Never fear, Chick Publications is here! or What some people really think of gay marriage

Maybe it's just me but marriage equality coming to New Hampshire seems to have left some members of the religious right a bit dazed.

One News Now has yet to report on it and my usually reliable anti-gay Peter LaBarbera hasn't said a word yet.

Even Focus on the Family have been strangely silent.

But not everyone is silent.

Someone alerted me to this tract from Chick Publications. Chick Publications is a site that publishes cartoon gospel tracts. You may have seen these various tracts in a doctor's office or at the bus stop.

It is an old tract (it was created in 2004) and while it does not address marriage equality in New Hampshire per se, it's safe to say that the creator doesn't exactly care for gay marriage at all.

The following are some snippets from the tract:










Judge for yourself but I tend to think that minus the little imps, this is exactly the argument the religious right uses against marriage equality.

It's not exactly a logical argument when drawn out, is it?

While I was at work, all hell broke loose in a good way

I'm speechless. In the short hours between the time I posted my midday news briefs and when I logged on just now, two interesting things happened.

Forgive me for not making long comments; although I do say something at the end of this post about President Obama and the lgbt community.

But I just want to try and include these happenings in little bullets:

NH governor signs same-sex marriage into law - I believe this is number 6 with a sweet bullet. Right about now, my mind is wandering back to election night 2004 when President Bush got re-elected on the strength of those anti-gay marriage amendments. I love kismet.

Former SC Congressional candidate Linda Ketner calls out rumored Palmetto State queens - Aw damn. I know Linda Ketner and she has never been one for keeping it reigned in. This issue will probably go away. But then again maybe it won't. Man, I am loving the fact that I live in South Carolina right now!

Now . . . there seems to be some disenchantment on some levels of the lgbt community with President Obama. It seems that he is backtracking on many of the promises he made to us. Some folks have even talked about how they no longer support him. There is even talk in a few circles about sitting out the next election to show how angry we are.

You know what I say? Big fat f#%!! deal!

Please spare me the mantra about how "lgbts are second class citizens" because I've heard it more times than I care to. I want to be solution-oriented. And you don't be solution-oriented by thinking that you can pick up your toys and go home when the game isn't going your way.

Never in my life have I seen so many folks who want to make a show about how angry they are even at the expense of cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

No more of this ridiculous "I no longer support President Obama" bullshit. The man has been in office for less than a year. What are you all expecting? For him to wave a magic wand and make everything right?

It ain't going to happen. We need to put his feet to the fire and not let him forget what he promised us. Even President Kennedy had to be reminded about his commitment to civil rights in the 60s.

Such is the case with politics. There are so many issues to be considered that there is this constant jockeying for attention.

It ain't pretty but that is how it's done. Politics is a cynical, harsh world that has no room for these ridiculous Woodstockian notions of togetherness and one-world humanity. If you want to sing "We Are The World" then do it in the privacy of your own home.

We are not wrong for being a little miffed at President Obama and we certainly aren't wrong for letting him know that he promised our community certain things.

But we are wrong when we pull out of the fight simply because things seem to be not going the way we planned. This isn't a goddamn fashion show; it's politics.

I don't mean to be so curt, but the finality of the tone that many have expressed has gotten on my nerves.

It sometimes drives me nuts how as a community we get so caught up in "expressing our anger" that no one wants to take strategy and pragmatic planning into account.

Oh sure - have a march, do some shouting, call the media and poof- everything is fixed.

We have moved beyond that level of thinking so let's act like it.

For a long time, we have had no power. We have had to sit outside the circle and watch the religious right play the game with President Bush.

Now it's our turn with President Obama. That's right. We are in the circle now and the religious right are on the outside.

And I don't want to lose that spot just yet.

To hell with all of this righteous indignation. Let's have some cynical maneuvering for a change.

Wednesday midday news briefs

Desired results misfire - You have to see this sure sign of the Apocalypse! We are winning in a One News Now poll. Apparently some folks don't mind President Obama's proclamation of June being LGBT Pride Month. Probably some poll crashing by folks who are on our side of the argument. BUT ISN'T IT NICE!!

NH Senate passes gay marriage revision; House next - Slightly derailed never means totally stopped.

Court Upholds LGBT Protections for Students - Uh oh. You know those "activist judges" making us treat everyone equally. It's soooo unfair.

Mental illness less likely for lesbians' kids - Here is one foreign study the religious right won't be trying to distort. Then again . . .

Rhode Island: No Equal Marriage, But Possible Funeral Rights - Okay, I'm one for sometimes being pragmatic and patient and taking a little bit and a little bit more until you have it all but DAMN!

Facebook group advocated the murder of gays

From one of my favorite sites Box Turtle Bulletin comes a bit of disturbing news. Apparently there was a group on Facebook whose sole purpose was to advocate the murder of gays:

Facebook has become a ubiquitous communications and organizing tool encompassing a whole range topics. Many of the groups are based on entertainment, hobbies, religion and spirituality, history, politics — you name it. Even hate groups advocating the murder of gays and lesbians.

One such hate group with a Facebook presence is the “Kill Out Dem Batty Man” group. “Batty Man” is Caribbean slang for gay men. Most of the group members appear to be from Trinidad and Tobago, although the Jamaican person who tipped me to it identifies the patois dialect as Jamaican. The Facebook group is listed under “Beliefs & Causes.”

Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin leading the charge of folks complaining, the group is now gone. But it bothers the hell out of me.

This group was not a joke. And it bothers me that someone would actually devote time and effort to the creation of something so hateful.

It bothers me that over 400 folks joined this group.

And it bothers me that a large number of those folks writing comments supporting the group were black.

Trying to pass brings negative consequences regardless of what some people think

Now I would be the last brotha' to constantly harp on the ignorance of a certain religious right member by the name of Peter LaBarbera . . . .

Oh who am I kidding? Other than exposing the lies of religious right groups, I live for demonstrating just how clueless he is.

I mentioned twice today I have been having ongoing email conversation with LaBarbera (who, according to his own words, has spent over a decade tracking the so-called gay agenda) on his claims about the lgbt community.

We tend to go back and forth because we both refuse to give an inch. There have been, however, many times when LaBarbera has shown himself to be a complete ignoramous.

Our original email conversation was about Anita Bryant. This morning, it drifted to the African-American community and sexual orientation. LaBarbera continued to push the broken record talking point about not being able to choose race while being able to choose sexual orientation.

I pointed out a parallel between how light-skinned black folks tried to pass for white years ago to how some gays try to pass as heterosexuals. This was my exact comment:

I prefer to say that just as some blacks have tried to pass as white, some gays try to pass as straight - both of these actions have negative consequences.

This was LaBarbera's answer to me:

Alvin, you are a twit . . . That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. You CANNOT become ex-Black. Period. You can change your sexual behavior.

Seems to me that if LaBarbera wants to be the best friend of the black community, he should be up on black history a little bit.

Some light-skinned African-Americans in the past did try to pass as white because of the racial climate. The ability to pass for white kept them free from violence and made available to them certain opportunities usually not given to African-Americans.

However, being exposed could have meant several things, from violence to loss of home or job to complete rejection from both communities.

And then there were the feelings of guilt and self-hatred felt by many of those who did successfully pass.

Unfortunately while blacks trying to pass as white is a nonexistent occurrence in this country now, gays trying to pass as heterosexuals is still an unfortunate happening.

The negative consequences are the same - the possibility of violence or rejection, the self-hate, and the guilt.

It doesn't matter if we are talking sexual orientation or color. When you feel that you have to hide your true self, it means nothing but trouble.

It's a shame that folks like LaBarbera can't see this simple parallel. And it's an even bigger shame that they do what they can to keep others from seeing it also.

Tuesday midday news briefs

I'm still having those email conversations with our friend, Peter LaBarbera. However, I don't think our exchange is going well for him. He called me a "twit." I'm offended. He called Pam Spaulding and Jeremy Hooper much worse.

Gay marriage will pass state Senate, says Manhattan Sen. Thomas Duane - We can only hope.

Cheney Comes Out for Gay Marriage, State-by-State - Emperor Palpatine comes out for marriage equality? Paging Rod Serling!

Indiana removes gay white men from HIV/AIDS funding priorities - What the hell!

REMINDER: First-ever UAFA Senate Hearings this Wednesday 10:00am - Keep your fingers crossed on this one.

Obama declares June 'LGBT Pride Month' - Okay I know I'm going to catch a bit of hell for being so late on this. Other blogs covered this yesterday. However, my blog is different. I'm focusing on the issue from the lying perspective of One News Now. The comments are a hoot!

Interracial dating and homosexuality - two health risks?

I've been having a very interesting email exchange with Peter LaBarbera regarding his stigmatization of the lgbt community.

For LaBarbera, every lie he tells is justifiable because of his belief that gay men have "health risks" greater than that of heterosexuals. In fact, it's something he likes to highlight every chance he gets:

“Barack Obama’s homosexual agenda is beginning to take shape – but he has no election mandate to impose GLSEN’s radical vision of celebrating homosexuality, bisexuality and gender confusion (transsexuality) in U.S. schools,” LaBarbera said. “Anti-religious bigots should not be setting policy for schools — and promoting dangerous sex and gender identities to youth is the antithesis of ‘safety.’ (Men who have sex with other men (MSM) suffer from much higher rates of sexual diseases – including anal cancer, HIV, syphilis, and gonorrhea — than non-MSMs.)

Also:

LaBarbera also argues that many liberal school districts teach false facts about AIDS. He says they imply that everyone is at equal risk for contracting the disease -- even though in 2005 71 percent of U.S. male AIDS cases involved homosexuals. He contends that many American young people are not being informed about other health risks associated with homosexuality either -- such as increased infections of the Hepatitis B or C virus and the herpes virus. "We have all this evidence out there that homosexual behavior is dangerous," the activist point out, "and yet our politically correct elites are promoting gay identity" to teens and children.

And he is not the only one to assert this "gays are dangerous because of their behavior" claim:

If there was ever a clarion call for our entire society to say with one united voice that homosexual behavior is a danger to health and should be discouraged at all costs, this is it. We've found one voice as a society with regard to drug use and drunk driving; it's time we find it with regard to homosexual behavior. - Bryan Fischer

In fact, multiple studies have established that homosexual conduct, especially among males, is considerably more hazardous to one’s health than a lifetime of chain smoking. - Matt Barber

The "homosexuality is a health risk" factoid is a popular talking point in religious right circles. It stems from manipulating legitimate medical information regarding disease and the lgbt community. Rather than go into detail about just how this information is manipulated, I'm going to take another route.

I found this video on youtube. I dare anyone to tell me the difference between it and the nonsense about the supposed "health risks of homosexuality" factoid pushed by the religious right: