Obama gives gay equality an inauguration shout out. Now what?

President Obama's inauguration speech is going to make things interesting in the coming days:

President Obama made history today when he mentioned both the Stonewall uprising and gay and lesbian people being treated "like anyone else under the law" during his second inauguration speech. "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths -- that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall..." he said.

 He continued: "It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."

This the first time that a president has addressed gay rights during an inauguration speech.

For now, I think members of the religious right are passed out in an apoplectic coma. But on our side, there are those already with their fists up proclaiming "action speaks louder than words."

While I understand where they are coming from, I am also not so jaded that I ignore historical moments. And a president mentioing gay equality in his inaugural address is a TRUE HISTORIC MOMENT.  It signals the simple fact that we must admit that we are no longer total outsiders of the American experience who have to scream louder than others to get attention.  If we didn't believe it before, we had better start believing it now - lgbts are a part of the mainstream.

It's safe to say we have all of the attention we want or need. The question is where does our community go from here. What do we do with the attention because there are so many areas in our struggle which need it.

Are we going to continuously fight amongst ourselves, evoking the boogeyman of "Gay Inc?"

 Are those who have "stroke and power" in our community in terms of what issues get addressed going to diversify their mindsets or continue soak to themselves in wine-soaked cliques and fundraising parties of the so-called beautiful people while feeding our minds with cotton candy confections  about which celebrity came out or didn't come out enough?

Is our media going to talk about real issues such as self-esteem, the worldwide struggle of gay equality which touches every age, color, creed, and gender or continue to focus on materialistic things which look good and smell good on our bodies but the majority of lgbts neither can afford or have any desire to care about?

 And finally, are we going to initiate an unprovoked public conversation about the propaganda spread by some in the name of religion, i.e. the lies about our families and our health. Or are we going to continue to fail to respond to these lies except for a vulgar comment printed on a facebook page?  Is the majority of the lgbt community and our allies ready to take on (with intelligence and dignity) the propaganda artists at those religious right groups who have stolen and co-opted not only the name of religion but also that of family?

 It's wonderful that Obama mentioned us in his inaugural speech, but let's never forget that ultimately the success of gay equality lies in our hands. We own it and whatever President Obama does in his last four years in office will never change that.

The point is not what is President Obama prepared to do. The point is what is the lgbt community prepared to do.

The 'Case for Mammy/Daddy Marriage'

Check out this video and don't be so quick to get angry before watching the ENTIRE thing.

'Attempt to defend Tony Perkins' bigotry backfires' and other Friday midday news briefs

My gosh some on the anti-gay right are practically on another planet when it comes to logic. Take Porno Pete LaBarbera for example. On his webpage, he lays a charge that GLAAD distorted Tony Perkins (Family Research Council president)'s words to make it look as if he is attacking gays. LaBarbera takes Perkins' original statement:

“Those that understand the homosexual community — the activists — they are very aggressive … everything they accuse us of they are in triplicate. They’re [intolerant], they’re hateful, they’re vile, they’re spiteful…Our response to them should be one of love and of compassion….We’ve got to be very careful to guard our hearts — that we in the midst of this battle don’t become so [callous], that we realize they’re not the enemy. The enemy is simply using them as pawns. They are held captive by the enemy….”

and then compares it to what GLAAD reported to claim that the organization distorted Perkins' statement:

I fail to see the difference between the two statements, except one. The longer statement makes Perkins look worse. And on that note, LaBarbera's attempt to defend Perkins makes him look clueless as well as foolish.

In other news:

Video: Brian Brown thanks NOM supporters for buying him a French vacation - This is pitiful. NOM leads a successful anti-marriage equality March in France but then spoils it by lying about the number of attendees.

 WATCH: Transgender Tween Tackles Challenge Of Dating - This is so cute. I love this!

California Health Insurance Company Sued For Barring HIV Patients From Pharmacies - Sock it to them!

 Rev. Steven Chalke, Evangelical Minister, Calls On Christians To Support Gay Community - Hmmmmmm

Hate group leader Tony Perkins lies about gay depression and suicide research

One of the most tedious things about organizations like the Family Research Council is how they will either distort legitimate research or question the outcomes of said research if doesn't back up their negative claims about homosexuality.  But in this case, Tony Perkins, president of FRC does one worse. He pretends that such research  which contradicts his claims about homosexuality doesn't exist:




Perkins claims that there is no link between homophobia and negative behaviors in gays, such as depression and suicide. As far as I know, Perkins has never done any research on the issue. However, Massachusetts pediatrician Robert Garafalo conducted a study which found the link. And his name should be of interest of Perkins.

 In 1998, he complained that FRC and several other religious right groups were distorting his report on sexual orientation and at-risk behavior among gay youth. The groups used Dr. Garafalo’s study in a full page ad as proof that homosexuals are substance abusers and all-around violent people. Garafalo contended that his research was saying that when gay teenagers abuse drugs or contemplate suicide, it is because of the homophobic society they face. Regarding the distortion of his work, Garafalo said the following :

 “It’s a complete misrepresentation of my work. It was taken completely out of context. It comes to a complete opposite conclusion of what the paper actually said.” - Boston doctor says ads distorted his work on gays, The Boston Globe , Aug. 4, 1998

Furthermore, several other studies AND medical groups have also confirmed the link between homophobia and depression and suicide amongst gays including:

A 2011 study from Concordia University:

New research from Concordia University suggests that the stress of being rejected or victimized because of sexual orientation may disrupt hormonal responses in lesbians, gays and bisexuals. Recently published as a doctoral thesis in clinical psychology, this investigation examined environmental risks and protective factors that counterbalanced them in LGB youth. "Compared to their heterosexual peers, suicide rates are up to 14 times higher among lesbian, gay and bisexual high school and college students," says Michael Benibgui, who led this investigation as part of his PhD thesis at Concordia's Department of Psychology and Centre for Research in Human Development.

A 2009 study listed on  the American Psychological Association's online site:

Many studies find a higher rate of health and mental health problems among lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens than in heterosexual youth, often fingering social rejection as the culprit. A new study of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, however, suggests another major possible cause: parental rejection. The research, published in the January Pediatrics (Vol. 123, No. 1), found that LGB adults who reported high rates of parental rejection in their teens were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to have had unprotected sex than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection, reports the study team, headed by Caitlin Ryan, PhD, of San Francisco State University.

The Centers for Disease Control:

 Homosexuality  is not a mental disorder, but homophobia, stigma, and discrimination have negative effects on the health of MSM, lesbians, and other sexual minorities. The negative effects of social marginalization can be found in adolescent and adult MSM, for example, research has shown that MSM and other members of the LGBT community are at increased risk for a number of mental health problems.

Perkins vaguely cites a study of gays in the Netherlands to back up his claim that suicide and depression are indicative of the lgbt sexual orientation because according to him, the Netherlands is more accepting of gays, but they still engage in negative behaviors there.

By listening to Perkins, one would not know what study he was talking about and who conducted it.

But as it happens, I think I know the study and its author because I talked to him a couple of years. The study was  Same-Sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders. It appeared in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2001 and looked at psychiatric disorders in gay adults from the Netherlands.

If so, this is the part Perkins was alluding to:

It is unclear to what extent findings from this Dutch study can be generalized to other cultures or nations. Compared with other Western countries, the Dutch social climate toward homosexuality has long been and remains considerably more tolerant. To the extent that the level of social acceptance of homosexuality induces differences in mental health status in relation to homosexuality, the observed differences might be greater in other Western countries than in the Netherlands.

In 2009, I contacted the author of the study, Professor Theo Sandfort. At the time, I was writing a post about how another religious right spokesperson (Regina Griggs of PFOX) was distorting his work. Via email, Sandfort said the following:

There is a difference between the U.S. and the Netherlands in terms of acceptance of homosexuality. That does not mean that there is no homophobia (and homophobic damage) in the Netherlands. It is not clear how difference in climate affects the prevalence of mental disorders. We don't know the final answers, but in the U.S. as well as the Netherlands, homophobia is related to mental health problems.

In his radio address, Perkins  was distorting and misleading to attack the famous "It Gets Better" program, which works to keep gay youth from committing suicide.  Perkins calls the "It Gets Better" program a "deceptive lie."

No, Mr. Perkins.

Pretending that research which contradicts your point of view doesn't exist is a deceptive lie.

Hat tip to Jeremy Hooper.

NOM tells Rhode Islanders - 'Gays want your children!!'

I don't think Jeremy Hooper will mind me stealing this from his blog.

You know, no matter how nice Maggie Gallagher and company tries to dress up NOM's rhetoric, when the organization is not successful, it always goes back to basic homophobia and fear tactics such as the following "gays are coming after your children" ad it ran in Rhode Island recently:

 

No matter how much sweet frosting you put on manure, it is always manure. But here is the thing that I like. The group in Rhode Island pushing for marriage equality, Rhode Islanders United for Marriage, didn't sit on its ass.

Instead, it refuted NOM's junk extremely quick:

RIUnited Press Release on fallacious NOM ad by

'More proof that NOM is branching out in the UK' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Video: The UK gets its own Kalley Yanta - First the French anti-marriage equality march and now this. It looks like the National Organization for Marriage is branching out in Europe big time. Maybe not necessarily NOM, but whoever is behind NOM.  

Religious Extremism On Display At Rhode Island’s Same-Sex Marriage Hearing - This was just vile. And so many errors too. Marriage has not been the same since the beginning of time even if you followed the Bible (who married Adam and Eve for instance?) And I won't even talk about that caterwauling in the hallway of the Rhode Island legislative capitol building. Lastly, you KNOW someone had to work in something about sexual intercourse.
 
Air Force Veteran Fired Under DADT Named As Inauguration Citizen Co-Chair - Outstanding! 

Buster Wilson Warns Obama Might Confiscate Guns of Anti-Gay Activists - What would Jesus do, indeed?  

Seattle's Mars Hill Church Moves Close To Gay Neighborhood To Preach To Those 'Infected By AIDS' - You wouldn't have to move to a gay neighborhood for that.

Should 'Christians' have the right to harass gay couples?

The hypocrisy stings when it comes to some folks who call themselves Evangelical Christians.

Most specifically, I mean the folks at the American Family Association's fake news source One News Now.

The news source constantly inundates its readers with anecdotal tales - some true, some extremely spurious - about how some "Christians" in America are picked on or "persecuted" for their beliefs.

But it strangely makes a 180 degree turn when those who call themselves Christians are the aggressors.

In a recent controversy in New Bern, NC, a lesbian couple was eating at a restaurant, The Stingray Café  After they had finished and paid their bill, the owner, Ed McGovern,  handed them a note attacking their relationship.

The note told them that their relationship was hurting their loved ones and that his daughter was involved in a lesbian relationship and it reportedly destroyed her.

According to Think Progress:

McGovern said he wrote the letter because he did not approve of the McPhails’ kissing and confirmed that he has done something similar for a lesbian couple in the past. The McPhails say they weren’t kissing — just holding hands — but that’s besides the point.

One News Now is claiming that the couple is urging folks to boycott the restaurant.  I'm sure if that's true or not. However, they have gone public with a beautifully written piece telling their side of the story:

Lesbians and gays are not monsters lurking among the normal people in your restaurant, monsters from whom you need to protect your children. We are normal people. We have children. Instead of focusing on what separates us, look at what brings us together. With the freedom to speak comes the responsibility to recognize intent, and the responsibility for the effects of your words. What was the intent of this letter? What is the intent of those who single out gays and lesbians to condemn them? If it is to pass on love and compassion, then evaluate how you do so. Writing a letter was a selfish act on his part. Handing a letter to someone you do not know and then washing your hands of the situation so that you can pat yourself on the back for doing "the right thing" is a cop-out. Do you want to spread love? Try a conversation -- not one of attack or analysis but of equal discussion. 

However, what if this couple did call for a boycott? Would you blame them?

If you was a supporter of One News Now, you would.  The news source posted a slanted story quoting only one source - our friend "Porno" Pete LaBarbera - in defense of the restaurant owner's actions:

"The women had the audacity to say that he wouldn't do this to any other married couple. Well, that's because homosexuality is not marriage and they're not really married. The homosexual lobby, you've got to believe, they want to start suing people like this bold Christian man who merely wanted to tell these lesbians that they're in sin."

"Christians needs to support this man -- Christians all over the country -- but especially in this town," LaBarbera urges. "They're going to try to put him out of business. This is the time for Christians to rally around this man who was merely exercising his right to speak out and speaking out as a concerned Christian."

First of all, I don't know where LaBarbera got the lawsuit idea from. The couple did not indicate that they wanted to sue McGovern.

But more to the point, where is the common decency here? Folks like LaBarbera and "news sources" like One News Now are constantly whining that gays are "forcing" people to accept homosexuality.

This couple was merely eating at a restaurant. So what if they were kissing or hold hands. It certainly doesn't matter because the owner took their money.

The unfortunate fact here is that what McGovern, One News Now, and LaBarbera objects to is the couple's existence. It's not enough for them to disagree with homosexuality. They seem to want gays to alter our lives in order to support to their standards of morality.

And if we don't, they should have the right to "correct" us without reprisal because . . . well God said they can.

That doesn't make a damn lick of sense to me.