Will the David Parker lie ever die?

Yes, I know what happened today.

The Senate killed hate crimes legislation. I don't like it but I am not that angry over it.

Recently I bought a book giving the pictorial history of the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. And reading it gave me perspective.

I figure if people like John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Viola Luizzo, C.T. Vivian, etc. can withstand beatings and the like for their basic rights then lgbts can withstand a little legislative setback without going all to pieces.

We moved this legislation farther than it has ever been before. So let's just take a small breath and get ready to move it even farther to completion.

The anti-gay industry has hindered us just a little bit but they can't stop us. Time and progress is on our side.

Now onto other issues . . .

I see that our friend Peter is basking in all of the attention his appearance on Fox News last night gave him. Never mind the fact that Alan Colmes made him look like a nut (yeah THAT Alan Colmes - I am as shocked as you). It is obvious that Peter defines the word "narcissist."

But I think it reveals a little bit of desperation on his part. Wasn't Folsom Street Fair held in September? Why is he still ruminating on it now in December.

Could it be that his recent requests for donations need a jolt in the arm?

Mmmmmm Could be.

Seriously though, I read something today that is the theme of this post.

Sometimes, the press can act as an unofficial ally of the anti-gay industry. This happens when a reporter is too lazy to do any actual reporting and prints the soundbites of the anti-gay industry without the courtesy of an investigation.

Case in point is this November 26 piece regarding David Parker and King and King.

I talked about Parker extensively in my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and on this blog. He is that parent in Massachusetts who was arrested for not leaving his child's school when asked to. Parker claimed that he did this because the school would not give him assurances that his child wouldn't be "exposed" to talks of homosexuality.

He subsequently sued the school, joined by another set of parents who objected to the fairy tale King and King (in which a prince falls in love with the brother of his intended bride) being read to their child (who was in the second grade.)

The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year. However, Parker and company continues to pursue the situation.

Anyway, Cybercast News Service interviewed Parker for an article about the Presidential candidates' views of King and King. So I am going to take what was said and play that lovely game of truth vs. lie that I played earlier this week:

Distortion: The article said: Parker was jailed in 2005 after he insisted Lexington school officials follow Massachusetts' parental notification law and assure him they would not read such books (like King and King) to his then-kindergartner without prior notice.

Truth: Parker's individual situation had nothing to do with King and King. His son brought home what was called a "diversity bookbag." In the bookbag was a book that had included one same sex family. Parker complained about this. He received assurances that "learning about homosexuality" was not a part of his child's curriculum. However, he was told that some students attending his child's school lived in same sex households and mentioning these households did not violate the Massachusetts parental notification law. The school had checked and was told that the notification law dealt with matters of sex education, and not necessarily differing families.

Distortion: Parker said the following in the article - "We went into a meeting with the administration, they said they were not going to tell us, and I basically made the statement, 'I'm prepared to sit here all night until I get some form of accommodation for our little boy.' Then they called the Lexington police, who put me in handcuffs, and they took me to the Lexington jail. I opted out of paying bail, so they put me in jail over night."

Truth: According to a press release jointly issued by the interim superintendent of schools and area chief of police, Parker was informed of these things during the meeting. The press release also said that Parker was told that he could appeal this decision. Parker decided to take another form of action, i.e. not leaving until he was arrested.

I don't think any malice was intended on the part of the journalist who wrote this article. But his laziness still damages truth.

Okay, maybe I care a little bit . . .

There will be a short post today.

Peter had his press conference this afternoon and he brought friends. Matt Barber from Concerned Women for America and another person spoke.

From what I hear, it was sparsely attended. But for more information, check out The Washington Blade. Online Editor Rebecca Armendariz attended. Click on her name to read her thoughts about it.

Meanwhile, my mother is still in the hospital and I am still working to get everything ready for my first book signing next week. Wish me luck.

But all isn't frivolity and worry. I just found out some good news today.

It seems that my favorite actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, is doing a nude scene in the new motion picture Before the Devil Knows You Are Dead.

I know what I am going to see this weekend.

So I like chubby pasty white men. Sue me already.

It's one of THOSE tuesdays

1. First of all, please pray for my mother as she is going to the hospital for yet another bout with diverticulitis.

Between her problems and mine, we channel Judy Garland and Liza Minelli. Of course I get to be Liza (the younger one).

2. I liked yesterday's game. In fact, I am going to play it again a few more times in the future.

3. A little over a week away from my first book signing and not only have my books not come yet but I haven't written down word one of my small speech.

And I hate the design of the poster that I am due to email to Kinko's tonight.

Can you say panic?

Well at least the sales from amazon.com are coming in. Very slowly, that is.

4. And I have a small conundrum. I am thinking about reconnecting with a dear friend of mine (shut your dirty minds, he is straight) whom I haven't seen or spoken to in over 10 years. Of course I would then have to tell him why I am 36 and have yet to meet the woman of my dreams.

And I don't know how he is going to take the news that I am gay. I hope if I tell him that he does not ask me did I ever look at him naked.

Well I can always say technically no. I never looked at him naked. Only certain parts of his body. And to answer your question, it looked spectacular.

All jokes aside, regardless of what anyone tells you, the rejection from a friend who finds out you're gay is like your soul getting sliced. And frankly, I am too old to be a victim of soul slicing. The wound may take longer to heal than it would if I were younger.

5. I hear our friend Peter LaBarbera is going to hold a press conference where he will show footage he took of Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.

Please pardon me for not giving a shit.

6. Lastly (and yes this is a shameless plug), I encourage those who haven't already to check my site http://www.holybullies.com/ and buy a copy of my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Exposing the Lies of the Anti-Gay Industry.

Trust me when I say that it is THE book to have when you are forced to do battle with the anti-gay industry.

Now forgive me for leaving. I have two boxes of ice cream sandwiches with my name on them.

After all, who needs sex when one has chocolate?

A teachable moment in Kentucky

An anti-bias ordinance was recently passed in Jefferson County School Board in Kentucky. It was supposed to pass easily but ended up going through by one vote. And this is because of an interesting incident that took place during the hearing.

In speaking for the ordinance, Kat Crawford of Highland Middle School told of a situation where a person in her class said a derogatory comment about lgbts. According to Crawford, she talked to the young lady and told her how hurtful such comments could be. Possibly in attempting to prove her point further, Crawford came out to the young lady:

Crawford said she heard a girl tell other kids while on her way to scoliosis screening that "there are going to be lesbians working this," prompting snickers.

"I called the girl over and talked with her privately," Crawford told the board. "… I asked her what she said … and why she said it. I told her that I took offense to it (and said), 'How do you think that comment makes this lesbian feel?' "

Unfortunately, a board member used Crawford's story as an excuse to change her vote:

To me, that was the deal breaker," Linda Duncan said shortly after she voted against the policy.

"When I saw that this language could possibly protect those conversations, it was chilling to me. I could not support something (that) would put kids at risk," she said.

Duncan also said teachers "can't cross the line and discuss (their) sexual preference with a student -- it's just like religion, you can't take a moment and discuss it in school, it's not appropriate."

Unfortunately, others in the article also played the "teacher telling students their sexual preference" card. Luckily, there were folks who spoke to the media and told the difference between sexual orientation and sexual preference.

Personally, I am for the teacher. She had every right to do what she did. What if the student had said something negative about a certain religion that the teacher happened to be a believer in? It would have been totally appropriate for her to act in the same manner she did in this case.

But no one would be trying to accuse her of trying to "convert" the student, as they have in this case.

But I want to use the incident in order to play a game. I am going to pretend that I am Peter LaBarbera (I know, I am retching too) or some other anti-gay industry talking head. Taking that form, I am going turn this story into a series of talking points. After each talking point, I am going to point out the truth of the matter:

Anti-gay industry talking point 1 - The teacher was in the wrong because she talked about her sex life with the student.

Truth - No she did not. She did not mention anything regarding sexual activity to the student.

Anti-gay industry talking point 2 - The teacher embarrassed the student by calling her out simply because the student was giving her "deeply held religious beliefs" about homosexuality.

Truth - The student's comments had nothing to do with her religious beliefs.

Anti-gay industry talking point 3 - The student had a right to free speech.

Truth - The student had a right to free speech up to a point. Teachers and instructors have a responsibility to monitor the words of students in cases of profanity and derogatory language. The teacher was well within her rights to call the student out because the student's language was derogatory.

Anti-gay industry talking point 4 - The teacher should not be trying to force the student to accept homosexuality

Truth - The teacher was not trying to force the student to accept anything. She was simply telling the student that her language was hurtful, as was her responsibility as an instructor/teacher.

You see how the anti-gay industry works? That is why is it so important for us to know when incidents like this happen so that we can analyze how they distort the truth.

The point I was trying to make yesterday was . . .

I inadvertently failed to mention yesterday that exgaywatch.com was also one of the first to spot how the American Family Association is continuing to sell the fradulent video featuring Michael Johnston.

And I agree with the person who pointed this out when he said that it was old news.

That was the point of my post. Why is it old news? AFA was caught doing this in January and now, one day before December, they are still selling the fradulent video.

While it is true that the AFA have shown themselves to be liars, I still say they are getting away with it because those in our community with the power of the media hasn't pushed the issue.

Is our community so beaten down and blase about things like this that we have numbed ourselves to exposing liars?

Look at the One News Now site. While I totally disagree with what they stand for, I have to commend those who post comments on the site for their focus on the issues they feel are important.

When my post was mentioned on Americablog last night, some comments had nothing to do with the situation at hand. It is not funny when folks you are trying to reach don't seem to care.

Meanwhile, the fradulent AFA video continues to be sold at churches and venues unaware of Michael Johnston's history and deception.

That is the real story here.

American Family Association demonstrates the difference between winning and losing

I am in a better mood today and there is much to write about.

The Freepers are upset over a high school spirit week idea that has students dressing up as the opposite gender. They see it as a "plot by radical homosexuals" rather than good clean fun that is no different from a powderpuff football game.

In California, an anti-gay industry group has resurrected the image of the "cross dressing linebacker" in an attempt to defeat a pro-gay law.

But something on One News Now caught my attention.

As I perused the site, I saw one of their pop up ads. It was advertising the video "It's Not Gay." If you click on the ad, it will take you to this site.

For the benefit of those who are not aware of this controversial video, I will give a little background. It gives the testimonies of folks who have claimed to have "walked away from homosexuality." In fact, the cover of the video shows one of the people featured, Michael Johnston.

However, well after the video was made, Johnston was discovered to be having clandestine gay sexual encounters in hotel rooms. To compound this situation, Johnston is HIV positive. He has freely admitted his status as he traveled the country claiming to be "ex-gay."

Wayne Besen has taken the American Family Association to task for selling this fradulent video. He was the first to notice it. I have taken them to task. Several others have cried foul over the selling of this video.

When confronted with the truth behind the video, the American Family Association played the victim. But they pulled the video:

“It was with great sadness that AFA stopped selling It’s Not Gay at that time,” said AFA executive assistant Buddy Smith. “Michael remained a friend of ours, and we were so happy to hear that, following his fall, he had placed himself under the spiritual care of Steve Gallagher at Pure Life Ministries.”

Now it seems that they have snuck it back on the market. And why is Johnston still on the cover? How can they get away with this?

The answer may be something I saw today. I was looking through a gay magazine (I won't say which) that was commemorating the year 2007. It focused on the usual nonsense - celebrities, musicians, designers, parties, and clothing too damned expensive for me to buy.

Sometimes I wonder if we are focused as we should be.

The American Family Association has been selling a fradulent video even after they have been called on it simply because those in our community with enough power to bring attention to it don't give a shit.

I know our mindset seems to be focus on the positive and not think about the anti-gay industry, but to do so all the time is pure delusion. There are people and groups out there who are focused on stripping lgbts of our rights to life, health, and self determination. They want to put us in spiritual cages thereby making us define our lives by their ignorant definitions of homosexuality.
To ignore them is folly.

Or to put it another way, if our side had made such a blatant error, do you think that the anti-gay industry would ignore it?

Of course they wouldn't. They would harp on it every chance they got.

As we should in this situation. The American Family Association is knowingly selling a fradulent video and rather than ignore it, we need to bring it to public attention every chance we get.

It's called persistence and it is the difference between winning and losing.

A day with a 'radical gay activist' and his plan to take over America

It's such a slow news day today that our friend Peter LaBarbera is recycling news from a week ago.

As such, it's very slow with me also. Therefore, let me tell you about my day.

After being told yet again that my royalty check from the third quarter did not arrive in the mail, I called my publisher. I had to call back several times before reaching someone who directed me to the sales department.

Apparently everyone was buying books so they have a shitload of royalty checks to mail out.

I put on my best impression of Alexis from Dynasty (even wearing my imitation chinchilla coat while talking on the phone) and let the person from sales know that I am not happy with the situation. She assured me that all is well and that I will also know (hopefully by next week) how many copies of my book that wholesellers, such as amazon.com, have bought.

I know that my publishing company, Xlibris, is reputable. They are affiliated with Random House and have a profile with the Better Business Bureau. I also know how slow it can be when it comes to royalty checks and all.

However, I feel it is necessary to give them the "ole needle" every now and then.

After that long conversation, I was tempted to reward my diligence with a impulse purchase at Best Buy. I really shouldn't have but the purchase was the WWE Royal Rumble Collection Volume 1.

Apparently, a kindergarten class took a trip to Best Buy before I arrived because the DVDs were in disarray. The sales lady had to go in the back to get me a copy of what I wanted.

While waiting on her, I was tempted to buy a copy of the movie "Who's Your Caddy." I hear it has a long nudity scene with three guys.

Yes, I am so scandalous that I will buy a $19.99 movie just to see someone's ass. Sue me, I don't have a boyfriend.

After leaving Best Buy, I went to Piggly Wiggly and stood in line for almost half an hour while sister girlfriend in front of me attempted to cash her check. Meanwhile, there were two other lines backed up because of slack jawed cashiers who didn't know what they were doing.

By the way, the manager was present through all of this. Don't quote me on it, but I think he was trying to buy a bootleg copy of something or another.

I kinda wished the other manager was present. He usually doesn't deal with such nonsense. And he has a big butt.

Sue me already. I like big butts and I cannot lie.

After spending time in line for so long that I felt as if I died and was doomed to spend eternity in a Soul Plane like movie, my turn finally came.

And I came home without incident. And I still have to design a poster for my book signing on December 13 (more on that when I am in a better mood).

The good news throughout all of this is that my book is still the number one gay/lesbian nonfiction book on amazon.ca (amazon.com's Canadian site).

So why have I told you all this long story?

Just something to remember the next time someone like James Dobson or Peter LaBarbera mentions about how us lgbts are making plans and plots to "undermine" American values.

My day sounds insidious don't it?

Someone alert the FBI!