Hate Crimes Legislation, Sotomayor, Sally Kern, and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Leahy to Introduce Hate-Crimes Amendment - Batten down the hatches cause the religious right is going to freak over this. Is going to? Hell they are already up in arms. Keep your fingers crossed though. It could pass!

GM pitches Camaro to gay men in online ad, homobigots erupt - Cause you know gay folks don't drive cars.

Sotomayor Day II: Let The Antics Begin - Everything that freaks the religious right out has to do with us. Even this Supreme Court justice hearing.

ACLU Investigates Rep. Sally Kern - Part of me is interested, while another part of me says "just leave that crazy woman alone."

Random thoughts of a crazy gay black man walking

I have finally flipped, gone insane, reached my last straw, am now at the point of no return.

In short, I am pissed off to the highest levels of pissivity.

And it's all Terrell Carter's fault.

Terrell Carter is an actor who has appeared in several of Tyler Perry's Madea plays. And he has been outed by an angry ex-boyfriend.

With all of the other stuff going on in the world, one would ask why does this thing bother me so much?

Because it is the last straw that has caused my mind to snap.

In the predominantly white gay community, Terrell Carter really doesn't represent anything. If Carter was white, someone like Perez Hilton would be all over this situation.

But in the black community, it means more whispering, more clandestine talking behind closed doors, and more hypocrisy.

I've had my fill of heterosexual black folks who will complain about the supposed gay lifestyle being pushed in their faces while at the same time engaging in gossip about "friends" whom they know are lgbt.

Come to think of it, I've had my fill of it all. I'm tired.

I'm tired of the stupid explanations that some heterosexual black folks have for ignoring the needs of their own family members who happen to be lgbt. This idea that gays and blacks are two separate entities is a lie. Everyone in the black community has a "cousin Pookie." Hell, I'm cousin Pookie and I still got seven other "cousin Pookies." You think we don't have relationships and families that need protecting? The world don't revolve around you and your "baby mama" or "baby daddy."

I'm tired of people like bottom feeding anti-gay pastor Harry Jackson getting valuable to face time on television and in columns to rail against gay folks while lgbts of color don't get any attention.

That is unless they decide to become a puppet in the gays vs. blacks nonsense that sprung up after the Proposition 8 vote like a certain lesbian columnist (Jasmyne Cannick - whose writings I adored and agreed with to a point until the strings pulling her arms became unbearably visible).

I'm tired of the black gospel music community. That's right, I said it and I'm not taking it back. Let's be honest about the black gospel music community. It's the African-American version of San Francisco with much more clothing and less openness.

If you want to know where the majority of lgbts of color populate, check the black gospel music community. And to the African-Americans who are reading this, don't act shocked. You know this as well as me.

And I am tired of the black church, period. I'm tired of seeing the black church, once the bastion of the oppressed, become changed by money and status. I'm tired of seeing the black church rail against lgbts via the same Bible that was used to oppress it not that long ago.

And most of all, I'm tired of ministers who will wear $300 suits, diamond rings, have their hair magnificently coiffed and stand in front of megachurches of 25,000 equally expensive dressed members and whine about "how the world hates them because they are servants of Christ." Meanwhile lgbt children are being kicked out of their homes on a daily basis into the cold streets to fend for themselves by their supposed sanctified mothers and fathers.

It certainly confuses me about the definition of hate.

And I have a question. Am I the only lgbt of color who feels this way? Sometimes I feel like I am. Am I the only one who gets angry at the intentional ignorance regarding how lgbts of color have shaped America? The intentional omission of us in all aspects of the black community by our black leaders? The pushing aside of our needs as members of the black community?

But hey, it doesn't matter. Let's talk about those Terrell Carter pictures for a while.

Free Republic attacks President Obama's daughter Malia. Why should we be shocked? They've been attacking lgbts for years

My original post for today got held up because of a story coming down the pike about the ugly denizens of the rightwing site Free Republic.

It seems that these lovely leeches have turned their claws on President Obama's children, particularly his oldest daughter Malia:

A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."

These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.

The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."

Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.

Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.

"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.

"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the grassroots conservative movement. These aren't individuals out of the conservative mainstream. These are same folks who plan tea parties and give "tips" to conservative sites, like that recent bullcrap about "President Obama allegedly checking out a young lady's behind (which was refuted by of all places, Fox News. Not that it mattered though because the lie still got traction.)

Of course if this story gets big, expect to see the usual cast of characters at Town Hall, One News Now and other sites plead ennui and whine about how the "Bush girls" got worse.

As if that makes the comments about Malia appropriate.

Why should I be surprised about the outright vindictiveness of the folks at Free Republic. This is the same site that has a section labeled "Homosexual Agenda," where any and all outrageous lies about lgbts are commented on in the affirmative.

The comments about Malia is a walk in the park compared to these lovely gems:

I can think of a 100 reason for arresting the filthy disease ridden queers for kissing in public!!

The homosexuals will squeal about this being discrimination. What they don’t understand is most normal people who witness homosexuals kissing are utterly repulsed by this deviancy.

A little off topic here, but I note that for some reason, despite their support for homo marriage, the government controlled media never print kissing fag photos.

I think I've read more about gay sex on Free Republic than on Peter LaBarbera's site. There was a point when I actually considered taking notes on positions I should try.

Because Mormons have strong familyperspectives, the degenerates who serve the evil one are targeting Mormons because they are an anathema to the filthy disease ridden sexual degenerates. We should ALL stand with the Mormons to oppose the filthy democrat constituency seeking to ‘normalize sexual degeneracy.’ This little staged incident will be multiplied many fold. Eventually, someone is going to do exactly what the filth desire, take a few out into a desert and leave them to dry up and blow away. The democrat party is now directed by the Cloard-Piven/ Saul Alinsky methodology, so it is no surprise when their degerate filth constituencies use the tactics the affiramtive action figure feraud-in-chief taught to ACORN organizers.

I think it would have been OK to shoot them, as long as its safe, rare & legal.

To say that the folks at Free Republic are twisted would be stating the obvious. They would be funny if they weren't serious.

Pray for em cause they truly need Jesus.


Daily Kos is all over this story with an excellent breakdown.

Hate crimes, banning 'Bruno,' marriage 'war bonds,' and other Monday midday news briefs

Hate Crimes Deja Vu - Hate crimes legislation will most likely be voted on by the Senate this week. It's a good chance that it could pass. But the religious right aren't going down without a fight.

If rejecting 'ex-gay' therapy is pro-gay activism, then no wonder Pinnocchio never comes to our rallies - Focus on the Family continues to spin the inaccurate NARTH study via an email blast.

Ban Brüno! MOVIEGUIDE® Asks Authorities to Stop Screenings of 'Pornographic' ‘Brüno' Movie - A rightwing group wants the movie Bruno banned. This group masquerades as a legitimate movie review site but don't be fooled. Check out this piece I wrote about it the day after the Oscars.

"Marriage War Bond" - 100 Dollar Bond - OMG! This is so ridiculous. Tell me again how the religious right aren't trying to profit from opposing marriage equality. And the reasonings behind it are equally inane. "Because every child deserves a mother and a father"? Every child deserves a loving home and that doesn't necessarily encompass having a mother and father in the home.

And now because everyone needs a little fiber in their diets, a phony piece courtesy of One News Now:

FedEx delivers the goods for transgendered - One guesses that One News Now isn't exactly happy over this development.

Using children to play the black and gay communities against one another

There has been yet another nasty attempt to set the black and gay communities against one another via the Frank Lombard case.

Frank Lombard is an official at Duke University who was arrested for molesting his five-year-old adopted son.

Lombard is a gay white man and his son is African-American.

This unfortunate component of an increasily unfortunate situation has been like gold at Sutter's Mill for the religious right as certain figures have stepped up to milk it for all it's worth.

The lastest person exploiting this situation is Meeke Addison, an African-American "on-air personality" with American Family Radio. American Family Radio is owned by the American Family Association, the religious right organization which also owns One News Now, the place where her column is featured.

How very convenient.

Addison, for reasons that are solely predatory, tries to spin this situation as a case of the American black leadership missing the boat:

While Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were competing for the most on-camera interviews and vying for preeminence at Michael Jackson's memorial service on the West Coast, Frank Lombard -- a white, homosexual Duke University employee -- was being arrested on the East Coast for allegedly molesting his five-year-old black adopted son.

No planes were chartered, no press conferences were held to condemn Lombard's alleged behavior. No marches stopped traffic, no black shirts or berets were donned, and no fists were held high. Not that I necessarily approve of this behavior -- but my point is, you have a white homosexual male who admitted online that he was "into incest" and had adopted two black children (males) because they were easier to get than their white counterparts. This man was arrested for repeatedly abusing these children, he posted the attacks online because he's sick, and his alleged victims happened to be black -- but the crickets are chirping.

Mainstream media will not even report that the man is a homosexual or, in some instances, even that the children are black. They won't report that Frank Lombard had a live-in partner in a community that includes other homosexual couples with black adopted children.

First of all, maybe the media didn't report on these things because they are irrelevant to the situation.

Secondly, I find Addison's column disgusting. Her attempt to blame the black leadership for missing out on this situation is disingenuous at best.

And she makes absolutely no case against gay adoption. In that regard, her column reminds me of a racist leaflet I used in my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.

The leaflet, created by a white supremacist group, featured pictures of three heterosexual black men who had infected their partners with HIV.

The leaflet went on to say:

These black sexual predators lied about being HIV positive and had sex with dozens of white women . . . Don't be the next victim.

It's ironic that earlier in her column, Addison hints that the lgbt community is unfairly "piggybacking" on the civil rights movement being that she demonstrates that the desire to stigmatize an innocent group of people knows neither the lines of racial make up nor sexual orientation.

The sad thing is that Addison dances around a good point - are there so many African-American children waiting to be adopted that they are susceptible to being taken by in those who have less than honorable intentions in mind. Were there warning signs in the Frank Lombard case that were ignored?

The fact that he is gay is not a warning sign, no matter how the situation is spun by the religious right. There are too many lgbt parents who are taking care of their children to the best of their ability.

Too bad Addison was so damned determined to beat up on the black leadership and the lgbt community (two favorite targets of the religious right) that she didn't expound on that point.

So if Addison wants to find a someone who failed our black children, she needs to take a look in the mirror.

Other HB/HM posts on the Frank Lombard situation:

Should white women be teaching children?

Michelle Malkin, Mike Adams, and One News Now exploit a molested child

Repost: Dissecting a One News Now article (smacking down religious right lies on gay adoption)

This is one of my favorite posts. In Marh of this year, I was able to dissect the words of Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber and show that neither him nor anyone else in religious right groups have a clue when it comes to gay adoption and gay parenting in general.

When put up against the experts in the field of childcare, their silly hysterical arguments fizzle:

Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber is angry that Florida State Senator Nan Rich has filed a bill repealing the 1977 law banning gay adoption in the state. Rich filed a a second bill to give judges the authority to determine adoptions based exclusively on the best interest of the child.

One News Now gives Barber room to vent without the courtesy of presenting the other side. So I thought I would add the other side from another article which took a more objective view of children raised by gay parents:

Matt Barber:

"The actions here by Senator Nan Rich are clearly without merit, and she has the audacity to say that she is considering what is in the best interest of children. Well that defies logic, reason, and science."

Post-Gazette article:

A number of professional medical organizations -- including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association -- have issued statements claiming that a parent's sexual orientation is irrelevant to his or her ability to raise a child.

For the most part, the organizations are relying on a relatively small but conclusive body of research -- approximately 67 studies -- looking at children of gay parents and compiled by the American Psychological Association. In study after study, children in same-sex parent families turned out the same, for better or for worse, as children in heterosexual families.

Moreover, a 2001 meta-analysis of those studies found that the sexual orientation of a parent is irrelevant to the development of a child's mental health and social development and to the quality of a parent-child relationship.

Matt Barber:

"Frankly the studies have shown clearly that it is in the best interest of children to have a mother and a father."

Post-Gazette article:

The problem with the research cited . . . is that it compares children of heterosexual couples only with those of single parents and not with children of same-sex parent families, said Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and an expert on census data involving gay and lesbian households.

"There are virtually no studies that make a direct comparison with same-sex parents," he said, noting census data show one in four same-sex couples are raising a child under the age of 18.

Editor's note - Gates was speaking about research cited by James Dobson. However, Dobson was making the same claims as Barber - "the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father."

The lesson here is clear - Barber doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. But that's business as usual with him.

Irony alert - Organization co-founded by black gay man threatens member for supporting gay rights

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is seeking to remove the president of its Los Angeles chapter, Rev. Eric P. Lee, for helping to organize opposition to Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage amendment that was passed in California last year.

From The New York Times:

In April, Mr. Lee attended a board meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Kansas City, Mo., and found himself once again in the minority position among his colleagues on the issue of same-sex marriage, but he was told, he said, by the group’s interim president, Byron Clay, that the organization publicly had a neutral position on the issue.

So a month later, Mr. Lee said, he was surprised to receive a call from the National Board of Directors summoning him immediately to Atlanta to explain why he had taken a position on same-sex marriage without the authority of the national board.

Explaining that he was unable to come to Atlanta on such short notice, Mr. Lee then received two letters from the organization’s lawyer, Dexter M. Wimbish, threatening him with suspension or removal as president of the Los Angeles chapter if he did not come soon to explain himself.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was the organization led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1950-60s civil rights movement. It sprung from the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was on the forefront of the majority of racial battles during that time.

Since King's death, however the organization has fallen into anonymity and controversy (including an ugly battle between it and King's son, Martin Luther King, III).

Many media sources are playing up the fact that this was the organization led by King during the civil rights movement, but a lot of them are forgetting a crucial element of the story.

One of the co-founders of SCLC was Bayard Rustin, an aide of King, chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, and an openly gay black man.

A constant mantra amongst African-Americans is that "we never forget where we came from."

Well in this case apparently SCLC has forgotten where it came from.