Americans for Truth, American Family Association team up to sell fraudulent video (Another one for my book)
I almost missed this one.
Americans for Truth (our friend Peter LaBarbera's group) is helping the American Family Association pull a big fraud.
On the Americans for Truth web page is a solicitation for the video "It's Not Gay." According to the group, the video:
" . . . presents a story that few have heard, allowing former homosexuals the opportunity to tell their own story in their own words. Along with medical and mental health experts, these individuals express a clear warning that the sanitized version of homosexuality being presented to students is not the whole truth."
Those who click on the video link is directed to the American Family Association site where they can order the video.
Besides the usual bit of misrepresentation (i.e. the claim that those in the video have been "freed from homosexuality") is something a bit more sinister and blatant.
Notice how the cover of the video on both links seem to be blurred.
I can't help wondering if this is intentional. Why you ask? Because of the person it features.
This link from Ex-Gay Watch plainly shows who this person is: Michael Johnston.
For a while, Johnston was one of the anti-gay industry's "golden boys." He traveled across the country telling his story of how he was "delivered" from homosexuality after testing HIV positive. He was even the leader of his own ministry, Kerusso Ministries. In addition, he helped to start "National Coming Out of Homosexuality" Day in order to counter "National Coming Out" Day.
However, Johnston's star crashed in 2003 when it was discovered that while he was doing all of these things, he was also engaging in unprotected sex with men.
So why in 2007 is the American Family Association and Americans for Truth trying to sell a video featuring him making his claim that he was "delivered" from homosexuality when it was obvious that he wasn't.
And it's obvious that LaBarbera knows what his group is doing. He is quoted in the above link about Johnston's transgressions.
This is not the first time this subject has come up. Last year, Wayne Besen of www.truthwinsout.org asked the same question about "It's Not Gay."
What AFA and Americans for Truth are doing is like selling a hammer with a broken handle. One can always take back the hammer.
But who will seek recompensement for the lives of the lgbts who are going to be attacked by churches and others who will probably buy this tape and believe its claims?
The fact that the American Family Association and Americans for Truth are encouraging people to buy this tape speaks to both groups' lack of integrity. God does not like ugly, even when it's done in his name.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The AFA of Pennsylvania tries to scare people
It seems that the anti-gay industry has depleted their anti-gay marriage equality hysteria.
So whither where they fly? Or rather what's the next target for these folks.
A Pennsylvania incident may give an indication of where they are going. However, I don't envision them having as much success as they had scaring everyone about gay marriage:
According to Agape Press, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania is up in arms with school districts for working with the organization GLSEN.
GLSEN is an organization that works to make school climates better for our lgbt youth. Subsequently, that makes them public enemy number one in the eyes of the anti-gay industry:
According to (Diane) Gramley (President of the AFA of PA), many public school officials simply do not realize the danger of partnering with GLSEN or other groups like it whose primary goals, she insists, are to normalize homosexuality and to encourage students to experiment with same-sex partners. "That's what they want," she asserts. "They want the kids to believe that 'gay is okay,' and that if you feel that you are homosexual -- if you feel you're tugged in that direction -- [you should] go ahead and try it."
Gramley is partly right. We do want children to know that gay is okay because being lgbt is perfectly fine, regardless of the climate folks like her attempt to create. However, this idea that we want children to have sex is just "ignant."
That's right, I said "ignant." It's a new word describing an idea so stupid that it doesn't deserve three syllables to declare it dumb.
In her next statement, we get the gist of what Gramley is going for:
Gramley believes groups pushing the acceptance of homosexuality will eventually target the First Amendment rights of Christians who understand the Bible to prohibit sexual activity between people of the same sex. Therefore, she suggests, the homosexual agenda is a direct threat to the free speech and religious liberty of those who believe homosexual activity is sinful.
There they go again with the "dire consequences" propaganda technique. In the absence of truth, some members of the anti-gay industry spin the theory that gay people want to curtail the rights of those who think that homosexuality is a sin.
The "dire consequences" tactic is usually effective because it simultaneously appeals to the ego and the fears of the audience. Its usage is also a sign of desperation. Scaring people is the way to go for those who have depleted their logic.
Now it is here that I would make a joke that lgbts don't want to arrest Christians for believing that homosexuality is a sin because we want to send them to re-education camps where they will be strapped down and forced to watch 24 hours of Bette Davis movies or Larry Kramer speeches.
However, I have a feeling that our friends Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber would take me seriously and make my joke the subject of a new action alert/call to arms.
But I will say to Ms. Gramley, we don't want to cause you all trouble because some of us are enjoying watching you self-destruct.
It seems that the anti-gay industry has depleted their anti-gay marriage equality hysteria.
So whither where they fly? Or rather what's the next target for these folks.
A Pennsylvania incident may give an indication of where they are going. However, I don't envision them having as much success as they had scaring everyone about gay marriage:
According to Agape Press, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania is up in arms with school districts for working with the organization GLSEN.
GLSEN is an organization that works to make school climates better for our lgbt youth. Subsequently, that makes them public enemy number one in the eyes of the anti-gay industry:
According to (Diane) Gramley (President of the AFA of PA), many public school officials simply do not realize the danger of partnering with GLSEN or other groups like it whose primary goals, she insists, are to normalize homosexuality and to encourage students to experiment with same-sex partners. "That's what they want," she asserts. "They want the kids to believe that 'gay is okay,' and that if you feel that you are homosexual -- if you feel you're tugged in that direction -- [you should] go ahead and try it."
Gramley is partly right. We do want children to know that gay is okay because being lgbt is perfectly fine, regardless of the climate folks like her attempt to create. However, this idea that we want children to have sex is just "ignant."
That's right, I said "ignant." It's a new word describing an idea so stupid that it doesn't deserve three syllables to declare it dumb.
In her next statement, we get the gist of what Gramley is going for:
Gramley believes groups pushing the acceptance of homosexuality will eventually target the First Amendment rights of Christians who understand the Bible to prohibit sexual activity between people of the same sex. Therefore, she suggests, the homosexual agenda is a direct threat to the free speech and religious liberty of those who believe homosexual activity is sinful.
There they go again with the "dire consequences" propaganda technique. In the absence of truth, some members of the anti-gay industry spin the theory that gay people want to curtail the rights of those who think that homosexuality is a sin.
The "dire consequences" tactic is usually effective because it simultaneously appeals to the ego and the fears of the audience. Its usage is also a sign of desperation. Scaring people is the way to go for those who have depleted their logic.
Now it is here that I would make a joke that lgbts don't want to arrest Christians for believing that homosexuality is a sin because we want to send them to re-education camps where they will be strapped down and forced to watch 24 hours of Bette Davis movies or Larry Kramer speeches.
However, I have a feeling that our friends Peter LaBarbera and Matt Barber would take me seriously and make my joke the subject of a new action alert/call to arms.
But I will say to Ms. Gramley, we don't want to cause you all trouble because some of us are enjoying watching you self-destruct.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Manufactured martyr gets a promotion - CWA hires Matt Barber
Concerned Women for America has hired a replacement for the departing Robert Knight. And if this man's past history is any indication of his future at the organization, he may provide me with more fun than Knight ever did.
Matt Barber is the new hiree and if he sounds familiar, it's because he was a cause celebre in 2005. At that time, he was an employee at AllState Insurance who was fired because of a column he wrote. The column in question gave the usual anti-gay nonsense about how diseased we are, like the following Cameroneque excerpt:
As a result of the concerted effort by liberals to mask the devastating effects of the gay lifestyle, many people are shocked to learn that the average life expectancy of a homosexual male is only about 45 years old - 30 years younger than that of a heterosexual male.
Barber was fired because he involved AllState in his nonsense. He claimed that he wrote the column on his own time. Now the bio on the column said the following:
J. Matt Barber is a non-practicing attorney, an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer (Matt "Bam Bam" Barber), and a professional jazz drummer in the Chicago Land (IL) area. In addition to his Law Degree, Barber holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy. Matt Works for Allstate Insurance Company as a Territorial Senior Manager in Allstate's Law and Regulation Corporate Security (Internal Fraud Investigations) Department.
Or if you want to see the column with the bio, this is the link
Barber sued AllState for violating his religious beliefs because he was not allowed to receive unemployment benefits as a employee who was fired for willfull misconduct. The Illinois Department for Employment Security said this was not the case, so Barber was able to get unemployment benefits.
Barber continued with a lawsuit against AllState. He was aided by religious right lawyers, anti-gay industry figures such as Donald Wildmon and the American Family Association, and blogs like Free Republic who claimed that he was the newest victim of the "gay Mafia."
Barber settled with AllState and the settlement was not made public. However, I did notice two things.
I find it interesting that Concerned Women for America did not milk Barber's firing for its own purposes. The organization doesn't even mention it. An article speaking of his settlement clearly says, "no mention of a dollar figure was revealed, according to a WorldNetDaily report."
But go to AllState's web page and you will find the insurance company is talking about it:
The company has stated its position to the court in our answer to Mr. Barber’s lawsuit, and the following statement is included in those papers: “Plaintiff, James Matthew Barber, was not discharged from his employment with Allstate Insurance Company because of his religious beliefs or practices, but because he used the company’s information technology systems and other resources for his personal journalism activities, many of which took place on company time, and which identified Plaintiff as an employee of the Allstate Insurance Company.”
The article references a determination made by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The role of the Illinois Department of Employment Security is to implement the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act, which provides unemployment compensation to residents of the state who meet the eligibility requirements provided in the act. The Department determines whether anyone is eligible for unemployment compensation. Apart from this role, the Department does not rule on the reason for terminations.
To reiterate, Allstate would not terminate an employee for expressing personal religious or lifestyle views on his or her own time.
Seems to me that Barber and his cohorts aren't telling the entire story. He was not fired for "willful misconduct," but apparently his firing was very justified.
Barber should fit in very well with Concerned Women for America. After all, liars generally like each others' company.
Concerned Women for America has hired a replacement for the departing Robert Knight. And if this man's past history is any indication of his future at the organization, he may provide me with more fun than Knight ever did.
Matt Barber is the new hiree and if he sounds familiar, it's because he was a cause celebre in 2005. At that time, he was an employee at AllState Insurance who was fired because of a column he wrote. The column in question gave the usual anti-gay nonsense about how diseased we are, like the following Cameroneque excerpt:
As a result of the concerted effort by liberals to mask the devastating effects of the gay lifestyle, many people are shocked to learn that the average life expectancy of a homosexual male is only about 45 years old - 30 years younger than that of a heterosexual male.
Barber was fired because he involved AllState in his nonsense. He claimed that he wrote the column on his own time. Now the bio on the column said the following:
J. Matt Barber is a non-practicing attorney, an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer (Matt "Bam Bam" Barber), and a professional jazz drummer in the Chicago Land (IL) area. In addition to his Law Degree, Barber holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy. Matt Works for Allstate Insurance Company as a Territorial Senior Manager in Allstate's Law and Regulation Corporate Security (Internal Fraud Investigations) Department.
Or if you want to see the column with the bio, this is the link
Barber sued AllState for violating his religious beliefs because he was not allowed to receive unemployment benefits as a employee who was fired for willfull misconduct. The Illinois Department for Employment Security said this was not the case, so Barber was able to get unemployment benefits.
Barber continued with a lawsuit against AllState. He was aided by religious right lawyers, anti-gay industry figures such as Donald Wildmon and the American Family Association, and blogs like Free Republic who claimed that he was the newest victim of the "gay Mafia."
Barber settled with AllState and the settlement was not made public. However, I did notice two things.
I find it interesting that Concerned Women for America did not milk Barber's firing for its own purposes. The organization doesn't even mention it. An article speaking of his settlement clearly says, "no mention of a dollar figure was revealed, according to a WorldNetDaily report."
But go to AllState's web page and you will find the insurance company is talking about it:
The company has stated its position to the court in our answer to Mr. Barber’s lawsuit, and the following statement is included in those papers: “Plaintiff, James Matthew Barber, was not discharged from his employment with Allstate Insurance Company because of his religious beliefs or practices, but because he used the company’s information technology systems and other resources for his personal journalism activities, many of which took place on company time, and which identified Plaintiff as an employee of the Allstate Insurance Company.”
The article references a determination made by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The role of the Illinois Department of Employment Security is to implement the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act, which provides unemployment compensation to residents of the state who meet the eligibility requirements provided in the act. The Department determines whether anyone is eligible for unemployment compensation. Apart from this role, the Department does not rule on the reason for terminations.
To reiterate, Allstate would not terminate an employee for expressing personal religious or lifestyle views on his or her own time.
Seems to me that Barber and his cohorts aren't telling the entire story. He was not fired for "willful misconduct," but apparently his firing was very justified.
Barber should fit in very well with Concerned Women for America. After all, liars generally like each others' company.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Needing your help with information
There is so much going on today and I intend to comment on it on future dates.
But first thing's first.
I have just finished a marathon session of editing and correcting my book. Now I get to do it all over again. At least one more time, then I will wrap things up.
I need your help on something.
One of my goals in writing this book is to spotlight attention on those of us who are working to expose the lies of the anti-gay industry piece by piece. In doing this, I want to give out a list of sites where people can go when the anti-gay industry comes out with a lying press release and the like.
If any of you know of any sites, please send them to me via this blog or my email address, CharleKenghis@aol.com
I know of the official sites (i.e. HRC and Lambda Legal) but the sites I want are of bloggers and web pages who are doing good work without getting the right type of notoriety.
I will check out the site and include it in my book.
I already have a few but more wouldn't hurt.
This is highly important. It seems that unofficially, we have a network of (I am paraphrasing your words, Wayne Besen) "truth-tellers." I just want all of us to be better connected.
There is so much going on today and I intend to comment on it on future dates.
But first thing's first.
I have just finished a marathon session of editing and correcting my book. Now I get to do it all over again. At least one more time, then I will wrap things up.
I need your help on something.
One of my goals in writing this book is to spotlight attention on those of us who are working to expose the lies of the anti-gay industry piece by piece. In doing this, I want to give out a list of sites where people can go when the anti-gay industry comes out with a lying press release and the like.
If any of you know of any sites, please send them to me via this blog or my email address, CharleKenghis@aol.com
I know of the official sites (i.e. HRC and Lambda Legal) but the sites I want are of bloggers and web pages who are doing good work without getting the right type of notoriety.
I will check out the site and include it in my book.
I already have a few but more wouldn't hurt.
This is highly important. It seems that unofficially, we have a network of (I am paraphrasing your words, Wayne Besen) "truth-tellers." I just want all of us to be better connected.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Does anyone actually care what Gary Bauer thinks?
I see that Gary Bauer is pushing hackneyed "gay agenda" line yet again:
" . . .A conservative spokesman and former U.S. presidential candidate warns that efforts to advance the homosexual agenda will intensify when the new Democrat-led Congress convenes Thursday. Gary Bauer of American Values believes the homosexual rights movement sees the new Congress as a vehicle to make further progress in getting homosexuality to be considered a protected civil rights category."
Oooh I'm so scared (those who are familiar with ghetto girl dialect can slur their vowels now).
I'm going to fight my first impulse of insulting Mr. Bauer by referring to him as Skeletor (come on, you know he looks like the villain from Masters of the Universe) because I really don't care about him.
When Bauer was the head of the Family Research Council, he did have some degree of power. But since resigning to run for President in the 2000 election, he has become as irrelevant as an 80's hair band.
I do sincerely hope, however, that is new Congress do their duty and work to pass laws that will make life better for the gay and lesbian community.
After all, we are Americans, too.
Can we stop the flow of lies?
I like to go online and check out sites that are anti-gay. I find it empowering to know what the other side is thinking. Reading their lies reminds me of the work I need to do by writing my book.
It can get depressing too. Today, I located a South African web page that spoke against gay adoption. No doubt the creators of the page considers themselves Christian and it is for this reason that they oppose gay adoption. I have no problems with this. What I have a problem with is the information the page contained, like the following:
A study of 4340 adults in five metropolitan areas of the USA showed that bisexuals and homosexuals (about 4% of the sample) compared to heterosexuals:
· exposed themselves sexually to more different bodies (more frequently admitting to participating in orgies and reported larger numbers of sexual partners);
· more frequently participated in socially disruptive sex (e.g., deliberate infection of others, cheating in marriage, making obscene phone calls);
· more frequently reported engaging in socially disruptive activities (e.g., criminality, shoplifting, tax cheating); and
· more frequently exposed themselves to biological hazards (e.g. fisting, bestiality, ingestion of faeces and sadomasochism).
That is Paul Cameron's infamous ISIS study of the early 1980s. Bear in mind that the citation does not mention Cameron as the author of the study nor does it talk about how Cameron conducted the study.
It does not mention:
That only 41 gay men and 25 lesbians took part in this study,
the study consisted of over 500 questions, given to the first person answering the door, and was picked up a week later, and
the study has been discredited over and over again.
The South African web page piece contains other distortions.
Which leads me to ask this question: can we ever stop the lies?
That web page is just one of a myriad of web pages that repeat Cameronesque lies about the gay and lesbian community.
When people seek to do evil, they are usually successful. Mopping up the mess they make tends to take a long time. And it is tiresome work. And it does get discouraging at times.
I guess I should be reminded of the title of a song Shawn Colvin sings:
Steady On!
I see that Gary Bauer is pushing hackneyed "gay agenda" line yet again:
" . . .A conservative spokesman and former U.S. presidential candidate warns that efforts to advance the homosexual agenda will intensify when the new Democrat-led Congress convenes Thursday. Gary Bauer of American Values believes the homosexual rights movement sees the new Congress as a vehicle to make further progress in getting homosexuality to be considered a protected civil rights category."
Oooh I'm so scared (those who are familiar with ghetto girl dialect can slur their vowels now).
I'm going to fight my first impulse of insulting Mr. Bauer by referring to him as Skeletor (come on, you know he looks like the villain from Masters of the Universe) because I really don't care about him.
When Bauer was the head of the Family Research Council, he did have some degree of power. But since resigning to run for President in the 2000 election, he has become as irrelevant as an 80's hair band.
I do sincerely hope, however, that is new Congress do their duty and work to pass laws that will make life better for the gay and lesbian community.
After all, we are Americans, too.
Can we stop the flow of lies?
I like to go online and check out sites that are anti-gay. I find it empowering to know what the other side is thinking. Reading their lies reminds me of the work I need to do by writing my book.
It can get depressing too. Today, I located a South African web page that spoke against gay adoption. No doubt the creators of the page considers themselves Christian and it is for this reason that they oppose gay adoption. I have no problems with this. What I have a problem with is the information the page contained, like the following:
A study of 4340 adults in five metropolitan areas of the USA showed that bisexuals and homosexuals (about 4% of the sample) compared to heterosexuals:
· exposed themselves sexually to more different bodies (more frequently admitting to participating in orgies and reported larger numbers of sexual partners);
· more frequently participated in socially disruptive sex (e.g., deliberate infection of others, cheating in marriage, making obscene phone calls);
· more frequently reported engaging in socially disruptive activities (e.g., criminality, shoplifting, tax cheating); and
· more frequently exposed themselves to biological hazards (e.g. fisting, bestiality, ingestion of faeces and sadomasochism).
That is Paul Cameron's infamous ISIS study of the early 1980s. Bear in mind that the citation does not mention Cameron as the author of the study nor does it talk about how Cameron conducted the study.
It does not mention:
That only 41 gay men and 25 lesbians took part in this study,
the study consisted of over 500 questions, given to the first person answering the door, and was picked up a week later, and
the study has been discredited over and over again.
The South African web page piece contains other distortions.
Which leads me to ask this question: can we ever stop the lies?
That web page is just one of a myriad of web pages that repeat Cameronesque lies about the gay and lesbian community.
When people seek to do evil, they are usually successful. Mopping up the mess they make tends to take a long time. And it is tiresome work. And it does get discouraging at times.
I guess I should be reminded of the title of a song Shawn Colvin sings:
Steady On!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Book stuff and history
Yaaaayyyy! I've finished making the copy editing changes in my book and it only took two days.
Now I get to do it all over again.
Seriously though, I have given myself a deadline of February 1 for my manuscript to be fully ready to be published.
I would like to give huge props to Joe Brummer for his excellent recap of last year's events. I didn't realize that so much good was done for our community. I encourage everyone to read it.
Lastly, I received an interesting package in the mail from my copy editor. It was a book he wrote entitled We're So Glad You Asked: 52 quizzes for the Whole Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Heterosexual Family.
It is an excellent book that challenges readers to become knowledgeable on gay history.
We need more of that.
I am an African-American and the proud history of black people has been drilled in me on many occasions. My schools celebrated Dr. King's birthday long before it became a national holiday. We celebrated Black History Month when it was originally Black History Week with a schoolwide assembly in which we all participated.
The sense of urgency had by those who taught me to love my African-American heritage is something the gay and lesbian community needs.
There has been so much discussion on the similarities and differences between the African-American and gay rights movement. I have sat on the fence because I believe that both groups want to disavow or acknowledge the similiarities based on selfish reasons.
I will acknowledge that both groups are similar in one way: we have been miseducated and taught to hate ourselves.
Just as some folks want to push the idea that African-Americans and black people in general did nothing to contribute to the history of the world, some people want to deny the gay and lesbian community our rich heritage.
They want to keep us in the dark, pushing the idea that we are defined by how some of us have sexual relations.
The anti-gay industry wants to hold us back from being celebrating our orientation while they tell the world how nasty and evil we are.
We shouldn't let their ignorance stop us. We need to tell the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered much of the known world before he was 33; of Billy Tipton, who started her own jazz combo; of Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington, of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut and Swedish queen Christina, both ruling as capable as a man.
The list goes on and on.
We owe to our gay children that they know these people.
And we owe it to ourselves. A refresher course in pride never hurts.
Yaaaayyyy! I've finished making the copy editing changes in my book and it only took two days.
Now I get to do it all over again.
Seriously though, I have given myself a deadline of February 1 for my manuscript to be fully ready to be published.
I would like to give huge props to Joe Brummer for his excellent recap of last year's events. I didn't realize that so much good was done for our community. I encourage everyone to read it.
Lastly, I received an interesting package in the mail from my copy editor. It was a book he wrote entitled We're So Glad You Asked: 52 quizzes for the Whole Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Heterosexual Family.
It is an excellent book that challenges readers to become knowledgeable on gay history.
We need more of that.
I am an African-American and the proud history of black people has been drilled in me on many occasions. My schools celebrated Dr. King's birthday long before it became a national holiday. We celebrated Black History Month when it was originally Black History Week with a schoolwide assembly in which we all participated.
The sense of urgency had by those who taught me to love my African-American heritage is something the gay and lesbian community needs.
There has been so much discussion on the similarities and differences between the African-American and gay rights movement. I have sat on the fence because I believe that both groups want to disavow or acknowledge the similiarities based on selfish reasons.
I will acknowledge that both groups are similar in one way: we have been miseducated and taught to hate ourselves.
Just as some folks want to push the idea that African-Americans and black people in general did nothing to contribute to the history of the world, some people want to deny the gay and lesbian community our rich heritage.
They want to keep us in the dark, pushing the idea that we are defined by how some of us have sexual relations.
The anti-gay industry wants to hold us back from being celebrating our orientation while they tell the world how nasty and evil we are.
We shouldn't let their ignorance stop us. We need to tell the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered much of the known world before he was 33; of Billy Tipton, who started her own jazz combo; of Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington, of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut and Swedish queen Christina, both ruling as capable as a man.
The list goes on and on.
We owe to our gay children that they know these people.
And we owe it to ourselves. A refresher course in pride never hurts.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Massachusetts GODDAMN Massachusetts
Well I hope everyone had a good holiday. I spent a good bit of time editing my manuscript while totally ignoring this blog.
And now when I am ready to come back to it, an issue hits me in the face with the urgency of a runaway locomotive.
By now, everyone has heard what has happened in Massachusetts, so there is no need to rehash it. Check out this link if you are not aware of the situation.
What is happening gets me angry on so many levels. The first level, of course, is envisioning the press releases that will surely come from Agape Press and that bunch.
Trust me when I say that there is nothing more annoying than a self-righteous gloater.
On a more important level, I cringe to think about another go-round on the "marriage train fight."
I'm probably in the minority when I say that this fight over marriage equality has revealed a bourgeois element of our community.
This point was driven home to me when I read the article about how difficult it is for gay students to get gay/straight alliances started in high schools, despite the fact that the law is on their side.
Meanwhile us black gay men and lesbian women are still fending for ourselves, invisible to two communities that won't give us any respect or visibility.
I am all for marriage equality but gaining it is not the salve for the ills affecting our community. I know gay men who are out but have a negative view of our community. Some don't even know why we should fight for the rights that should be ours, including the right to take care of our families. Some have drunken the kool-aid of lies and actually believe that being gay condemns them to a life of loneliness and vapid sexual relations. Why? Because while there has been so much work about our legal rights, no one has said a word about our spiritual and psychological well-being.
Legal rights are good things, but having a positive spiritual and psychological foundation is more important. Having pride in ourselves is not something we can get from a clique of friends, going out to a club, our material possessions, or fighting for rights that some of us don't even feel we deserve to have.
We have been forgetting that for too long.
Well I hope everyone had a good holiday. I spent a good bit of time editing my manuscript while totally ignoring this blog.
And now when I am ready to come back to it, an issue hits me in the face with the urgency of a runaway locomotive.
By now, everyone has heard what has happened in Massachusetts, so there is no need to rehash it. Check out this link if you are not aware of the situation.
What is happening gets me angry on so many levels. The first level, of course, is envisioning the press releases that will surely come from Agape Press and that bunch.
Trust me when I say that there is nothing more annoying than a self-righteous gloater.
On a more important level, I cringe to think about another go-round on the "marriage train fight."
I'm probably in the minority when I say that this fight over marriage equality has revealed a bourgeois element of our community.
This point was driven home to me when I read the article about how difficult it is for gay students to get gay/straight alliances started in high schools, despite the fact that the law is on their side.
Meanwhile us black gay men and lesbian women are still fending for ourselves, invisible to two communities that won't give us any respect or visibility.
I am all for marriage equality but gaining it is not the salve for the ills affecting our community. I know gay men who are out but have a negative view of our community. Some don't even know why we should fight for the rights that should be ours, including the right to take care of our families. Some have drunken the kool-aid of lies and actually believe that being gay condemns them to a life of loneliness and vapid sexual relations. Why? Because while there has been so much work about our legal rights, no one has said a word about our spiritual and psychological well-being.
Legal rights are good things, but having a positive spiritual and psychological foundation is more important. Having pride in ourselves is not something we can get from a clique of friends, going out to a club, our material possessions, or fighting for rights that some of us don't even feel we deserve to have.
We have been forgetting that for too long.
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