Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
Despite how the lgbt community feels about Carrie Prejean, we can all agree that her controversy is blowing up into something better than a plotline on "Desperate Housewives."
In addition to the above interview with her ex-boyfriend (via TMZ) in which he accuses her handlers of attempting to convince him to lie regarding that "sex tape" and her disastrous, just unbelievably bad interview with Larry King comes the news that she pulled out of various appearances, including, according to Jillian Bandes of the conservative Town Hall, an appearance at an invitation-only event at the National Republican Club of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and numerous other radio segments.
In her column, Bandes doesn't even try to defend Prejean and the title of the piece, Carrie Prejean's Disappearing Book Tour, doesn't even help matters.
It's too soon to say whether or not folks on the right have totally abandoned Prejean, but I'm starting to feel a little sorry for her.
This thing is not going away and with her ex-boyfriend getting involved, the crapstorm will be getting thicker for her.
Please bear in mind that I said I feel a little for her. She really has no one to blame for this but herself.
After pouring a huge amount of money into defeating same-sex marriage in California and Maine, the Catholic church is now jumping into the D.C. argument with a little blackmail:
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.
Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
The church will be "forced" to end these services? That's like a kidnapper saying that he will be forced to kill someone if he isn't sent ransom money.
In this case, it's the homeless and destitute who are being held hostage:
Catholic Charities, the church's social services arm, is one of dozens of nonprofit organizations that partner with the District. It serves 68,000 people in the city, including the one-third of Washington's homeless people who go to city-owned shelters managed by the church. City leaders said the church is not the dominant provider of any particular social service, but the church pointed out that it supplements funding for city programs with $10 million from its own coffers.
This new argument is specifically over the following:
The archdiocese's statement follows a vote Tuesday by the council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary to reject an amendment that would have allowed individuals, based on their religious beliefs, to decline to provide services for same-sex weddings.
"Lets say an individual caterer is a staunch Christian and someone wants him to do a cake with two grooms on top," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 6), the sponsor of the amendment. "Why can't they say, based on their religious beliefs, 'I can't do something like that'?"
Almost a good question but the devil is in the details. I prefer to point to the words of hopefully soon-to-be EEOC head Chai Feldblum:
Once an individual chooses to enter the stream of economic commerce by opening a commercial establishment, I believe it is legitimate to require that they play by certain rules. If the government tolerated the private exclusionary policies of such individuals in the commercial sector, such toleration would necessarily come at the cost of gay people’s sense of belonging and safety in society. Just as we do not tolerate private racial beliefs that adversely affect African-Americans in the commercial arena, even if such beliefs are based on religious views, we should similarly not tolerate private beliefs about sexual orientation and gender identity that adversely affect LGBT people.
There may be some who disagree with this and I understand that. However the matter at hand is this: that the Catholic church would make such a petty move as to threaten to eliminate services for thousands of people in an attempt to erode not just gay marriage but gay anti-discrimination rights is just petty.
Perhaps the church should show the Biblical verse that points out just why this sort of travesty is appropriate.
Donnie McClurkin ramps up the ridiculous to speak in tongues and call gays "vampires". The infamously "ex-gay"—or should we say merely "re-closeted"—Grammy Award winning gospel singer and evangelist rants against gays, gay youth and recently out gospel singer Tonex at the Church of God in Christ's Holy Convocation Youth Service. This happened last Saturday at the COGIC convention in Memphis.
In the first of three disgusting YouTube videos, McClurkin begins his rant against Tonex, the gospel star and minister who recently confirmed his long-rumored sexuality. McClurkin says Tonex is a "perversion" and must pray away the gay: "God did not call young people to such peversion. Society has failed him, his church has failed him ... I would be homosexual to this day if Jesus hadn't delivered."
McClurkin also rails against against openly gay youth as "broken and feminine": "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go ... No, don't applaud 'cuz it ain't funny. It's because we failed. I see them everywhere."
And just so the young lesbians aren't felt "left out," he says the following in the second video:
"These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide ... but there are some evil young hard butch girls."
The videos Rod speaks of are here:
Quite a different turn of phrase from McClurkin who, a couple of years ago when he selling a book, was quoted as saying that he wasn't "anti-gay:"
"What I say in the book is simply this: If you're gay, and you're happy, if you don't think you need to change, stay just how you are. But there are some people who are in the gay and bisexual lifestyle that are broken . . ." - Donnie McClurkin puts the focus back on traditional gospel - in secular music, The Associated Press, 2005
I guess when you don't have a book to sell, you don't need to kiss as much ass.
Also, I'm confused about McClurkin's statement about no longer being gay. According to this link, the story of his "deliverance" keeps shifting.
Honestly speaking though, if McClurkin has a problem with "feminine acting" men and boys, he really needs to leave the black church experience. I mean just who is McClurkin trying to kid?
Certainly not myself, Rod 2,0 or anyone else who is aware of the black church experience. The black church is filled to the brim with gay men.
Gospel singer Tonex is probably the only who had the guts to come out and be honest.
But my rant is two-fold.
I know some folks out there are going to use this moment to bring up Obama aligning with McClurkin in 2007 to garner votes.
And to do so would be a mistake.
Certainly there is a point to be made about the Obama/McClurkin past allegiance, but I am willing to bet that while everyone is going to be so eager to make that point, the fact that McClurkin has just specifically harmed the well-being of young lgbts of color will be obscured.
To me as a gay man of color, that's a real problem.
We will get angry because we have felt the brush of McClurkin's slap. Are we going to forget those young lgbts of color who have felt the full sting of it?
Who is going to be there to hold up their heads in the face of such an ugly onslaught?
Who is going to be there to tell them that McClurkin is a self-hating so-and-so who, despite his lovely voice and popularity, is a little more "broken" than he would like to realize and that he has absolutely no business passing judgement on the lives of people he doesn't even know.
Something needs to be said to these young lgbts of color because nine times out of ten, they don't have access to support networks like GLSEN and no one such as Dan Savage or Michelangelo Signorile is writing about them or their needs.
Will they be ignored again even in the middle of this situation in which they are potentially the most hurt?
Let's not get so caught up in our righteous indignation that we forget about these young folks. If we do, expect to see more Donnie McClurkins springing up like ecclesiastical weeds.
Complancency is a dangerous thing. When people are caught in lies, there should be at least some outrage.
And unfortunately I doubt there will be any outrage over this.
Why am I posting this? Because again it reminds me of how religious right groups have gotten away with spreading junk science and truncating legitimate studies against the lgbt community.
When you don't defuse lies at the start, it not only signals to those telling the lies that they can get away being inaccurate, it also has a way of creating a huge tsunami of nonsense that you find yourself having to fight later on.
