And it begins - One News Now and Peter LaBarbera attacks the transgender community

I said it yesterday in my blog post and today I see it is happening.

Let me recap.

The religious right are scared over an Obama presidency and the positive possibilities it may have for the lgbt community.

So expect them to batten down all of the hatches and pull out all of their lies about hate crimes legislation, gays serving openly in the military, ENDA, and non-discrimination ordinances in general.

With non-discrimination ordinances, they are going to try and exploit ignorance and fear about our transgender brothers and sisters.

I see from an item on LaBarbera's Americans for Truth (in name only) web page and the One News Now webpage, they aren't wasting any time:

Americans for Truth - Will big-boned men in dresses and high heels like this fellow be allowed to use women’s restrooms in federal buildings under the Obama Administration? That’s what Obama’s plan to create “rights” based on gender confusion might bring. Obama’s pro-transsexual agenda — he favors federal rights based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” — was never discussed or debated seriously in the election campaign.

One News Now - Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says Obama's new non-discrimination policy will be an "open door" for gender-confused and cross-dressing federal employees. "What's the Obama administration going to do to protect women in federal restrooms?" the activist asks. "Since men [wearing] dresses apparently are going to be protected under gender-identity provisions, what about the women in the restrooms in the White House and other federal buildings? What's going to be done to protect their rights?"

Apparently Obama's election has afforded Peter the privilege of getting around more than a whore on payday.

So expect us to hear more about the transgender community in lucid and ugly terms.

Oh brother.

Listen, the question here is not whether anyone approves with being transgender or not. So be careful not to let Peter and company turn it into that.

The question is should lgbts (and that includes transgendered brothers and sisters) be able to function and do their job without fear of discrimination.

And if Peter and company want to bring up the issue of bathrooms and such, let's make them be specific about it.

Starting now.

I know my blog preaches to the choir but just in case there are any opposition folks out there who read it, I dare you to challenge me on this point:

The bathroom issue is IRRELEVANT. The bathroom issue is a scare tactic brought up by the religious right. There has never a problem of women having to fear for themselves if someone transgendered used the bathroom.

And also, as I said yesterday, several cities (including my home city of Columbia, SC) has passed ordinances such as these. And there has NOT been any problems with bathrooms and the like.

Other than trying to exploit fear and ignorance, what concerns are reasonable about the bathroom argument?

I await your answer, even though I won't ever get it.

Peter is scared that he is being watched

Speaking of my friend LaBarbera, he has another interesting item on his webpage. Apparently a gay man wrote wannabe "Christian activist" and all-around nutcase Linda Harvey and said the following:

Comments: You are very much being watched! All you jeebus-lovin-christers rights will slowly be taken away one by one the more you try to press your beliefs down our throats. Beware. We are everywhere and you will never know it. Watch your mouth. Watch your actions. We are watching them my friend and we are many and we are rich and we are very well educated and very powerful.

Peter makes the comment sound ominous.

Oh please. Peter, I am watching you. I am watching Harvey. I am watching One News Now and the rest of the religious right.

Just like you watch us. Cause if you didn't, you wouldn't have any items to lie on us about.

Hell, Peter, you have made a career out of watching us and taking pictures no less.

For you to complain that a gay man has written saying that he is watching you or anyone else on your side is yet another sign of your hypocrisy.

We are angry. Now what to do with that anger

Despite the past blogs regarding the Proposition 8 controversy, part of me is pleased with the lgbt community's anger.

It reminds of that soul song "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate." In the song, the protagonist's girlfriend endures hurt after humiliation from him until he goes too far.

Then she took it upon herself to take care of the situation.

Historically, the lgbt community are like that. We endure insult after insult until we get really angry. And when we do, people start shaking.

It's not because we get violent (we usually don't) but because we get infused with that fiersome clarity that always comes with white hot righteous indignation. When that happens, your mind develops a sort of tunnelvision that, if used right, is like a cleansing fire that not only overwhelms everything in its wake, but also gives your enemies the realization that maybe this time, they have gone too far.

It's taking us a little time and despite the minor roadblock we have to deal with (i.e. the Proposition 8 blame game), the lgbt community is reaching that point of fiersome clarity.

It happened after the Anita Bryant/Dade County vote, it happened after the 1992 Colorado anti-gay discrimination vote and it's happening now.

But the question is where will it lead. I like the fact that our community is channeling Howard Beale from the motion picture Network (i.e. "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"), but we need to take things into account.

These things are the difference between us running our anger out in useless sparks of wildcat rage and using the anger to become a disciplined united force:

1. We now have a president and a Congress who are a little more gay-friendly than the ones we have had to deal with in recent years. That being the case, we have a good chance of passing ENDA, hate crimes legislation, as well as legislation allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

2. The religious right is still out there. They still have the power to motivate on the basis of ignorance, albeit on a smaller scale. In other words, they are still dangerous.

How the lgbt community handles the second issue will determine how much success we will have with the first issue.

We need to have a real assessment of what the religious right can and will do - their strengths so so speak.

Allow me to offer up an opinion on the matter.

1. Expect to see and hear more lies regarding the transgender community.

2. Expect to hear more anecdotes about how the "gay agenda" is being marketed to children or how gays want to silence Christians. The religious right definition of an anecdote is a current event taken out of context (i.e. lies about parents getting arrested for "standing up against the gay agenda," people arrested for "simply preaching the gospel' at a gay pride festival," pastors arrested for "simply preaching against homosexuality").

I would suggest to combat this, we pre-develop talking points like the following:

Religious right - Hate crime laws are an excuse for pastors to be arrested in their pulpits for speaking against homosexuality.

Truth - Hate crime laws deal with violent action, not speech. Also there are already hate crime laws regarding religion and race. They aren't causing a problem, so why would a protection on sexual orientation cause a problem?

Religious Right - But a pastor in Sweden was arrested for speaking out against homosexuality.

Truth - Well that was Sweden. America has different laws regarding speech. Also, the pastor in question (i.e. Ake Green) was acquitted of the charges.

Religious Right - ENDA will force churches to hire drag queens to teach nurseries, as well as "she-males" and 300 pound linebackers with five o'clock shadow and make up.

Truth - Churches are exempt from ENDA. Also, don't you think your examples are a little extreme? What the heck is a "she-male?"

Religious Right - Non-discrimination ordinances will allow men to come into ladies rooms and locker rooms. All they have to say is "I feel like a woman."

Truth - That is a huge stretch. This sort of activity is not covered by non-discrimination ordinances. Also, several cities, including Columbia, SC , have passed these ordinances and there have been NO problems.

One more thing.

I think the possible exploitation of disagreements between the black and lgbt community may be a blessing in disguise. If anything, it challenges us to define the battle on our terms and not that of history. Forget historical relevance. Let the historians worry about that.

Our concern is not how our movement compare with the marches on Selma or Birmingham or the Montgomery Bus Boycott or the March on Washington.

I say we break out the facts and figures. Just how many children are in foster care and will not have a family because of a ban on gay adoption? How many sorely needed linguists have been dismissed due to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell?" How many lgbts fear reprisal at their job for simply putting up a picture of their loved ones?

Our concern is making sure Bobby or Sue can go to school without fear of being beaten up for their orientation.

Our concern is that Bobby or Sue are not prohibited from being all they can be at their jobs or prohibited from starting a family due, not to facts, but someone's "deeply held ignorance" regarding sexual orientation.

Our concern is that Bobby or Sue are not brainwashed by a self-actualizing dichotomy that tells them that they have no other recourse as lgbts other than to act hedonistic because they are not worthy of the words "values," "morality," or "family."

In other words, this battle is not about why lgbts should have our rights, but why should anyone dare to keep them from us.

Let's use all of our anger to make that the focus of the so-called cultural war.

What a week, what a week

First let's get the trifling mess out of the way. This is important because it illustrates the points I was making yesterday and the day before:

N-Word Hurled at Blacks During Westwood Prop 8 Protest

Not that this wasn't expected. The recent passage of California's Proposition 8 has exposed some of the latent racism of many within the LGBT community—instigated in part by many in the e-telligentsia such as proto-racist Andrew Sullivan and columnist Dan Savage. Unfortunately the "blame the blacks" meme is being commonly accepted by some so-called "progressive" gay activists. A number of Rod 2.0 and Jasmyne Cannick readers report being subjected to taunts, threats and racist abuse at last night's marriage equality rally in Los Angeles.

Geoffrey, a student at UCLA and regular Rod 2.0 reader, joined the massive protest outside the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood. Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.

It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.

Pam Spaulding gives her take on the situation:

The backlash is upon us, and it's going to get uglier unless our organizations step forward and say something. The desire to scapegoat blacks for Prop 8's defeat has exposed the now not-so-latent racism in our movement.

I have already blogged a lot about why the lack of effective communication (and I'm not even talking about outreach on gay issues to socially conservative blacks) between white people in general and people of color. That dearth of understanding and mutual respect for difference, and lack of desire to seek common ground through personal relationships ultimately leads to what we are seeing here.

The great irony over this entire thing is this item I found on PageOneQ:

San Francisco ranks 53 of 59 counties in voter turnout

San Francisco, considered by many to be the "gay capital" of the United States (perhaps the world), ranked close to the bottom of California counties in terms of turnout for Tuesday's general election, PageOneQ has learned. The balloting included Proposition 8, an effort to repeal marriage equality in the state. The proposition passed, making California the first state to affirm, then revoke, equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

Personally I think the behavior of some lgbts, especially some lgbt bloggers, have been extremely irresponsible in pushing this mess up. And it brings a point to my mind.

Everyone wants to win but you have to sometimes learn how to lose. Losing shows your true character and if you can't lose with humility then don't count on winning because you will never win.

In other words, stop acting like a bunch of dumbasses. Wipe away your tears, fix your faces, and get ready to work.

But I am still in a good mood. For one thing, other leaders in the lgbt community have come out speaking against these racist actions.

For another thing, I don't think its over. Everyone seems to forget that in 1992 even with the election of Bill Clinton, Colorado passed an amendment that forbad the state from protecting lgbts from discrimination.

The Supreme Court overturned it two years later.

So we may be on the losing end now but we will win in the end.

And lastly:

WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT, Y'ALL!!!!!!

I can't help being reminded of the movie Blazing Saddles (an excellent anti-p.c. comedy that still holds up) in which a racist white town received a black sheriff.

Naturally they treated him like shit until a monstrous villain (Mongo) invaded the town.

Forgetting all of their ugliness, the townspeople begged the sheriff to take care of the situation, which he did with a lot of aplomb.

What does that tell me? After so many years treating the black man like shit, America is now turning to him to help it through one of the most turbulent times in this country's history.

And I have faith that like that sheriff in Blazing Saddles, Obama is going to come through with flying colors.

Lift that barge, tote that bale, drive that wedge

Unfortunately as the lgbt community tries to deal with losing in California, ugliness is prevailing.

The scuttlebutt seems to be that the African-American community overwhelmingly supported the anti-gay marriage equality amendment.

Now the blogsphere on the left is filled with comments by some angry lgbts over this.

Part of me can say that I understand their anger. But I won't.

I simply will not give an ounce of sympathy. And here is why:

I live in South Carolina. When the marriage amendment hit us, nobody gave a damn because everyone figured that South Carolina was so homophobic, it wasn' t worth worrying about.

I guess what happened in California proves that not only your silence but your location will NOT protect you.

When we lost, we got demoralized but we got back up again and got united. We assessed why we lost and are better because of it.

All I can say in this matter is don't let your anger make you say things that are counterproductive and stupid - like the threats I read on the Queerty site. Very nice guys - you really did something special. Now Peter Labarbera and Matt Barber can plead victimhood for days.

I am of the opinion of Pam Spaulding. She wrote an excellent piece on how the defeats should make lgbts deal with the issue of race in their community:

For those of us who are black and gay, a group too often marginalized within a marginalized community, I see this as a clear signal to the LGBT advocacy community. There hasn't been enough outreach to those groups who voted against us. We haven't reached them; there hasn't been enough effort expended.

I've been blogging for years about the need to discuss race in regards to LGBT issues. I hope that this is now the wakeup call for our "professional gays" out there who represent us to come out of their comfort zones and help bridge this concrete education gap. The belief that white=gay is big part of the problem, and as long as black LGBTs are invisible in their own communities and there is a dearth of color in the public face of LGBT leadership, the socially conservative black community can remain in denial that I exist as a black lesbian.

This is a teachable moment people, so hush up and learn. The religious right is going to use your anger to drive a wedge where there should be a bridge.

The day after - the bad stuff and a challenge to the lgbt community

To those who fought the good fight in Arkansas, Florida, California, and Arizona, don't get discouraged. The battle ain't over yet.

But something needs to be said to my lgbt brothers and sisters at large.

So many in the lgbt movement want to adopt the terminology of the African-American civil rights movement because we are captivated by the visible aspect of this movement, i.e. the rallies, the marches, the speeches.

But we need to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we are not nor will we ever be like that movement. Certainly there are similarities, but we get so entranced by what happened back then that we don't seem to have perspective.

Black folks back then had to march and rally. Visibility was, at times, all they had. The lgbt struggle is different in that we have more tools for success. But we aren't taking advantage of them.

For example:

How many of you are familiar with Paul Cameron and how his bad research tactics influences religious right claims about lgbts?

How many of you know the name of the so-called pro-family group in your area? Do you know their leader or the policy issues they are pursuing now or will pursue in the future?

How many of you are mobilized to fight said iniatives should they come up against the lgbt community in the future? For example, I suspect the Arkansas success against gay adoption is going to cause a groundswell of the same type of legislation in other states.

Before you answer, let me tell you what the other side does.

They study us daily. They read our web pages and listen to our spokespersons in anticipation of getting an advantage that they can use against us. But mostly, they plan and strategize behind the scenes.

That is the reason for their continued ability to mobilize, exploit fear and ignorance even in the face of an electoral defeat, and keep a lock on the words "morality," "values," and "truth."

And us? Some of us (please notice that I did not say all of us) wait until we are threatened by ballot initiatives before we mobilize and concentrate on the enemy.

Some of us wait until our leaders (or celebrities, I get the two mixed up) comment on an issue before we give a damn.

Some of us think that it is more important to focus on the alleged sexual orientation of a legislator's son rather than the fact that the said legislator is using incredibly bad studies and research to demonize the lgbt community.

Some of us will give the religious right a pass when they distort studies and refer to discredited studies because we don't want to play "gotcha games."

And some of us get so filled up with righteous indignation that we don't channel it at the religious right but at our own and why? Because someone used the wrong semantics; i.e. slipped up and said "civil unions" instead of "marriage."

In other words, we are a community with much potential but right now, we are a hot mess.

And hot messes don't win ballot initiatives or elections.

The following tips are merely my opinion as to what we should do next:

1. Get away from the African-American civil rights movement terminology. Certainly we should use it as a blueprint but we should also be trying to establish our own style in fighting for our rights.

2. Educate yourselves about the religious right. Look at their arguments and study their talking points. Develop talking points to counter them and above all, call them out when they lie. Don't be afraid to say that they are distorting certain arguments. And keep on them when you do. Be as tenacious as a pitbull. Make them explain themselves.

3. Keep the passion we have but let's channel it in the right direction. We basically want the same thing but our community has diverse opinions as to how to reach our goals. Yelling at each other over semantic points only hurts us.

4. Don't wait for things to happen. Anticipate. Or hell, create. A letter to the editor over a bad talking point/study or a blogger alert does wonders in getting the conversation talked about on our terms

5. Don't rely on visibility for visibility's sake and avoid the lure of transient empowerment.

6. Don't wait for Ellen, Rosie, or T.R. to say something. Look for lgbt heroes and spokespeople in your own areas. They are out there.

Like I said, this is just my opinion, but that's what I think we need to go next.

And it's over!!!!!

Ladies and Gentleman, meet your 44th president

Election update - Lindsey Graham gets the chutzpah award

Yesterday, I talked about how Senator Lindsey Graham was encouraging black voters to "split their ticket" and re-elect him to the Senate.

Today, the story becomes murkier.

I have in my possession a flyer from the Graham campaign. It is an endorsement for Graham from A.M.E. Bishop Preston Warren Williams II which encourages black voters to re-elect Graham over his Democratic challenger.

One of the reasons why Williams feels that Graham should be re-elected is because his Democratic challenger (exact words in the flyer) "refuses to endorse Barack Obama."

But here is the kicker. Today, I received an email from the Graham campaign that said the following:

URGENT UPDATE: Early reports from numerous precincts across South Carolina reveal record-breaking Democratic turnout. Do not assume that any seat is "safe." If you have not yet voted, it is CRITICAL that you make it to the polls today to vote for Senator Graham and the entire Republican Team. According to state law, any registered voter in line by 7:00pm must be allowed to vote no matter how long it takes. Please head to the polls as soon as possible. Thank you.

So at the same time Graham is encouraging black voters not support his challenger because of he did not support Obama, he is telling Republican voters to get out and vote because of a "record-breaking Democratic turnout," a turnout that is most likely fueled by Obama's running for the presidency.

For the record I didn't vote for Graham or his challenger; Graham for obvious reasons and his challenger because he did not campaign hard enough to peak my interest. Candidates for national office in South Carolina seem to always try to out-Republican each other.

But regardless, you have to stand in awe of Graham's straddling the fence and juggling the voters at the same time.

I wonder what his next trick will be.


Election morning - Things nearly got shady in my district

(I am presently on my lunchbreak from my job so I thought I would share my morning's voting experience with you all. If there are any questions, I will answer them when I get home.)

When I arrived to my voting area 6:45 this morning, I wasn't surprised to see the very long line of voters.

I knew it would be an eventful morning, but I didn't have any idea how eventful it would be.

At a certain time the line stopped. I mean totally stopped as in I stood in my same area for almost an hour.

Needless to say standing an hour in the same place made a lot of us restless. And it got worse.

Sensing our restlessness, a poll worker came out and explained the delay:

Apparently our registrations had to be checked twice. There was a list of registrations for the general election and a list of registrations for the school board elections.

This didn't (and still doesn't even now) make a damned lick of sense. I had been voting at that same precinct since 1992 and we have never had to have our registrations checked twice.

That, and that fact that the two poll workers doing the checking were elderly women, made for a large crowd of angry folks who, in a little while, had the potential to make the storming of the French Bastille look like a walk across the street.

I am exaggerating of course, but there was a lot of anger; specifically from a black woman who I will now christen as Norma Rae. She got on her cell phone and began making calls; Representative Jim Clyburn's office, the State Election Commission, the Attorney General's Office.

I think sister girl was probably going to call Batman if she had his number.

To make a long story short, some people (probably members of the Election Commission) came by with new lists and when I got up to vote (the line started moving as if by "magic"), I had to have my registration checked only once.

I am not totally aware of the whys or whats, but one thing I did like about the situation was everyone's resolve. No one left the line. Hell, there was one black woman with a huge afro passing out Halloween candy.

My district is all African-American so that gives you an idea of how important this election is to us.

Like I said, keep fingers crossed.