GLSEN the victim of a homophobic smear days before annual event

This morning, Peter LaBarbera came out with what he called a "breaking story" on his Americans for Truth webpage:

A Facebook page affiliated with the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) — to support homosexual student clubs and GLSEN’s upcoming activist “Day of Silence” in schools nationwide (Friday, April 15) — was linked for several weeks to a pornographic “gay” hook-up website containing full-frontal nudity and personal ads expressing interest in dangerous homosexual practices including anal sodomy, “rimming” and various sadistic sex fetiishes popular in the homosexual male subculture.

The GLSEN ”Gay-Straight Alliances” Facebook page was also linked to a  “Gay Trip Thailand” Facebook page with shirtless Thai males — luring men to that notorious sex-tourism destination — as well as a movie about two male lovers that is sponsored by a leading “gay” pornographic video distributor. When the salacious links were exposed April 11 by Mission America, a pro-family group, they were quickly removed from the GLSEN Facebook page. 

Here is the clip he saved:

 

There are so many things wrong with LaBarbera's assertion. First and most importantly, GLSEN had nothing to do with this page. It has several banners advertising GLSEN events, such as the Day of Silence, but there is nothing on this page calling it an "affiiliate of GLSEN" or - as LaBarbera put it - The "GLSEN "Gay-Straight Alliance" page.  The page, Gay-Straight Alliances, seems to be a generic page supporting gay/straight clubs.

Furthermore if you will notice - the pictures which allegedly appeared were in the photo section of this page. Anyone can join this page and place photos there. Also, notice how those alleged photos are grouped together, as if someone put there all there at the same time.

What I am saying is that the most, this was an ugly practical joke by someone with a nasty sense of humor. And at the very least, this was a nasty set-up created to harm GLSEN days before its annual Day of Silence event.

According to LaBarbera, the group Mission America discovered the photos. Mission America is a vicious anti-gay group led by one Linda Harvey. Mission America was one of the sponsors of LaBarbera's latest so-called Truth Academy. Furthermore, Harvey has said lgbts or anyone supporting lgbt equality shouldn't be around children because they would cause children to be molested. Recently she said the so-called "gay agenda" was responsible for the spate of lgbt teen suicides.

I am not saying definitely that LaBarbera and Harvey conspired here. But there is something fishy about the fact that Harvey's group - which has affiliated with LaBarbera in the past - just happened to find semi-pornographic pictures on this page.

The sick irony of the entire thing is that it allowed LaBarbera to return to his "roots," so to speak. LaBarbera is known in lgbt circles as "Porno Pete" for his penchant of going to leather conventions and subcultural sex-events, taking pictures, and going into details about what supposedly the gays did there (while conveniently ignoring the heterosexuals in attendance).

This faux GLSEN controversy allowed LaBarbera to list all sorts of graphic details about gay sex - which I won't publish here - like he used to do in his olden days.

Furthermore, he also repeats several religious right lies about GLSEN, including:

the alleged Fistgate controversy, which the organization had nothing to do with,

and the false claim that GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings did not report an underage child having sex with an adult male. The young man - Brewster - was not underage at the time and in a later interview credited Jennings for being there for him at a time at which it was difficult for young lgbts to confide in anyone.

Here is the gist of this so-called controversy:

The alleged Facebook page is NOT affiliated with GLSEN other than giving support to some of its events.

Secondly, we don't know HOW those pictures got on that page (they have been scrapped off as of now, so my guess is that as soon as the page administrator saw them, he or she deleted them).

LaBarbera and Harvey have a lot of questions to answer. Just how did Mission America just happen find these pictures. And if these pictures were on the page for "several weeks" - like LaBarbera asserted - why are we just hearing about it now.

One thing is clear though - if this turns out to be a manufactured controversy (and I am not saying by whom), the parties behind it - and they who know they are - are pretty damned pathetic.

National Organization for Marriage twists professor's word, bars his correction from its blog

This took place last week, but more attention needs to be paid to it. It's not just the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, the American Family Association, or the Traditional Values Coalition who likes to distort the words of credible experts. The National Organization for Marriage also stoops to this level of deception

From nomexposed.org:

 . . . Widener University Law Professor John Culhane wrote an article looking at the many societal benefits tied to and associated with marriage. NOM pounced on Culhane’s working, firing off a blog post titled “After SSM, What Next? Half Marriage and Ending the “Privileges” of Marriage”


Not surprisingly, NOM twisted Culhane’s actual points. When Culhane himself tried to correct NOM on this, they censored his comment from their blog. Check out his follow-up piece, with excerpts below:

…The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) took my article, and butchered – I mean edited – the piece down to focus only on an exaggerated version of (2), in furtherance of their project of saying that what “we” really want is the abolition of marriage. (You can find their blog piece here.) And so as to make it harder for anyone to compare the original to the NOM version, they didn’t link to the piece. (They did provide the url for the general 365 cite, not for the article; and it wasn’t hot-linked.)

I responded with a ritual act of futility: I commented on their actions, and provided a link to my piece in case any of their readers wanted to compare the original with the twisted NOM version. As usual, my comment was “moderated” into some cyber-purgatory, where it will exist in perpetuity

Of course, I’ve long known that NOM isn’t interested in exposing its readers to anything that might contradict the party line. But this unwillingness to post a comment from the very author you’re quoting seems to me a new low. The message it sends is: “We like it here in this bubble. And we’re not going to let any outside forces question our intellectual honesty.”

NOM claims to be interested in dialogue, but this act of obliteration through “moderation” conclusively shows that they’re only interested in bouncing their own voices around in an echo chamber.

Gays blamed for Catholic priests abusing children and other Tuesday midday news briefs

Chris Meloni was always cool:



In other news briefs:

Vineland schools lift ban on gay websites - Way to go, ACLU!


Dr. Ablow Launches Inaccurate, Transphobic Attack On J. Crew Advertisement - A stupid attack over pink toenails.

We’re CRUISING w/ Donnie McClurkin! - I wouldn't go on a boat with Donnie McClurkin on a bet.

Catholic Abuse? Blame Gays - Bill Donohue blames gays for Catholic priests abusing children. Yeah, we gave them secret codewords to do it. What a  #@!&;*!

Gays control Congress and other things I learned last weekend

This is slightly nauseating.

Last weekend, a bunch of social conservatives got together to combat the so-called gay agenda. And just about all of the "talking heads" were there from Robert Knight to Matt Barber to Greg Quinlan.

It was held at Liberty University and was called the Awakening. But if I had to attend, I would have cracked myself over the head so that I wouldn't have to be awake. Amongst the highlights, according to the American Independent:

The one self-described ex-gay on the panel, Greg Quinlan — who founded the Pro Family Network in 1996 and is now the president of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) but spent his gay years lobbying for the LGBT-rights group Human Rights Campaign – explained that his foray into homosexuality was caused by abuse from his father and looking at Playboy magazine as a young boy.

 . . . Matt Barber, the panel’s moderator and a dean at Liberty University, said he served in the military for 12 years. Barber made a case that promoting gays in the military presents a national threat because most gay military men will be more focused on their attraction to other men than on their military duties, saying it comes down to the soldier who “has your back or the one who wants to rub it.” (Alvin's note - there he goes again).

But if you wanted to give a prize for the most obnoxious homophobic tripe uttered, you would have a tie between Ryan Sorba of the Young Conservatives of California and perennial homophobe Robert Knight.

From this clip, Sorba advocates that the "gay identity" does not exist so folks combatting the so-called gay agenda should stop using the word "gay:"



 According to the American Independent:

Sorba proposed alternatives to the word “gay,” which received approval by a unanimous show of hands by the 40-some audience members:

• “Same-sex attraction”
• “Same-sex intercourse”
• “Sodomy”
• “Unnatural vice”

Congressman Trent Franks and his anti-gay hate group friend

This picture was taken during one of those dreary right-wing " How To Take Back America" conference in 2009.

The man in the picture to the left is Brian Camenker of the SPLC - declared hate group Mass Resistance. Amongst so many other anti-gay exploits, Camenker and Mass Resistance has:

made a claim in 2006 that "gays were trying to get legislation passed to allow sex with animals" in Massachusetts,

Manufactured a phony panic about "schools teaching children about homosexuality,"

Claimed in 2005 on Comedy Central's Daily Show that if given time, Camenker would be able to connect gay marriage in Massachusetts to the "reduction" of the quality of life in the state, a spike in homelessness rates, or and a lowering the quality of the air in the state

Also, according to Media Matters, Mass Resistance also

 . . .  previously called on parents to keep their children home from school during an event promoting awareness of, and opposition to, anti-gay bullying and has stated that suicide prevention programs for gay and lesbian youth have no "legitimate medical or psychological basis." The organization was also a major source behind the right-wing's false attacks on Department of Education official Kevin Jennings back in 2009.

Camenker, the group's longtime leader, has viciously attacked gays in the past. In 2007, he reportedly denied that gays and lesbians were targets of the Holocaust and has compared his supporters to the Allies and the gay rights movement to Nazis. In 2008, Camenker wrote that [s]ame-sex marriage "hangs over society like a hammer with the force of law."

Now why is all of this important? The man to the right in the picture is Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) On April 15th, Franks will be holding a hearing before the House Judiciary subcommittee. The title of the hearing is "Defending Marriage."

Now I'm certainly not saying that Camenker will be a witness at the hearing, but based on the fact that they seem to attend the same conferences - and are cordial enough to take pictures together - I think it's safe to say that this upcoming hearing won't necessarily be lgbt-friendly.

According to the Washington Blade:

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), chair of the committee, has said President Obama could be impeached for his decision to drop his administration’s defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court, and the upcoming hearing would likely represent his views.

In a March interview with Think Progress, Franks said he supports defunding the Justice Department if it doesn’t defend DOMA and added he would “absolutely” favor impeaching Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder if support for doing so “could gain collective support.”

Oh what "fun" this hearing is going to be!

More homophobia than you can shake a stick at and other Monday midday news briefs

Video: The whiteboard is empty; still more instructive than the 'expert' discussion - Religious right groups have a nauseating conference. Don't read if you have a weak stomach.

NOM Spokesman: Marriage Equality Will Ban Preaching - And here I thought hate crimes legislation would do all of that.


Watch: School Takes Field Trip to the Castro District, Parent Freaks About Gay Sex, Calls Local News - One ignorant parent amongst many good ones freak out. And suddenly its a news story. Come on now!

Bill recognizing domestic partnerships signed - Good for Washington state!

Bachmann And Gingrich Will Address Anti-Gay Organization That’s "Proud To Be A Hate Group" - Be still my intestines.

The National Organization for Marriage owes me an apology for lying about Marinelli

 Editor's note - this post originally inaccurately accused Marinelli of making the offending comment regarding how "gays were never hunted down and murdered like Jews, Blacks, or Christians." It was another administrator who made this offensive comment. However, this doesn't take away from the gist of the story, i.e. NOM falsely claiming that the facebook page was "operated by a private party" which was independent of the organization.

By now, we have all heard the uplifting story of Louis J. Marinelli, the former National Organization for Marriage strategist who defected from the group and now supports marriage equality.

It's a story which demonstrates that actually getting to know lgbts can change one's mind about who we are as a people.

There is also another story involved which demonstrates the duplicity of the NOM, the organization which Marinelli was once affiliated with.

Jeremy Hooper from Goodasyou covered this story but since I am principally involved, I feel the need to comment on it.

When the story of Marinelli's defection broke, Brian Brown, president of NOM, issued this statement:

"Louis worked in a volunteer capacity as a bus driver during our summer marriage tour. Around this time, he started pushing Facebook supporters towards NOM and we paid him as a part-time consultant for helping us expand our internet reach.”

Now during that abysmal Summer Marriage Tour, I wrote a piece in the Huffington Post commenting on an unbelievable comment on NOM's Facebook page (which was run by Marinelli) - National Organization for Marriage: Gays Were Never Hunted Down and Murdered Like 'Jews, Christians, and Blacks'

NOM got furious at my article and sent the following missive (I highlighted the crucial parts):

"The Huffington Post on Wednesday falsely attributed statements to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) about discrimination faced by gays and lesbians. The statements were apparently posted by an unnamed "administrator" of the "Protect Marriage: 1 Man 1 Woman" Facebook account. Huffington Post falsely claims that this is NOM's Facebook page. The Facebook account on which these statements were reportedly made is not NOM's Facebook page and neither NOM nor anyone representing NOM made these statements. The Facebook account in question is operated by a private party and NOM does not control what is allowed to be posted on the account, a fact that could have been easily known to Huffington Post had they reached out to NOM to verify the report

Now at the time, which the help of the webpages Goodasyou and Box Turtle Bulletin, I was able to point out the duplicity of  NOM's  statement:

As this link courtesy of Box Turtle Bulletin and Goodasyou proves, the page "Protect Marriage: 1 Man 1 Woman" is associated with NOM. From its Twitter page, NOM is pushing the page as its own. Furthermore,  Louis J. Marinelli - self identified "NOM strategist" is the general manager of the page.

 But now I guess my proof is unnecessary. That "private party" operating NOM's facebook page was Marinelli, who the organization has just admitted to have paid as a "part-time consultant for helping them expand their internet reach."

NOM clearly owes me an apology for calling into question my journalistic integrity. The organization obviously wasn't telling the truth when it tried to disavow itself from Marinelli back then.

It's okay though. My guess is that right now, NOM is too busy eating and digesting all that crow to make a suitable apology to me.

Related post:

Of course NOM's misrepping Louis' role. It's the one constant of the Brown/Marinelli marriage - Jeremy Hooper goes into more detail regarding Marinelli's Facebook page and NOM.