state.

Rep. Louie Gohmert attacks lgbts for not being weak, deluded pushovers

Just now, Rep. Louie Gohmert made a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives comparing those who seek lgbt equality to Nazis:



Transcript:

So it is amazing that in the name of liberality, in the name of being tolerant, this fascist intolerance has arisen. People that stand up and say, you know, I agree with the majority of Americans, I agree with Moses and Jesus that marriage was a man and a woman, now all of a sudden, people like me are considered haters, hate mongers, evil, which really is exactly what we've seen throughout our history as going back to the days of the Nazi takeover in Europe. What did they do? First, they would call people "haters" and "evil" and build up disdain for those people who held those opinions or religious views or religious heritage. And then the next came, well, those people are so evil and hateful, let's bring every book that they've written or has to do with them and let's start burning the books, because we can't tolerate their intolerance. 

I love ignorant, fake Christians like Louie Gohmert because he makes my task of exposing anti-gay propaganda that much easier.  

'Ex-gay' video trailer features homoerotic imagery

Evan Hurst of Truth Wins Out brought this to my attention.

Maybe it's just me but if you are advertising a video featuring how people can supposedly change from being gay, certain images in its trailer such as the one below makes your assertions into a parody:

And the image of this strapping, sexy man with the water causing his clothes to stick to his muscular sexy body like a second skin is prominent throughout the following trailer, along with the standard bull we have learned to expect from the ex-gay crowd of activists and ministers - many of whom are featured in the video:

 

Dear Benham brothers, your 'religious beliefs' doesn't absolve you from the consequences of being extreme jackasses

By now, many of you are aware that the HGTV network was going to launch a new reality television show starring the sons of a notorious North Carolina pastor:

Last month, the HGTV network announced that it will launch a new reality TV show, “Flip it Forward,” starring David and Jason Benham. The twin brothers will “leverage their good-natured sibling rivalry to help families find a fixer-upper and transform it into the dream home they never thought they could afford.” What the announcement didn't mention is that at least one of the Benhams is not just a real estate dealer but also a dedicated right-wing activist in the mold of his father, Flip Benham, who has headed the abortion-clinic protest group Operation Save America ever since it split from the militant anti-choice group Operation Rescue.

As leader of OSA, Benham has condemned the interfaith Sandy Hook memorial, protested in front of mosques while shouting “Jesus Hates Muslims” and blamed the Aurora shooting on the Democratic Party, which he said promotes a “culture of death.” He has also protested LGBT pride events, interrupted church services during a sermon by “sodomite Episcopalian bishop” Gene Robinson and was found “guilty of stalking a Charlotte abortion doctor after passing out hundreds of ‘wanted’ posters with the physician's name and photo on it.” OSA* even blamed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on abortion rights.

David and Jason are in the same mold as their father:

Flip's son, David Benham, led a prayer rally — Charlotte 7:14 — outside of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012, which he told conservative radio host Janet Mefferd was needed to stop “homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation” and “demonic ideologies tak[ing] our universities and our public school systems”

Also:

In a January 2012 interview, Benham explained his “love” for homosexuals when he suggested that gay people are under the control of “demonic forces,” arguing that once he succeeds in recriminalizing abortion, he will next defeat the “homosexual agenda” and Islam.

Lastly:

David equated fighting marriage equality with fighting Nazis, and at a City Council meeting in protest of a local pride parade, David and his twin brother, Jason,  referred to homosexuality as "destructive" and a "tragedy;" asserted that Jesus "refuses to leave [homosexuals] that way;"and Jason concluded by telling the council to "deny them every permit they ask for."

'Sen. Ted Cruz - ''Christians' shouldn't have to do business with gays' & other Thursday midday news briefs

Ted Cruz: Christians shouldn’t be required to do business with gay people - No word yet on whether Sen. Cruz thinks "Christians" shouldn't do business with African-Americans or Jewish people. 

Scott Lively stirring Russia's pot: A timeline - Disgusting, nauseating, and vile. But very necessary that we know this. 

 The gay community is fighting Godzilla with a slinky toy - One of the times when I feel that one of my earlier posts needs more attention via more folks reading it.  

Battery Charges Dropped Against Calif. Trans Student - Good! She shouldn't have been charged in the first place. She kept getting picked on and finally got tired of it. 

 'Washington - A Man Of Prayer': Highlights From The Religious Right Prayer Event Inside The US Capitol - When oblivious people gather to pray, they tend to be more oblivious than usual.

SC senators intensely debate gay-themed issues, state budget

SC Senatior Brad Hutto

“I can assure you this is going to attract attention to this state for absolutely the wrong reason . . . As soon as S-E-X is mentioned in a book at the college level, we’ve got a hang-up,” the Orangeburg Democrat said, adding the votes to sustain the House-passed cuts made the Senate look like a “bunch of old guys” who are offended by homosexuality.

 Hutto was "reading" the rest of his SC Senate colleagues because some of them wanted to retained budgetary cuts given to the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina Upstate as some sort of punishment for offering gay-themed books for students to read. According to the State newspaper, while the cuts were eliminated, Sen. Mike Fair led the charge to get them renewed. Senators debated for hours over the issue. Some, such as Fair, called the books (Fun Home and Outloud: The Best of Rainbow Radio) pornographic. Other senators said the issue was about academic freedom and lawmakers shouldn't micromanage colleges. Hutto, specifically, blocked further progress on the state's budget until the matter is settled. Senators are expected to vote today.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/07/3433709/sc-senators-spar-over-gay-themed.html?sp=/99/205/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

The gay community is fighting Godzilla with a slinky toy

Wednesday night (or last night, depending on when you read this), I fell into an awful, soul-numbing depression.

Two very mild tranquilizers and a short nap later, I can finally articulate why. It's simple really.

The lgbt community is fighting Godzilla with a slinky toy.

 I know I get either blissed out or whispered about due to what some may claim is my obsession with anti-gay propaganda, but my concerns about stories spread about the lgbt community by organizations such as the Family Research Council, the American Family Association or people like Bryan Fischer or Todd Starnes are sincere and should not be ignored.

Consider this: In over three decades, anti-gay groups have built a powerful apparatus of lies via junk science, horror anecdotes and cherry-picked science (mostly by the Centers of Disease Control) which have painted the lgbt community as diseased, overly aggressive zombies who want to destroy Christianity while recruiting children. They don't even have to create new stories. They can go back to that old framework continuously. It's like a virus which recreates itself every time its destroyed.

They have relied and continue to rely on the junk of discredited researchers (i.e. Paul Cameron) who claim, amongst other things, that gay men either wallow around in feces or stuff gerbils up their rectums.  On top of that, since 2012, there have been at least 12 incidents of legitimate researchers, physicians, or Ph.Ds who have complained publicly that their work has been either misconstrued or deliberately finagled the wrong way in by these anti-gay groups under the veneer of "religious liberty."

And how many of these offenses have made it to mainstream knowledge? How many of these actions by these groups who claim to be working for Christ have made it to news magazines, network news programs, or even mentions in places other than blogs like mine? Has there ever been any type of deconstruction of just how these groups operate when spinning these awful lies?  And this INCLUDES at places such as lgbt publications and news programs.

In comparison, Fox News's Todd Starnes, who has a known reputation for manufacturing panics about anti-Christian persecution, tells another one of his fibs and his junk gets featured more times than Meryl Streep receives Oscar nominations.

Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council get soft interviews with several news sources and they are building up a "library of information" even as we speak. And by all means, let's not forget Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, i.e. he who links gays to Hitler. Congressional leaders flock to this man's radio show as if he is a kingmaker.

All of this allows them to define the argument.

Meanwhile, the intellectuals in our community go at each other's throats like Roman gladiators armed with the latest popular terms in "Queer Theology." If we aren't criticizing "mansplaining," we are raising hell over "slut shaming."  The TERFS and the cisgenders are fighting one another. Or are they on the same side. I don't know. I can't keep up.

At the bottom of this mess is the regular lgbt folks who want to be empowered by seeing someone in the media stick up for them, who want to learn how they can speak to their legislative leaders, who want to be educated about the the latest anti-gay lies and distortions but aren't getting the means to do any of this. Instead, they are reduced to voicing mindless vulgarities in the comment section of anti-gay articles or verbalizing their wishful thinking that the latest fool to spout homophobic trash in the name of God would one day be caught in a dirty bathroom with his pants down to his ankles and both of his hands (and mouth) full of things he is not supposed to be partaking of.

Lastly, don't get me started about celebrity-adoring in our community except for the fact that sometimes, I don't care to raise hell at a celebrity for putting his or her foot in their mouths.

And then there is our need to christen certain elements of our community as "Gay Inc."

This is not to say that the anger which goes with christening certain elements and groups as "Gay,Inc." isn't legitimate. But I'm really not impressed. In 2008 after the Prop 8 loss, a lot of us were saying "No More Mr. Nice Gay."  Then when we got mad at the Democratic National Committee, we proclaimed that the "Gay T.M. is closed." In the midst of all of those slogans, some nut decided to come up with the ultra ridiculous slogan that "Gay is the New Black."

But every now and then, we take a break from all of this to complain about how the media isn't giving us a fair shake or how the media is giving a platform to anti-gay groups. Why should the media care about our concerns in matters such as these when, except for those brief moments of griping, we don't seem to care ourselves to address these things on the level that we would address  irrelevant issues such as the relationship between Dustin Lance Black and Tom Dailey.

Maybe I'm rambling but here is where I stand. I'm a 43-year-old black man from Columbia, SC. I have no desire to move to what is considered as large gay metropolitan areas such as New York or California. I will not be driven from where I was born.  But I remember how hard it was coming out when I was bombarded by negative comments via radio, television, and news magazine articles about the evils of being a homosexual. I remember how it was to feel like I was alone even though I was in a large crowd simply because I was the only gay person there. Or worse yet, knowing that there was another gay person in the group and not being able to express a simple commonality for fear of being "discovered."

And a lot of this stemmed from the image created by what was put out there by these anti-gay groups and what they convinced others to believe.I won't forget those awful feelings nor will I blind myself to the knowledge that no matter how many court victories we win, how many pro-lgbt laws are passed, or how lgbt-positive television shows or celebrities are out there, there are still some of us who are falling victim to the same sadness I fell victim to.

If there is one thing which should convince us to combat anti-gay propaganda head-on, it should be that knowledge.

All I'm trying to say is our community needs to get a little more on the ball. That's not to say that we haven't made tremendous progress, because we have.

But we got some problems with focus. Maybe I'm wrong but I still stand by what I am going to say. There are many times in which we unnecessarily pussyfoot around and we seem to be deliberately underestimating the power of anti-gay groups. In doing so,  we allow them  to define us and the argument regarding lgbt equality. We seem to be constantly on the defensive and I don't understand why.

We aren't the liars. We aren't the ones who used discredited science. And we shouldn't be the ones to have to justify our existence.

I would like to see anti-gay groups be in the position to justify their actions for a change.  But this won't ever happen unless we take apart the lie that they are acting on their religious liberty.

A good army doesn't fight each other. They zero in on the enemy who is keeping them outside the gate. And right now, the lgbt community isn't acting like the good army we need to be.

'Why Bryan Fischer is becoming Gargamel' & other Wednesday midday news briefs

So the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer wants to talk about "criminalizing homosexuality" again. Fischer is beginning to remind me of the villain Gargamel from The Smurfs television show. He constantly claims that he wants to see lgbts imprisoned and the like but you know he secretly doesn't. Who would he have left to kick around?

In other news:  

Globalization of American homo-hostility continues: MassResistance's propaganda enters Hong Kong, Finland, more - Even though I am fully aware of the anti-gay group Mass Resistance's penchant for self-aggrandizement and exaggeration, even the thought that their propaganda could be moving to foreign countries like Hong Kong and Finland is cause for alarm. 

 Democrats Walk Out Of Hearing On Resolution To Impeach Pennsylvania Attorney General - Apparently Pennsylvania Republicans want to impeach the state's attorney general for refusing to defend the state's law against marriage equality in court. I agree with her decision. Why should she waste tax dollars? 

 Gay American Filmmaker Goes Undercover To Document Launch Of Ugandan War On Gays - The filmmaker gets huge points for courage on this one. 

LGBT Fallen Heroes Memorial Service To Be Held In Washington DC - No one should be against this.

Anti-gay lawmaker goes on tirade featuring bowel movements, colostomy bags, and anal sex

Hickey

Remember South Dakota legislator and pastor Steve Hickey who recently wrote a long letter to the editor about anal sex in response to a lesbian couple challenging his state's anti-marriage equality law?

Well he is back and his comments during a Monday video chat with the Arcus Leader newspaper defies all description and decency.  According to Talking Points Memo, Hickey defended his original letter by talking about bowel movements in response to criticism he received from a local doctor,  Kevin Weiland:

"And here's what I'd like to ask Dr. Weiland. Do you tell your patients to wash their hands before they eat? Why? Because you touch a doorknob and you don't want to get it inside your body. I hesitate to get crude again, but Dr. Weiland, is it OK for, you know, eight of your friends that you're in love with to take a dump in your bed and then you can sleep in it all year long?"

And it gets worse (or better for those who have a fiendish sense of humor). David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement watched the entire interview. According to him:

Hickey also claims that doctors tell him gay men “have higher rates of colostomy bags” and “a 20-year less lifespan.” Hickey claims an article in the Journal of Sex Research says “the mean number of sex partners for homosexual males is 251.” Hickey goes on to claim that he has a report that “talks about the dangers of both lesbian and male sex.”

That comment about gay men having a higher rates of colostomy bags is just unreal, particularly because it contradicts an earlier claim he made in his original letter that doctors are supposedly "discouraged from telling the truth" about anal sex." And those who read this blog know that the claim of gays having a 20-year less lifespan come from either two sources - the discredited research of Paul Cameron or a cherry-picked 1997 study. The authors of the latter study complained in 2001 about how their work was being distorted. Regarding the article in the Journal of Sex Research, Badash said The New Civil Rights Movement asked the Journal of Sex Research about its veracity and has not received an answer at press time.

'NOM's $20,000 House Negro accuse lgbts of 'murdering' America' & other Tuesday midday news briefs

William Owens

NOM's ally, March For Marriage co-sponsor: Gay people are *this close* to murdering America - According to Jeremy Hooper - "The Coalition of African-American Pastors is a National Organization For Marriage affiliate, it's a co-sponsor of NOM's upcoming March for Marriage, and its leader, Willie Owens, is one of NOM's religious liaisons." Of course that omits the fact that Owens and CAAP is an astroturfed front group still seeking to divide lgbts and African-Americans on the subject of marriage equality, Owens's participation in the original Civil Rights Movement is highly questionable, and last but not least, Owens is bought-and-paid for by NOM to the tune of $20,000 plus. Who knew House Negroes were so expensive?

Ronan Farrow Calls Out Right-Wing “Scare Tactics” About Trans-Inclusive Bathrooms - About time someone else did. Now we need more folks doing the same. A lot more folks.  

How Straight Promiscuity Now Explains Why Same-Sex Couples Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Marry - I should get angry at this, but audacity of the argument makes me want to pull up a chair, fire up a cigar and grab a glass of wine while I read it.  

Beverly Hills Hotel Boycotted Over Brunei's Sharia Penal Code - More power to them cause we lgbts are too pretty to be stoned to death. 

Gordon Klingenschmitt Says Supporting ENDA Is 'Blasphemy' And 'Full Perversion' - Don't you just love anti-gay spokespeople who are more full of outrage than actual knowledge of our system of government. Dear Klingenschmitt, the filibuster doesn't exist in the House of Representatives.

Family Research Council gets worst person in the world to refute 'hate group' designation

Robert Knight

Robert Knight, formerly of the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, wrote an interesting piece about the Southern Poverty Law Center. It's the usual " SPLC is unfairly picking on Christian groups" meme that we have been hearing ever since the organization declared several anti-gay groups - including FRC - to be hate groups:

If you want to know where the left is taking the country, a quick trip to the Southern Poverty Law Center's website is instructive. There you will find a "hate map," on which the precise locations of reputable Christian organizations are listed, along with skinheads, Nazis and other actually disreputable groups. Above the map is a photo of what appear to be storm troopers, none of whom resembles Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, but that's beside the point. On Aug. 15, 2012, the hate map was used by would-be mass murderer Floyd Lee Corkins II, who walked into the Family Research Council lobby in Washington, DC, with a loaded gun and a backpack full of 80 more rounds of ammo and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches. Convicted on Feb. 6, 2013, under the District's domestic terrorism law and sentenced to 25 years in prison, Corkins told investigators that he was inspired by the SPLC hate map to target the Family Research Council, and that he had planned to murder as many people as possible and stuff chicken sandwiches into their faces. Chick-fil-A's owners and the Family Research Council support natural marriage. 

First of all, Knight is lying. It's something he does quite well. SPLC's map does not contain "precise locations" of the organizations they designate as hate groups. The map only shows the states where they are located.

And with regards to Corkins, he did not say that SPLC's map inspired him to do anything. It was  determined that Corkins was already mentally ill and had been thinking about a way to carry out his plan for years.

But that's not the subject of my post. The subject is Knight's audacity in attacking SPLC . As I indicated before and Knight does in his column, he used to work for the Family Research Council.

And during his time there, it was Knight who pushed a lot of the junk science and lies (such as connecting homosexuality to pedophilia) about the lgbt community which eventually led SPLC to designate the Family Research Council to be a hate group. The following is from SPLC's webpage:

Robert Knight, a longtime conservative writer and journalist and major anti-gay propagandist, served as the FRC’s director of cultural affairs from 1992 until 2002, when he went to Concerned Women for America (CWA). Knight later moved on to be a senior writer at Coral Ridge Ministries, now Truth in Action Ministries. He is currently a senior fellow at the right-wing American Civil Rights Union. During his years at the FRC, Knight penned anti-gay tracts that used the research of thoroughly discredited psychologist Paul Cameron, head of the Colorado-based hate group the Family Research Institute.

 Knight authored numerous anti-gay papers, and even used Cameron’s infamous “gay obituary” study in testimony he offered before Congress to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in 1994. In his prepared statement on that topic, he said, “A study of more than 6,400 obituaries in homosexual publications reveals that homosexuals typically have far shorter life spans than the general population.” Cameron’s study has been thoroughly discredited for several reasons, one of which is its deeply flawed methodology. When asked in 2004 about using Cameron’s work, Knight, by then with CWA, responded, “Yes, we have used his research. So what?”
 
While at the FRC, Knight also co-wrote (with Robert York, a former editor at Focus on the Family) a 1999 booklet with the attention-getting title of Homosexual Behavior and Pedophilia. Among its more remarkable claims was the baseless assertion that “one of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the ‘prophets’ of a new sexual order.” The same publication argued that the “homosexual rights movement has tried to distance itself from pedophilia, but only for public relations purposes.” The booklet has since disappeared from the FRC’s website, but the organization has not withdrawn the claims it made.

For the sake of disclosure, I happen to know that Knight did freely admit to using the discredited information of Paul Cameron via that 2004 incident.  I was the person to whom he gave the flippant response during a visit he made to the University of South Carolina. And I repeatedly talked about the incident on this blog and in my first book on anti-gay propaganda.

Basically, if it weren't for Knight's influence in FRC information gathering, perhaps the organization wouldn't be attempting to live down the "hate group" designation.

No doubt, unfortunately, this irony will escape Knight and especially FRC.

'George Takei, 'Orange is the New Black' among honorees at GLAAD Awards' & other Monday midday news briefs

George Takei, "Orange is the New Black," "Concussion" among #GLAADAwards recipients in New York City - Congratulations to George Takei, the television series 'Orange is the New Black,' and the motion picture 'Philomena' for their victories at the Glaad Awards Saturday night. A special congratulations goes to The New Civil Rights Movement which was chosen as 'Outstanding Blog.' By the way, I should mention my proficiency in voodoo - hehehehe (just kidding folks). 

'You Are You,' Lindsay Morris Photography Book, Documents Camp For Gender-Nonconforming Kids - I love this camp and the pictures are so awesome. All children should have some type of safe space like this.

 Salvation Army Refuses Housing Shelter To Transgender Woman - This is wrong. They could have helped her out.  

Former Bush Administration Official Explains How Gays Are Worse Than Murderers - Same old mindless homophobia wrapped in a new package. It's like wrapping month old fish in a newly store-bought box.

Pasadena health director suspended after clips found of homophobic sermon

A college who uninvited screenwriter Dustin Lance Black from being its commencement speaker due to some pornographic pictures from years ago has found itself in the center of a controversy regarding its new speaker.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Pasadena city officials placed Public Health Director Eric Walsh on temporary paid administrative leave Thursday after they learned of controversial statements he had made about homosexuality and evolution in online videos and audio clips.

In sermons uploaded to various websites, Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist preacher, calls evolution "a religion created by Satan," compares Disney to a "dark empire" of superstition and witchcraft, and criticizes homosexuality.

Walsh's comments came to the city's attention after he replaced Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black as Pasadena City College's commencement speaker, said city spokesman William Boyer. College officials said they replaced Black because they found stolen photographs of him and an ex-boyfriend engaged in sexual acts on Internet gossip sites, according to the school newspaper, the PCC Courier.

 . . . In a letter to the school newspaper, Black accused college administrators of attempting to shame him for his sexuality. He urged students to speak out, and soon a member of the group Students for Social Justice found some of Walsh's videos online. . . .The group compiled a list of Walsh's controversial public statements, then published excerpts on Facebook and emailed them to media outlets.

Walsh has stepped down from being the commencement speaker due to a "scheduling conflict" but already, an anti-gay site defending him on "religious liberty" grounds. However, I would remind these folks that Walsh has not been fired, but put on temporary leave in which he is still receiving a paycheck.

In lieu of his comments, an investigation at the very least is definitely in order to see if his views on the lgbt community has tainted his work. If not, then he should keep his job.

If, on the other hand, there is a problem, then it's obviously time for a new public health director.

Know Your LGBT History - The gay black church experience told by US

Today's edition of Know Your LGBT History is different for a single reason. It seems that every time the subject of lgbts and the Black church comes up, the debate is always either handled by others who are not lgbts of color or things are not said which need to be said.

There are certain aspects of the Black church which never seems to come up when talking about lgbts. The reason why they don't come up is because lgbts of color - particularly black gay men - are not invited into the conversation as we should be. And the times in which we are invited in the conversation, we tend to not speak as candidly as we need to.

That's why these clips by comedian Sampson are so important. They are not only funny, but also very truthful. I know this for a fact:

Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:

'Newsweek puts nail in coffin of 'ex-gay' charade' & other Friday midday news briefs

John Paulk then and now

Ex-Ex-Gay Pride - It took over 10 years but Newsweek puts one of the final nails in the coffin of the ex-gay charade with the help of a former leader of the movement, John Paulk. 

Surprise! National Day Of Prayer Morphed Into An Anti-Obama Affair - Just as some of us knew would take place. The National Day of Prayer was transformed - thanks to the Dobsons - into an anti-Obama, anti-gay event.  

TWO Launches Center Against Religious Extremism with $100,000 Matching Grant from Philanthropist Henry van Ameringen - Way to go, Truth Wins Out! Hopefully the organization will allow me to assist the center in the future.

 Heidi And Karla's Story From The Let Love Define Family Series - The awesome story of a couple who adopted 12 special needs kids and created a wonderful family.

Lesbian couple has South Dakota legislator in a writing flurry about anal sex

Hickey

What do you do when you are a South Dakota legislator and pastor who finds out that a lesbian couple will be challenging your state's anti-marriage equality law? Well if you are Republican Steve Hickey, you write a 600 word letter-to-the editor mainly talking about anal sex between gay men.

I kid you not. From Talking Points Memo:

When he learned that South Dakota is poised to become the latest state to face a legal challenge against its same-sex marriage ban, Steve Hickey was inspired to take action. The Republican state House representative and pastor submitted a letter to the editor this week to the Argus Leader, South Dakota's largest newspaper. He titled it "A One Way Alley for the Garbage Truck" and challenged the "medical and psychological communities" to weigh in on the matter.

 . . .  "Certainly there are board-certified doctors in our state who will attest to what seems self-evident to so many: gay sex is not good for the body or mind," he wrote. "Pardon a crude comparison but regarding men with men, we are talking about a one-way alley meant only for the garbage truck to go down. Frankly, I’d question the judgment of doctor who says it’s all fine."

According to Talking Points Memo, at the present time the opinion writer who either accepts or rejects letters to the editor,  Brenda Wade Schmidt, has not given a decision on whether the letter will be published. She said there are concerns about its length and appropriate language. To tell the truth, I found the letter to be a bit dull.

Talking Points Memo interviewed Hickey about the letter, which is posted in its entirely on his Facebook page:

 Hickey told TPM on Wednesday he was driven to write the letter after Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, a lesbian couple from Rapid City, S.D., announced their intention to become the first state residents to challenge its gay marriage ban. The couple was married on Saturday in Minnesota in a wedding that was officiated by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, setting the stage for South Dakota to become the 29th with a marriage equality court case.

 . . .  In his phone interview with TPM, he acknowledged that heterosexual couples "absolutely" participate in anal sex, too, but then proceeded to focus squarely on the "health of homosexuality." He wrote in the letter that "historically, homosexuality has been a notable marker of the downfall of past civilizations" and he told TPM that gay marriage will cause society to "decline morally." Yet, he insisted it's really a public health issue. Hickey told TPM it's obvious that anal sex isn't good and urged the medical community to back him up. But he's dismayed that doctors are, according to him, discouraged to tell the truth.

And this, boys and girls, is why we win. Not only can't our opponents not see past their fevered imaginations of gay male sex, but they are in clueless dismay to the fact that not only us but the rest of decent society has.

This isn't Hickey's first swing against lgbt equality. In January, he sponsored a bill which would allow businesses to deny services to anything that would be against the business owners' “sincerely held religious beliefs." At the time, he was quoted as saying that gay rights would take the United States down the road of Iraq. 

'Veteran makes sweet gesture on behalf on lesbian couple' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Veteran Offers Up His Burial Plot So That A Lesbian Couple Can Rest In Peace - Every now and then you see a gesture which restores your faith in mankind. 

Prop 8 leaders catering to Singapore org. that fights to keep homosexuality criminalized - And anti-gay groups are attempting to add Singapore to their list of foreign countries they invade to demonize lgbts. Gestures like the one in the above post are needed because its stuff like this which makes you lose your faith in mankind. 

 Finally, A Gay Politician Fox News Can Support - An easy to be exploited one, that is.  

Rush Limbaugh Randomly Attacks Don Lemon For Being Gay - My frivolous post for the day. There are just sooooo many things wrong with this. 

 Klingenschmitt: Transgender Teacher Is A 'Pervert' Who Trying To Recruit Kids 'Into Sexual Perversion' - This is a baseless charge with NO proof. Of course not having proof of their claims has never stopped anti-gay talking heads before.

Anti-gay spokesman exploits molested children to denigrate gays

 Editor's note - After reading this post, check out the one which came in early this morning - SC colleges win round over legislators with regards to gay issues


The following tweet by the Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber is homophobia personified:

A golf coach has been been charged with homosexually assaulting three boys & then putting a hit on their lives http://t.co/3ek2BSWZCm
— Matt Barber (@jmattbarber) April 30, 2014

Is "homosexually assaulting" even a correct term? I suppose when men take advantage of little girls, we can say they "heterosexually assaulted" them.

Barber's tweet would be comical if he wasn't exploiting an ugly situation. That's the worse thing about his tweet, i.e. the fact that the only reason he even seems to care about the story is because he can exploit it to denigrate gay men. He doesn't care about those children or the crime committed against them. If it was a man who assaulted little girls, Barber wouldn't give the situation the time of day.

He only cares that a man molested those boys so that he can push the inaccurate notion that a man who molests a boy is automatically gay. This notion has been disproven continuously. And Barber knows this.

And this isn't the first time Barber has defamed gay men via a vicious tweet. The following is his handiwork from last year: