Chris Armstrong speaks out about attacks from Andrew Shrivell

From AC360, University of Michigan student Chris Armstrong finally speaks out on the campaign of harrassment waged against him by Assistant AG Andrew Shrivell



Hat tip Joe.My.God.

Exodus International dropping support of anti-gay event Day of Truth

From the Department of What Took Them So Long:

A national Christian organization will stop sponsoring an annual event that encourages school students to "counter the promotion of homosexual behavior" because the event has become too divisive and confrontational, the group's president told CNN on Wednesday.

"All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not," said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the group that sponsored the event this year.

Called the Day of Truth, the annual April event has been pushed by influential conservative Christian groups as a way to counter to the annual Day of Silence, an event promoted by gay rights advocates to highlight threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

The Day of Truth, held on the same day as the Day of Silence, "was established to counter the promotion of homosexual behavior and to express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective," according to a manual for this year's event published by Exodus International.

On the Day of Silence, students take a "a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools," according to a web site run by the event's sponsor, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

The Day of Silence began in 1996. The Day of Truth started in 2005 and attracted the participation of 6,000 students nationwide this year, Chambers said.

"I thank Exodus for making this very important step," said GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard on Wednesday after hearing of Exodus' decision. "The Day of Truth was an effort to push a very specific set of opinions about homosexuality into schools in a way that was inappropriate and divisive."

More here

It's a nice article but let's be honest. The Day of Truth was a flop from the beginning. It was a bad idea pushing bad information on children. Compared to the Day of Silence, the Day of Truth paled like snow. It got very little support and even less media attention, unlike the Day of Silence, which so many folks got on board. Exodus International probably pulled support from Day of Truth to save face.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Hat tip to Truth Wins Out

Related posts:

Religious right 'Day of Truth' peddles same old lies to youth

Whatever happened to the Day of Truth?

Day after the Day of Truth - another Day of Silence

Day of Truth? Give me a break!!

Groups demand apology for Sen. DeMint's comments against gays and women and other Wednesday midday news briefs

Gay, women's groups wants apology from SC's DeMint - Good luck with getting that from Senator DeMint(ed).

'Reply all': NC state lawmaker sends out mass email calling gays 'fruitloops' and 'queers' - Apparently it's "disrespect the lgbts" month on the legislative calendars in North and South Carolina.

The Religious Right’s Violent Bully Pulpit - More proof of the religious right's fraud on lgbt America.

Clearly the recent suicides have hit Linda Harvey's nerve; but hey, at least she still feels nerves -- dead gay teens do not - The former ad executive who "found Jesus" spreads her manure again.

Andrew Shirvell Needs to be Fired If We Want to End Violence Against Gays - Well duh.

Jennifer Keeton controversy, AFA prove link between racism and homophobia

Two recent incidents underscore just how linked racism and homophobia are.

The first involves Jennifer Keeton, the Augusta State University student who who unsuccessfully sued the university claiming that she was forced to compromise her beliefs about homosexuality in order to receive her degree. She just got some new defenders recently:

The Ku Klux Klan will hold a rally in support of the Augusta State University counseling student who claims her First Amendment rights were violated when the school ordered her to learn more about the homosexual community.

Bobby Spurlock, who identified himself as imperial wizard knighthawk and grand dragon of South Carolina and North Carolina, said the KKK has met with school officials and plans to protest the school's treatment of 24-year-old Jennifer Keeton on Oct. 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. Klan members will be in full dress across from the school's main Walton Way entrance in the median at Fleming Avenue.

Spurlock said the KKK believes Keeton's rights were violated when the school required her to participate in a remediation program after she objected to counseling homosexuals.

"It's your constitutional right, so how could you tell someone you have to do something completely different?" Spurlock said. "We're not out to harm her. We're trying to protest the constitutional rights that they are trying to take away from her."

In Keeton's defense, she has not affiliated herself with this group.

Now the other case involves American Family Association's One News Now. Usually one can count on them to bash lgbts. But recently, the phony news service attacked not only President Obama but African-Americans who "dare" to continue to support him:

"It's a fascinating question, and it's one where I think because God chose to paint our skin a different color, we'll never know exactly what that experience is like," notes Janet Parshall, Christian conservative radio personality. "But I think that at some level, it has to be 'I want him to succeed because he was the first African-American president we had. So I will stay with him until the last possible minute.'"

But Parshall tells American Family Radio's Today's Issues program that that thinking goes against the aspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who dreamed of a day when people would be judged by their character rather than their skin color

Bear in mind Parshall is the same person who refers to lgbt families as "pretend families" and also, according to Media Matters, called the adoption of children by same-sex couples "state-sanctioned child abuse."

But the best part of the One News Now article is the comment section in which some of the supposed Christian readers of the publication let their true feeling show:

The average Afro-American does not understand that Obama is not trying to help any American, they grasp only that He is the same color. Mr Obama has an agenda, and, that is to completel;y destroy America, and no race, party, or anything counts except those who are helping him.

The correct name for the race is negro. They are either racist or stupid and I could make a case either way.

Sadly, with all the talk about ending racism, black racism in this administration continues to rear it's ugly head. The continued claims that most Americans who oppose Obama because he is black are nothing but propoganda to attempt to shut people up by playing the race card. It's disgraceful. Obama is failing, first and foremost, because he is a socialist/Marxist idealogue, and he will follow his Marxist ideas into abject failure because is also arrogant and narcissitc. Obama continues to make up facts and figures and lie to people about the healtcare and financial bills. Morally, he promotes infanticide via abortion and sexual perversion through many channels. He can lie all he wants, but he ultimately can't hide his failures and immoral behaviors that continue to weaken our country and drive us into financial and moral bankruptcy.

Some say stupidity, some say racism as for why blacks overwhelmingly support Obama. I think it's a combination of the two. Many are clearly racist as they want nothing to do with other races of people. And when you analyze Obama's economic policy, he ultimately hurts blacks in the long run, so their inability to recognize this justifies the position that it is stupidity (combined with apathy) that blinds them. And I think an alarmingly high percentage of blacks anticipated Obama just handing out money and freebies to them if elected. That is clear stupidity. But when you examine the inner city culture, the rap music scene and the absolute dismantling of the black family unit, I am not surprised by this at all. Conservative thought centered around a 100% return to God and His kingdom is the only antidote for this.

It's no secret to anyone with their eyes open that blacks are the most racist group in America - by a wide margin. How else can you explain the overwhelming support for Obama by the black population? That and playing the race card at the drop of a hat are indeed NOT what MLK had in mind. It will never stop however, as long as people like Obama, Sharpton and Jackson are making their livings off racism. Bad situation to be sure.

It is a shame that the most racist people in America have turned out to be Blacks. Not all of course but as a group they have become more so while at the same time whites have become much less.

Blacks don't have any sense when it comes to voting. They back the most corrupt person if they are a) negro, or b) anyone who promises them the world for free. Look at the Black Caucus if you want to see a group of scum!

Phony historian David Barton denigrates gay community

David Barton is a so-called historian who has been a guest on Glenn Beck's show on numerous occasions.

I guess that speaks to his "veracity," or lack thereof.

Indeed, Media Matters has documented his errors on more than one occasion. Also according to writer Chris Rodda, Barton has no credentials to speak of:

 . . .  many people have been pointing out that he has no degree in history. His educational credentials consist of a B.A. in religious education from Oral Roberts University, and an honorary doctorate from Pensacola Christian College

As for myself, I seldom paid attention to Barton, though I am aware of his exploits with the Texas school board (Rodda's article is an excellent read). However, my interest perked up today I read that he choose to say a bunch of highly inaccurate things about the lgbt community.

According to People for the American Way's Religious Right Watch, Barton and Rick Green of Wallbuilders was discussing the so-called need to "regulate homosexual behavior" on the radio today. That was when Barton choose to spin his anti-gay yarn.

For one thing, Barton didn't cite any sources for what he claimed, so allow me to do the best I can in disseminating where his distortions came from:

Barton - Homosexuals die decades earlier than heterosexuals. That doesn’t sound healthy.

Truth - Barton may have gotten this from either the discredited work of Paul Cameron or a 1997 Canadian study. Cameron is the same man who had been dismissed or censured from several medical associations for distorting the credible medical information or not cooperating with investigations into his methodology.

Now the authors of the Canadian study, in 2001, went on record complaining about how their work in 1997 was distorted.  


Barton - Nearly one-half of practicing homosexuals admit to five hundred or more sex partners and nearly one-third admit to a thousand or more sex partners in a lifetime.

Truth - Barton could have gotten this from a number of places from Paul Cameron's phony data to statistics from STD clinics. However, it really doesn't matter. The meme that "gays are incredibly promiscuous" is a favorite of religious right spokespeople. Like Joseph McCarthy and his "communist list," they tend to change the number whatever audience they are addressing:

“One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population.” - The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values, Matt J. Barber

“Fidelity is almost unheard of in homosexual relationships; the average number of partners for each person is eight. These relationships are not open—they are wide open. A homosexual publication, The Advocate, reports that 57 percent of its homosexual readers claimed they had sexual relations with 30 or more partners. Twenty-nine percent of their readers had anonymous bathhouse sex. A 1991 study of homosexual men in New York revealed an average of 308 sexual partners per man.” - Supremes Ruled Wisely: Arizona Can’t Afford Same Sex Marriage, The Arizona Conservative

An article in USA Today in November 1984 reported that homosexuals have an average of 50 different sexual partners each year. - Offering Hope to Homosexuals - http://www.firststone.org/articles/topic/homosexuality/offering_hope_to_homosexuals.htm

“Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?” -a biased question on the Focus on the Family web page

I want to group the rest of Barton's statements together:

Barton - Homosexual/bi-sexual individuals are seven times to contemplate or commit suicide. Oooh, that doesn’t sound very healthy.


Homosexuals have an HIV prevalence sixty times higher than the general population.


Homosexuals have Hepatitis B virus five to six times more often and Hepatitis C virus infections about two times more often than the regular population.


Homosexuals are less than three percent of the population but they account for sixty-four percent of the syphilis cases.

Truth - Now while there is some truth to these cases (little truth), Barton's connotation of these health problems is inaccurate. He makes it seem that these problems are indicative of the lgbt orientation.

However, studies have shown that the majority of health problems regarding the lgbt community is indicative of how society stigmatizes them.

Take suicide for example:

Depression and anxiety appear to affect gay men at a higher rate than in the general population. The likelihood of depression or anxiety may be greater, and the problem may be more severe for those men who remain in the closet or who do not have adequate social supports. Adolescents and young adults may be at particularly high risk of suicide because of these concerns. Culturally sensitive mental health services targeted specifically at gay men may be more effective in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of these conditions.

As for the other issues, it is a matter of getting access to good medical information and the ability to trust your doctor. Unfortunately too many lgbts are in the closet or don't feel that they can be completely honest with their physicians. Also, there is a serious problem with access to good information regarding STDs, particularly in the African-American gay community.

The sad thing is that someone actually takes Barton's nonsense seriously. The sadder thing is that his words most likely contribute to the problems of lgbt stigmatization rather than the solution.

Barton's claims is a perfect example of just how easily inaccurate negative information about lgbts is spread. They are also an example of just how the lgbt community aren't combatting this misinformation. I have read many places where Barton's claims are repeated verbatim by members of the lgbt community without the courtesy of correction as sort of a way to make fun of his assertions.

That's a mistake. We know that Barton's claims are false. Our allies know that Barton's claims are false. However, the key is demonstrating to everyone else that they are false.

And we aren't doing that.

More trouble for lgbts in Uganda and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Ugandan Tabloid May Have Used Facebook To Obtain Photos In Anti-Gay Vigilante Campaign - This is NOT good.

Pence’s Priorities: Stopping Marriage Equality Is As Important As Fixing The Economy - Win one religious right straw poll and boom, we got another monster.

'I'm nothing you've heard' - Based upon how you have treated the lgbt community, Christine O'Donnell, you are something worse.

Gary Cass' One-Sided Definition of Anti-Christian Defamation - Bear in mind, this is the SAME MAN who defended a church which tried to "exorcise" a gay youth.

Peter LaBarbera calls recent suicide victims 'sexually confused'

"Porno" Peter LaBarbera has weighed in on the recent suicides. And as expected, his comments are highly circumspect:

Enough is enough: from my Facebook page:

No shame: HRC and other homosexual groups are exploiting the tragic suicides of sexually confused kids to attack religion: http://www.hrc.org/14955.htm.

The following is excerpted from Human Rights Campaign’s latest attack on religion– Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org:

HRC to Mormon Apostle: Your Statements are Inaccurate and Dangerous
Mormon Leader’s Inaccurate Statements Yesterday Fuel Anti-LGBT Violence, Teen Suicides
[Human Rights Campaign website] 10/4/2010
Washington – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest civil rights organization dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, today called on Boyd K. Packer, the president of the Mormon Church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, to correct statements he made yesterday calling same-sex attraction “impure and unnatural,” claiming that it can be corrected and characterizing same-sex marriage as immoral. Packer’s inaccurate and dangerous rhetoric comes on the heels of the suicides of at least four teenagers over the past month, all victims of anti-gay bullying or harassment. ….

For the record, LaBarbera is defending the decision by Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer’s weekend speech in which he condemned marriage equality and made the charge that people can change their sexual orientation.

Some, HRC and myself, see the speech as not only inaccurate but a show of bad taste in the wake of the recent suicides of several lgbt youth.

Word to LaBarbera - those "sexually confused youths" as you called them had names. And any "confusion" they had are due to ignorant people like yourself who seem to be obsessed with demonizing and stigmatizing the lgbt community to the point of making us hate ourselves. Those of us who are adults have gotten used to your nonsense. We laugh at your empty press conferences and your "undercover" missions to leatherfests. But those youths are the main reason why you must be exposed as the lying sack of homophobic !#@ you are.

They have yet to develop their survival skills and your words to them are like psychological dynamite. If you had any moral bone in that overbloated body of yours, you would realize just how much damage you do on a daily basis.

But I doubt that you do. You are so obsessed with yourself and your phony, futile mission of "eradicating homosexuality."
 
Related post: 

Peter LaBarbera - the self-destruction of an anti-gay activist

Peter LaBarbera's pictures contradict his ramblings